Mike Thorn's Blog, page 4
July 31, 2024
Mike Thorn reviews The Soul Eater (In Review Online)
“Bustillo and Maury have demonstrated once again that horror contains multitudes, and it doesn’t need to play arthouse dress-up to indicate as much. Horror’s philosophical and aesthetic merits have always already been there: all one needs to do is look.”
Read the full review.
Read the full review.
July 27, 2024
Mike Thorn reviews House of Sayuri (In Review Online)
"Sayuri makes overtures to the cultural anxieties underlying many haunted house narratives, with several lines pointedly alluding to what constitutes a 'happy life.' An early scene depicts a teacher asking her disinterested class to analyze a poem by posing questions such as 'Where do we find happiness?' and 'What exactly is happiness?' The film ultimately disavows the notion that domestic ownership equals anything like existential fulfillment or familial harmony. It locates horror in the conformist embrace of cultural repetitions, depicting its haunting as something like a tape stuck in a loop: the same ghostly giggle echoes through the house again and again, haunted TVs replay snippets of glitchy footage, and one character repeatedly watches the simulated reenactment of her beloved’s grisly death."
Read my full review at In Review Online.
Read my full review at In Review Online.
July 25, 2024
Craftwork S1E8: Obsession, Transgression, & the Library of Gestures w/ Maryse Meijer
Listen to Craftwork S1E8: Obsession, Transgression, & the Library of Gestures w/ Maryse Meijer.
In this interview, we chat with Maryse Meijer about metaphor, quotation marks, the dubious necessity of author photos, and so much more.
Maryse Meijer is the author of Heartbreaker, Rag, Northwood, and The Seventh Mansion. She lives in Chicago.
Books and stories mentioned in this episode:
Samuel Beckett: A Biography – Deirdre Bair
Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
About Schmidt – Louis Begley
Autobiography of Red – Anne Carson
New Grub Street – George Gissing
The Children of the Dead; Greed; The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
Pet Sematary – Stephen King
Bad Brains; The Cipher; Kink; Skin; Strange Angels – Kathe Koja
The Communicating Vessels – Friederike Mayröcker
All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
Hurricane Season; Paradais – Fernanda Melchor
The Defense; Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Black Water; Blonde; Heat; My Sister, My Love; “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”; Zombie – Joyce Carol Oates
With the Animals – Noëlle Revaz
Snake Eyes – Rosamond Smith
The Custom of the Country – Edith Wharton
Author Photo Credit: Lewis McVey
In this interview, we chat with Maryse Meijer about metaphor, quotation marks, the dubious necessity of author photos, and so much more.
Maryse Meijer is the author of Heartbreaker, Rag, Northwood, and The Seventh Mansion. She lives in Chicago.
Books and stories mentioned in this episode:
Samuel Beckett: A Biography – Deirdre Bair
Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
About Schmidt – Louis Begley
Autobiography of Red – Anne Carson
New Grub Street – George Gissing
The Children of the Dead; Greed; The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
Pet Sematary – Stephen King
Bad Brains; The Cipher; Kink; Skin; Strange Angels – Kathe Koja
The Communicating Vessels – Friederike Mayröcker
All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
Hurricane Season; Paradais – Fernanda Melchor
The Defense; Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Black Water; Blonde; Heat; My Sister, My Love; “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”; Zombie – Joyce Carol Oates
With the Animals – Noëlle Revaz
Snake Eyes – Rosamond Smith
The Custom of the Country – Edith Wharton
Author Photo Credit: Lewis McVey
July 17, 2024
Craftwork S1E7: Weird Angels, Maximalism, & the Taste of Prose w/ Craig Laurance Gidney
Listen to Craftwork Episode 7: Weird Angels, Maximalism, & the Taste of Prose w/ Craig Laurance Gidney.
In this interview, Craig Laurance Gidney talks about genre mashups, writing workshops, telling Mom which of your stories to avoid, and so much more.
Craig Laurance Gidney (he/him/his) is the author of Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories; Skin Deep Magic: Stories; Bereft (a YA novella); and A Spectral Hue (a novel). He has been a Lambda Literary Finalist three times, was a Carl Brandon Parallax Award Finalist, and won the inaugural Joseph S. Pulver Sr. Award for Weird Fiction. The Nectar of Nightmares is his most recent collection. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Books and stories mentioned in this episode:
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Giovanni’s Room; Go Tell It on the Mountain; If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
Dhalgren – Samuel R. Delany
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
The Uncanny – Sigmund Freud
A Ring of Endless Light; A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
Black Light – Elizabeth Hand
The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus – Joel Chandler Harris
“The Golden Pot”; “The Sandman” – E. T. A. Hoffmann
Finnegan’s Wake – James Joyce
“Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk” – Franz Kafka
Delirium’s Mistress – Tanith Lee
“The Outsider”; “The Rats in the Walls” – H.P. Lovecraft
The Winds of Winter – George R. R. Martin
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
Tar Baby – Toni Morrison
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” – Flannery O’Connor
Corpsepaint – David Peak
Queen of Teeth – Hailey Piper
In this interview, Craig Laurance Gidney talks about genre mashups, writing workshops, telling Mom which of your stories to avoid, and so much more.
Craig Laurance Gidney (he/him/his) is the author of Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories; Skin Deep Magic: Stories; Bereft (a YA novella); and A Spectral Hue (a novel). He has been a Lambda Literary Finalist three times, was a Carl Brandon Parallax Award Finalist, and won the inaugural Joseph S. Pulver Sr. Award for Weird Fiction. The Nectar of Nightmares is his most recent collection. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Books and stories mentioned in this episode:
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Giovanni’s Room; Go Tell It on the Mountain; If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
Dhalgren – Samuel R. Delany
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
The Uncanny – Sigmund Freud
A Ring of Endless Light; A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
Black Light – Elizabeth Hand
The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus – Joel Chandler Harris
“The Golden Pot”; “The Sandman” – E. T. A. Hoffmann
Finnegan’s Wake – James Joyce
“Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk” – Franz Kafka
Delirium’s Mistress – Tanith Lee
“The Outsider”; “The Rats in the Walls” – H.P. Lovecraft
The Winds of Winter – George R. R. Martin
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
Tar Baby – Toni Morrison
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” – Flannery O’Connor
Corpsepaint – David Peak
Queen of Teeth – Hailey Piper
July 4, 2024
Craftwork S1E6: False Epiphanies, Productivity, & Existential Dread w/ Niall Howell
Listen to Craftwork Episode 6: False Epiphanies, Productivity, & Existential Dread w/ Niall Howell.
In this interview, Niall Howell talks about crime fiction, creative spontaneity, the magic of public swimming pools (soggy donuts!), and so much more.
Niall Howell lives in Calgary, Alberta with his wife, sons, and pets. His debut noir novel Only Pretty Damned was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. His follow-up novel, There Are Wolves Here Too, was shortlisted by the Book Publisher’s Association of Alberta for Mystery and Thriller book of the year. Niall’s short fiction has been featured in The Feathertale Review and FreeFall. He is currently working on his third novel.
Books mentioned in this episode:
City of Margins; Shoot the Moonlight Out – William Boyle
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel – Jessica Brody
Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler – Raymond Chandler; edited by Frank MacShane
The Guest – Emma Cline
Perfidia; This Storm; Widespread Panic – James Ellroy
Our Share of Night – Mariana Enriquez
The Wars – Timothy Findley
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Rage in Harlem – Chester Himes
It; Night Shift; Salem’s Lot – Stephen King
Burnt Offerings – Robert Marasco
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Peyton Place – Grace Metalious
Devil in a Blue Dress – Walter Mosley
Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus – James Otis
“The Black Cat” – Edgar Allan Poe
The House Next Door – Anne Rivers Siddons
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
In this interview, Niall Howell talks about crime fiction, creative spontaneity, the magic of public swimming pools (soggy donuts!), and so much more.
Niall Howell lives in Calgary, Alberta with his wife, sons, and pets. His debut noir novel Only Pretty Damned was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. His follow-up novel, There Are Wolves Here Too, was shortlisted by the Book Publisher’s Association of Alberta for Mystery and Thriller book of the year. Niall’s short fiction has been featured in The Feathertale Review and FreeFall. He is currently working on his third novel.
Books mentioned in this episode:
City of Margins; Shoot the Moonlight Out – William Boyle
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel – Jessica Brody
Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler – Raymond Chandler; edited by Frank MacShane
The Guest – Emma Cline
Perfidia; This Storm; Widespread Panic – James Ellroy
Our Share of Night – Mariana Enriquez
The Wars – Timothy Findley
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Rage in Harlem – Chester Himes
It; Night Shift; Salem’s Lot – Stephen King
Burnt Offerings – Robert Marasco
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Peyton Place – Grace Metalious
Devil in a Blue Dress – Walter Mosley
Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus – James Otis
“The Black Cat” – Edgar Allan Poe
The House Next Door – Anne Rivers Siddons
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
July 1, 2024
Mike Thorn included in The Bookubus’s “Giallo Film Recommendations – Giallo July” (YouTube)
The Bookubus is doing a month-long survey of giallo movies and literature. Mike Thorn was one of many to offer some film recommendations in her kickoff video.
Watch here.
Watch here.
June 27, 2024
Craftwork S1E5: Romance, Ritual, & the Darkness of Yacht Rock w/ Phoebe Marmura
Listen to Craftwork Episode 5: Romance, Ritual, & the Darkness of Yacht Rock w/ Phoebe Marmura.
In this interview, Phoebe Marmura talks about fear, fairies, set design, and so much more.
Phoebe Marmura is a writer and artist. Her work explores desire, femininity, domestic adventure, and reclusion. Marmura’s writing can be found in Expat Press, D.F.L. Lit, and Orca Literary Journal.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Erotic Interludes: Tales Told by Women – Lonnie Barbach
Naked Lunch – William S. Burroughs
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Biography of X – Catherine Lacey
Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
Story – Robert McKee
Portrait of Jennie – Robert Nathan
Junie B. Jones series – Barbara Park
The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
Pretty Little Liars series – Sara Shepard
Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White
In this interview, Phoebe Marmura talks about fear, fairies, set design, and so much more.
Phoebe Marmura is a writer and artist. Her work explores desire, femininity, domestic adventure, and reclusion. Marmura’s writing can be found in Expat Press, D.F.L. Lit, and Orca Literary Journal.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Erotic Interludes: Tales Told by Women – Lonnie Barbach
Naked Lunch – William S. Burroughs
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Biography of X – Catherine Lacey
Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
Story – Robert McKee
Portrait of Jennie – Robert Nathan
Junie B. Jones series – Barbara Park
The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
Pretty Little Liars series – Sara Shepard
Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White
June 13, 2024
“World Wide Web of Dread: Horror from the Year of the Web, 30 Years Later” (In Review Online)
“English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee began dropping breadcrumbs toward the dark woods of the World Wide Web in 1989. He originally theorized the Web as a means of 'universal access to a large universe of documents" that would combine three key components: hypertext, transmission control protocol, and a domain name system. His vision materialized in 1994, the 'Year of the Web,' when websites began opening to the public. This development set the stage for the 21st century’s postmodern chaos — outsourced cognition leading to progress and disintegration in equal measures, facts and lies entangling in a collective frenzy of paranoia, rage, and disorientation.”
Read the full article.
Read the full article.
June 12, 2024
Craftwork S1E4: Scaffolding, Dionysus, & Mental Bonfires w/ Lindsay Lerman
Listen to Craftwork Episode 4: Scaffolding, Dionysus, & Mental Bonfires w/ Lindsay Lerman.
In this interview, Lindsay Lerman talks about philosophy, procedural knowledge, writing dialogue, and so much more.
Lindsay Lerman is a writer and translator. Her first book, I’m From Nowhere, was published in 2019. Her second book, What Are You, was published in 2022. Her first translation was published in 2023. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She is working on a novel, a philosophy manuscript, and here and there, some screenplays. She lives in Berlin.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene – Jodey Castricano
James and the Giant Peach; The BFG; Matilda – Roald Dahl
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Memories, Dreams, Reflections – C. G. Jung
The Cipher – Kathe Koja
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
The Seventh Mansion – Maryse Meijer
In this interview, Lindsay Lerman talks about philosophy, procedural knowledge, writing dialogue, and so much more.
Lindsay Lerman is a writer and translator. Her first book, I’m From Nowhere, was published in 2019. Her second book, What Are You, was published in 2022. Her first translation was published in 2023. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She is working on a novel, a philosophy manuscript, and here and there, some screenplays. She lives in Berlin.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Gothic Metaphysics: From Alchemy to the Anthropocene – Jodey Castricano
James and the Giant Peach; The BFG; Matilda – Roald Dahl
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Memories, Dreams, Reflections – C. G. Jung
The Cipher – Kathe Koja
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin
The Seventh Mansion – Maryse Meijer
May 31, 2024
Mike Thorn’s “The Shape of Our Damnation” featured on Tales to Terrify
Listen to Mike Thorn’s new story “The Shape of Our Damnation” on episode 644 of Tales to Terrify.
Also included in the episode: A. M. Symes’ “Chipping Away.”
Also included in the episode: A. M. Symes’ “Chipping Away.”
