Mike Thorn's Blog, page 40

New "Thorn's Thoughts" Entries in Unnerving Magazine: Nicole Cushing & Gwendolyn Kiste

I've reviewed two more books on Unnerving Magazine's website this month: Nicole Cushing's The Sadist's Bible and Gwendolyn Kiste's And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe.

Also check out my first entry for the "Thorn's Thoughts" column, on Robert Dunbar's The Streets.

Unnerving Magazine Issue #3 Available in Digital Format Now (Features New Fiction by Yours Truly)

Issue #3 of Unnerving Magazine is delivered digitally in .mobi, .pdf & .epub within 24 hours of purchase.

This issue sees a heartrending tale from Paul Michael Anderson (author of Bones Are Made to Be Broken), flowery destruction from Betty Rocksteady (author of Like Jagged Teeth), infinite dread from Mike Thorn, tables turned from Bill Adler Jr. (author of No Time to Say Goodbye), physical oddity from Mary Crosbie, costly incantation for Erica Ruppert, troublesome birth from William Marchese, and household disturbance as well as an excerpt from The Grimhaven Disaster from Leo X. Robertson. Gwendolyn Kiste offers up thoughts on the suburban gothic worlds of David Lynch and Shirley Jackson. Agent Gina Panetierri, editor Jess Landry, and publisher Pete Kahle offer thoughts on querying and submissions.

This issue is stacked!

Devious Dialogues: A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn on FOX's The Exorcist

In April, A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn discussed the Exorcist film series in detail. FOX recently announced a second season for Jeremy Slater’s television adaptation, so Novak and Thorn discussed the news at the request of a “Devious Dialogues” reader.

Full article.

New Feature at Unnerving Magazine: Thorn's Thoughts

Check out "Thorn's Thoughts" in Unnerving Magazine. For my first entry, I discuss Robert Dunbar's novel The Streets.

Full review.

Hostel: Part II and the Monster of Neoliberal Late-Capitalism

The torture scenes in writer-director Eli Roth’s Hostel openly evoked the 2003 Abu Ghraib photographs, which depicted United States military and Central Intelligence Agency personnel subjecting Iraqi prisoners to acts of profound cruelty and abuse. The film also addressed post-9/11 U.S.A.’s widespread xenophobia and confusion in the midst of an incompetent administration while satirizing upper-class masculinist group dynamics. Shortly after Hostel enjoyed overwhelming mainstream success, David Edelstein published “Now Playing at Your Local Multiplex: Torture Porn” for New York magazine, an article that leveled unilateral arguments against the wave of brutal films flooding the American mainstream — including Hostel, but also films such as Wolf Creek, The Devil’s Rejects, and the Saw franchise.

This incendiary context set the stage for Roth’s Hostel: Part II, which acts both as an inversion and political expansion of its predecessor. Where Hostel offers a glib satire of homosocial desire among hyper-masculine males, the sequel focuses on a trio of young women. If Hostel reacts to the Abu Ghraib photographs by leveling a critique against unchecked western military imperialism, Part II condemns rampant late-capitalist neoliberalism at large. In 2007, the sequel’s political resonance was lost amidst blanket arguments against “torture porn” (a term that Edelstein’s article leaves unfortunately broad and open-ended); in 2017, its nastily incisive observations remain too relevant to be brushed aside.

Read the full article in The Film Stage.

New Short Story "Speaking of Ghosts" in Vague Visages

My new short story is available to read in full here.

New Short Story "Lucio Schluter" Published in DarkFuse

Yesterday, DarkFuse published my story "Lucio Schluter" as part of their "Darkborne Muse" series! You can read the piece here. Note: if you're not subscribed to DarkFuse (which I highly recommend), they're currently offering a free digital trial.

Also check out the third entry in my Devious Dialogues column with A.M. Novak, in which we discuss the Exorcist franchise.

My Debut for The Seventh Row: On Dread, Eroticism, and Texting in Personal Shopper

Two weeks ago, The Seventh Row published my article "‘No desire if it’s not forbidden’: Dread, eroticism, and text messaging in Personal Shopper" as part of their Personal Shopper special issue.

Read the full article here.

Horror Talks with A.M. Novak

Earlier this year, I sat down with A.M. Novak to chat the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises for Vague Visages (articles linked below).

Halloween

Friday the 13th

10 Favorite Stephen King Novels

Since the trailer for Muschietti's It dropped yesterday (I have very mixed feelings), I've had Stephen King on the brain. I have some gaps to fill, and there are a few titles I'd like to re-read, but as of this moment, here are my 10 favorite King novels (excluding Dark Tower installments):

01. It (1986)
02. Dolores Claiborne (1992)
03. Pet Sematary (1983)
04. Dreamcatcher (2001)
05. Christine (1983)
06. From a Buick 8 (2002)
07. The Shining (1977)
08. Lisey's Story (2006)
09. The Tommyknockers (1987)
10. The Dead Zone (1979)