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Shelter for the Damned
While looking for a secret place to smoke cigarettes with his two best friends, troubled teenager Mark discovers a mysterious shack in a suburban field. Alienated from his parents and peers, Mark finds within the shack an escape greater than anything he has ever experienced.
But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.
Shelter for the Damned is not only a scary, fast-paced horror novel, but also an unflinching study of suburban violence, masculine conditioning, and adolescent rage.
But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.
Shelter for the Damned is not only a scary, fast-paced horror novel, but also an unflinching study of suburban violence, masculine conditioning, and adolescent rage.
190 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2021
7 people are currently reading
1600 people want to read
About the author
Mike Thorn
28 books279 followersMike Thorn is the author of Shelter for the Damned, Darkest Hours, and Peel Back and See. His stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, including Augur, Vastarien, NoSleep, and Tales to Terrify. His essays and articles have been published in American Gothic Studies, American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper, The Weird: A Companion, and elsewhere. He holds his PhD in English from the University of New Brunswick, and he co-hosts the Craftwork podcast with his fiancée, Miriam Richer.
Connect with him on Bluesky, Twitter, and Letterboxd.
Connect with him on Bluesky, Twitter, and Letterboxd.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
January 22, 2021
”'Cause agony brings no reward
For one more hit and one last score
Don't be a casualty, cut the cord”
CUT THE CORD – Shinedown
I want to thank Mike Thorn for granting me the opportunity to read this story in exchange for a unbiased review.
And, I also want to add, even though I almost talked myself out of it, I approached the author for this ARC because the description sounded interesting to me.
The quote I started with – ossum song – is about addiction. My feeling about this story touches on the battle of addiction, even though it is done subtly. When I think back, the first real scary story I can remember about the subject was CHRISTINE by Stephen King. In that story, the geeky kid sees this car and it talks to him, subconsciously, and it becomes the most important – maybe the ONLY – thing in his life. The transformation in that story also had supernatural element, but at the core of that tale lies a battle with addiction, of being unable to help yourself even though it changes you for the worse.
In this story we are looking at a shack. Teenager Mark and his two friends discover it in the middle of a field, abandoned and a good place to smoke some cigarettes. But Mark is drawn to it in a way the other two can’t understand. Nobody really knows him and nobody really understands him, neither adults nor other teenagers. He has a reputation as a troublemaker and a weird person, which alienates him even more from everybody else in his life. But he feels safe and welcome in the shack.
When you get down to it, feeling misunderstood and strange in your own skin is a very common occurrence for teenagers the world over. When the opportunity to be accepted presents itself, most will jump at the chance, consequences be damned. That is the most dangerous time in most people’s life – for they can only hope that fate will get them to the other side – sane and in one piece: Pretty much like going to a Miley Cyrus concert.
This story might be somewhat of a slow burn and there is a subtlety to the progression which makes this one of the least goriest horrors I have read in a long time. You will ask yourself, at some stage, if this kid is schizophrenic. Is everything only taking place in his head? Is he, perhaps, a born psychopath or is he turning into one?
And I’m not going to ruin it for the readers. This story is solid, yet not as scary as perhaps esoteric in the final battle with the thing/himself. There may be elements to it which will be hard to digest for someone who is only looking for light reading – this story does not fall into that category.
The only real criticism I have about this book is feeling a little unsure about the way Mark is – why, exactly, did he turn out so strange? I would have liked a little more info on his past, since the answer is not revealed at the end.
Recommended to horror fans not looking for cheap, easy thrills...
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
For one more hit and one last score
Don't be a casualty, cut the cord”
CUT THE CORD – Shinedown
I want to thank Mike Thorn for granting me the opportunity to read this story in exchange for a unbiased review.
And, I also want to add, even though I almost talked myself out of it, I approached the author for this ARC because the description sounded interesting to me.
The quote I started with – ossum song – is about addiction. My feeling about this story touches on the battle of addiction, even though it is done subtly. When I think back, the first real scary story I can remember about the subject was CHRISTINE by Stephen King. In that story, the geeky kid sees this car and it talks to him, subconsciously, and it becomes the most important – maybe the ONLY – thing in his life. The transformation in that story also had supernatural element, but at the core of that tale lies a battle with addiction, of being unable to help yourself even though it changes you for the worse.
In this story we are looking at a shack. Teenager Mark and his two friends discover it in the middle of a field, abandoned and a good place to smoke some cigarettes. But Mark is drawn to it in a way the other two can’t understand. Nobody really knows him and nobody really understands him, neither adults nor other teenagers. He has a reputation as a troublemaker and a weird person, which alienates him even more from everybody else in his life. But he feels safe and welcome in the shack.
When you get down to it, feeling misunderstood and strange in your own skin is a very common occurrence for teenagers the world over. When the opportunity to be accepted presents itself, most will jump at the chance, consequences be damned. That is the most dangerous time in most people’s life – for they can only hope that fate will get them to the other side – sane and in one piece: Pretty much like going to a Miley Cyrus concert.
This story might be somewhat of a slow burn and there is a subtlety to the progression which makes this one of the least goriest horrors I have read in a long time. You will ask yourself, at some stage, if this kid is schizophrenic. Is everything only taking place in his head? Is he, perhaps, a born psychopath or is he turning into one?
And I’m not going to ruin it for the readers. This story is solid, yet not as scary as perhaps esoteric in the final battle with the thing/himself. There may be elements to it which will be hard to digest for someone who is only looking for light reading – this story does not fall into that category.
The only real criticism I have about this book is feeling a little unsure about the way Mark is – why, exactly, did he turn out so strange? I would have liked a little more info on his past, since the answer is not revealed at the end.
Recommended to horror fans not looking for cheap, easy thrills...
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
September 18, 2020
Shelter for the Damned is a dark and surreal coming of age story. Mark is a high school student with a sharp tongue and a quick temper. He is constantly in trouble at school and at home. Alienated by most of his peers, he struggles to find meaning and direction while fighting dejection and loneliness.
Mark and two of his friends come upon a derelict shack in a field and, upon entering for the first time, Mark feels instantly at home. His friends, however, are not as enticed by the dark structure, and one of them ominously disappears within.
The shack changes Mark. He feels in control, and something within him grows stronger. His tendency towards violence grows as well. Is Mark having a psychological breakdown? His encounters in the shack become increasingly surreal, and he senses a force stronger than himself taking control.
Mike Thorn has penned a compelling novel about a very disturbed young man who may be encountering forces far beyond his own influence. The writing is concise and relatable, bordering at times on the poetic. This is an engrossing novel that kept me glued to the pages up to the conclusion. I would recommend this book to any fan of creeping dread and horror.
Many thanks to the author, who provided me with an ARC of this novel. The above review is honest and unbiased.
Mark and two of his friends come upon a derelict shack in a field and, upon entering for the first time, Mark feels instantly at home. His friends, however, are not as enticed by the dark structure, and one of them ominously disappears within.
The shack changes Mark. He feels in control, and something within him grows stronger. His tendency towards violence grows as well. Is Mark having a psychological breakdown? His encounters in the shack become increasingly surreal, and he senses a force stronger than himself taking control.
Mike Thorn has penned a compelling novel about a very disturbed young man who may be encountering forces far beyond his own influence. The writing is concise and relatable, bordering at times on the poetic. This is an engrossing novel that kept me glued to the pages up to the conclusion. I would recommend this book to any fan of creeping dread and horror.
Many thanks to the author, who provided me with an ARC of this novel. The above review is honest and unbiased.
May 25, 2021
3-4 stars.
This was a shortish horror read that a few of my friends had enjoyed so I thought I’d check it out. Now that I’ve read it I’m not totally sure what to make of it.
Mark is an adolescent boy struggling to be accepted. He has two friends - Adam and Scott. Mark is an oddball and has anger issues but that’s not exactly unusual for teenaged boys. They come across a strange shack in a field and Mark persuades his fiends to go inside. To the friends it’s just a place to hang out and smoke but to Mark it’s something entirely different. He feels a sense of comfort within its embrace. But soon the friends lose interest and Mark gets more obsessed with the shack until it seems the shack, or an entity within it, is trying to control him and force him to do unspeakable things.
I understand that a lot of it is metaphorical and that, on one level, the story is talking about toxic masculinity but maybe it was a bit lost on me. I didn’t find the book scary, the horror wasn’t subtle enough for that but rather in-your-face scary monster horror that may or may not have been purely a product of Mark’s imagination. The distinction isn’t important as, either way, Mark experienced the fear. I don’t know - was Mark experiencing these things to give legitimacy to his inexplicable rages or is he feeling that confused by his ineffectual parents and feelings of disempowerment. The philosophical questions are interesting but could be addressed in a variety of other ways too.
Did I enjoy the book? I’m not even sure about that. I’m still exploring the horror genre and have a few other books stashed away for later reading.
This was a shortish horror read that a few of my friends had enjoyed so I thought I’d check it out. Now that I’ve read it I’m not totally sure what to make of it.
Mark is an adolescent boy struggling to be accepted. He has two friends - Adam and Scott. Mark is an oddball and has anger issues but that’s not exactly unusual for teenaged boys. They come across a strange shack in a field and Mark persuades his fiends to go inside. To the friends it’s just a place to hang out and smoke but to Mark it’s something entirely different. He feels a sense of comfort within its embrace. But soon the friends lose interest and Mark gets more obsessed with the shack until it seems the shack, or an entity within it, is trying to control him and force him to do unspeakable things.
I understand that a lot of it is metaphorical and that, on one level, the story is talking about toxic masculinity but maybe it was a bit lost on me. I didn’t find the book scary, the horror wasn’t subtle enough for that but rather in-your-face scary monster horror that may or may not have been purely a product of Mark’s imagination. The distinction isn’t important as, either way, Mark experienced the fear. I don’t know - was Mark experiencing these things to give legitimacy to his inexplicable rages or is he feeling that confused by his ineffectual parents and feelings of disempowerment. The philosophical questions are interesting but could be addressed in a variety of other ways too.
Did I enjoy the book? I’m not even sure about that. I’m still exploring the horror genre and have a few other books stashed away for later reading.
April 14, 2021
Having read and been a big fan of Darkest Hours by this author, I was excited to read this, his first full length novel. I was not disappointed!
Mark and his friends discover a shack in the middle of a field. From that moment on, Mark is obsessed with it. Obsessed with how the shack makes him feel. Obsessed with spending every moment he can there. Then, the shack starts asking him to do things-bad things. Will he do them or will he come to his senses? You'll have to read this to find out!
This all sounds rather straightforward, but it's really not. This isn't your basic coming of age novel where everything is nostalgic and beautiful. SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED is brutal in some ways, but also quite realistic. Mark and his friends are "normal" teens up to a point. None of them really gets along with their parents and in one case, the father is downright abusive. Mark's father isn't happy-go-lucky either. I found it interesting that everyone, and I mean everyone in the book knew about the abusive father and no one did anything about it. In some ways, "minding your business" even in the face of monstrous acts, is still a thing.
The psychological change in Mark as the book progressed was fascinating. Staring out as "normal," (whatever you take that to be), and becoming more and more violent, this reader was wondering if it all could be blamed on the shack and its secrets, or was this sociological in nature? And what about those shack secrets? What was happening in there, exactly? Was it something purely in Mark's mind or was it real? I got a distinct cosmic horror vibe at some points, a crazy psycho vibe at others, (perhaps schizophrenia?), and pure confusion and obsession on MY part, because I had to keep reading-I needed answers. Just like Mark.
I think any fan of coming of age horror fiction would find this read engaging. The story is fast paced and if you're anything like me, you'll be glued to the pages, trying to unravel the mystery of...the shack!
Highly recommended!
*Thank you to the author for the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
Mark and his friends discover a shack in the middle of a field. From that moment on, Mark is obsessed with it. Obsessed with how the shack makes him feel. Obsessed with spending every moment he can there. Then, the shack starts asking him to do things-bad things. Will he do them or will he come to his senses? You'll have to read this to find out!
This all sounds rather straightforward, but it's really not. This isn't your basic coming of age novel where everything is nostalgic and beautiful. SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED is brutal in some ways, but also quite realistic. Mark and his friends are "normal" teens up to a point. None of them really gets along with their parents and in one case, the father is downright abusive. Mark's father isn't happy-go-lucky either. I found it interesting that everyone, and I mean everyone in the book knew about the abusive father and no one did anything about it. In some ways, "minding your business" even in the face of monstrous acts, is still a thing.
The psychological change in Mark as the book progressed was fascinating. Staring out as "normal," (whatever you take that to be), and becoming more and more violent, this reader was wondering if it all could be blamed on the shack and its secrets, or was this sociological in nature? And what about those shack secrets? What was happening in there, exactly? Was it something purely in Mark's mind or was it real? I got a distinct cosmic horror vibe at some points, a crazy psycho vibe at others, (perhaps schizophrenia?), and pure confusion and obsession on MY part, because I had to keep reading-I needed answers. Just like Mark.
I think any fan of coming of age horror fiction would find this read engaging. The story is fast paced and if you're anything like me, you'll be glued to the pages, trying to unravel the mystery of...the shack!
Highly recommended!
*Thank you to the author for the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
June 27, 2021
DNF @ 62%
I'm finally deciding to part ways with this book.
I really wanted to get through it, as I received a copy from the author in exchange for a review.
However it's just really dragging for me and becoming such a chore to read so I'm finishing up just past the halfway mark.
The story follows delinquent Mark, who is always getting into trouble. He's a troubled boy, so when he finds a shack in the middle of nowhere that seems to call to him, he finds it hard to stay away. But evil is at work, here, and things are not going to end well for Mark and his friends ...
It's actually not a bad story. The writing is pretty decent and invocative and the characters are fleshed out well. I just found it all terribly slow and dull, and there was more about Mark's personal problems than anything particularly spooky so I just got a bit bored by it all. By the time things started getting a bit creepy, I was skimming too much to be properly affected by it.
I fully admit that I'm notoriously terrible with e-books, though, so the format definitely affected how slowly I read it, and reading it over a longer period of time may have likely influenced how drawn out the story felt.
It's probably worth a go to most horror lovers, as it seemed a unique concept to me. However be prepared for a slow build up to the horror.
With thanks to the author for a copy
I'm finally deciding to part ways with this book.
I really wanted to get through it, as I received a copy from the author in exchange for a review.
However it's just really dragging for me and becoming such a chore to read so I'm finishing up just past the halfway mark.
The story follows delinquent Mark, who is always getting into trouble. He's a troubled boy, so when he finds a shack in the middle of nowhere that seems to call to him, he finds it hard to stay away. But evil is at work, here, and things are not going to end well for Mark and his friends ...
It's actually not a bad story. The writing is pretty decent and invocative and the characters are fleshed out well. I just found it all terribly slow and dull, and there was more about Mark's personal problems than anything particularly spooky so I just got a bit bored by it all. By the time things started getting a bit creepy, I was skimming too much to be properly affected by it.
I fully admit that I'm notoriously terrible with e-books, though, so the format definitely affected how slowly I read it, and reading it over a longer period of time may have likely influenced how drawn out the story felt.
It's probably worth a go to most horror lovers, as it seemed a unique concept to me. However be prepared for a slow build up to the horror.
With thanks to the author for a copy
April 8, 2021
Shelter for the Damned spins a tale of teenage rage and angst mirrored with the events occurring in the shack. Set the scene…A shack in the middle of a field, it has an exorable pull to the protagonist, Mark. It almost calls to him like a voice in the wind, a siren call. Thorn has a cutthroat ability to reel you in, a writing style so sharp and penetrating that it threatens to tear you open, layer by layer. It is a brutal examination of the emotions and turmoil that teenagers battle with.
Shelter for the Damned felt like the lovechild of Barker and King. I’m not a huge fan of comparisons but it screamed to me. The artistic and almost poetic narrative created a chasm that I couldn’t help staring down at, like the shelter it pulled me in and swallowed me whole – I was helpless to fight it. Thorn takes an almost harmless object and displays just how splitting it wide open will release the wretchedness of human nature. Although I’ve made a massive comparison, I believe that Thorn had the edge with his originality and cunning. I enjoyed the development of Mark although it was at times ghastly.
If I were to sum up Shelter for the Damned – it spirals like an avalanche. The story gains traction and if you don’t have your wits about you – you will also end up buried.
The story features the main protagonist, Mark and his two friends, Scott and Adam. Whilst out pissing about they come across a shack that they haven’t noticed before. After much argument and discourse they decide it would be the perfect place to smoke cigarettes. Instantly you get the suggestion that the shack isn’t everything it pertains to be. Mark feels an invisible pull to it, its not long before he wants to go again. He tries to convince his friends who are understandably unwilling. He sneaks away again and decides that he doesn’t want to share it with his friends now…it is his. Mark appears to have psychological connection with the shack.
Mark is an exceedingly difficult character to connect with, he fights and prods at people, his friends included, until they snap. He reminds me of a fuse just simmering away under the surface, it doesn’t take much for him to explode. A fractious relationship with his father, which, no mistaking is abusive. He also seems to have an anger problem and prefers to deal out punishment by means of pain and gaslighting. Its not an excuse for Mark’s behaviour but there are means to suggest he’s learnt by example. He’s a boy that feels no-one understands him and doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin – hasn’t everyone felt like that at some point.
The events that take place in the shack are haunting and it mirrors just how quickly things spiral out of control for Mark. He becomes increasingly violent. I wondered if the shack was more resemblant of his mind – his fantasies of violence and aggression.
Shelter for the Damned is an absorbing read with a creeping sense of unease. Brutal and relentless.
Shelter for the Damned felt like the lovechild of Barker and King. I’m not a huge fan of comparisons but it screamed to me. The artistic and almost poetic narrative created a chasm that I couldn’t help staring down at, like the shelter it pulled me in and swallowed me whole – I was helpless to fight it. Thorn takes an almost harmless object and displays just how splitting it wide open will release the wretchedness of human nature. Although I’ve made a massive comparison, I believe that Thorn had the edge with his originality and cunning. I enjoyed the development of Mark although it was at times ghastly.
If I were to sum up Shelter for the Damned – it spirals like an avalanche. The story gains traction and if you don’t have your wits about you – you will also end up buried.
The story features the main protagonist, Mark and his two friends, Scott and Adam. Whilst out pissing about they come across a shack that they haven’t noticed before. After much argument and discourse they decide it would be the perfect place to smoke cigarettes. Instantly you get the suggestion that the shack isn’t everything it pertains to be. Mark feels an invisible pull to it, its not long before he wants to go again. He tries to convince his friends who are understandably unwilling. He sneaks away again and decides that he doesn’t want to share it with his friends now…it is his. Mark appears to have psychological connection with the shack.
Mark is an exceedingly difficult character to connect with, he fights and prods at people, his friends included, until they snap. He reminds me of a fuse just simmering away under the surface, it doesn’t take much for him to explode. A fractious relationship with his father, which, no mistaking is abusive. He also seems to have an anger problem and prefers to deal out punishment by means of pain and gaslighting. Its not an excuse for Mark’s behaviour but there are means to suggest he’s learnt by example. He’s a boy that feels no-one understands him and doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin – hasn’t everyone felt like that at some point.
The events that take place in the shack are haunting and it mirrors just how quickly things spiral out of control for Mark. He becomes increasingly violent. I wondered if the shack was more resemblant of his mind – his fantasies of violence and aggression.
Shelter for the Damned is an absorbing read with a creeping sense of unease. Brutal and relentless.
January 6, 2021
Nobody has it easy being a teenager. I think being a teen and navigating the expectations of school, parents, and teachers is probably one of the toughest parts of growing up. Mark and his pals Adam and Scott just want a place to hang out so they can smoke a cigarette in secret. Mark in particular has a rough time at school. He's unable to control the burgeoning rage inside him, and so he is continuously caught fighting and sent to the principal's office. His parents try hard to connect with him, but they don't understand him at all, and at times the rage that burns through Mark comes out in his dad, who has come close to physically punishing his son on a few occasions. The boys need an escape, and so one night when they stumble upon a shack in the middle of a field, they decide to check it out and have a couple of smokes inside.
The shack has an effect on Mark that the other boys are unaware of. The moment they step inside it gives him a since of warmth and security, and almost like a drug, Mark begins to crave the feelings the shack gives him. Unfortunately, his rage issues intensify when he isn't in the shack, and he eventually ends up suspended and in deep trouble with his parents. He's told he is not permitted to leave the house during his suspension, but Mark takes pains to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night so he can get his fix of the shack's comforting embrace. After retreating to the shack one morning after his mother leaves the house, Mark is horrified to find the shack completely gone from it's now familiar location. Desperate to make the shack appear again, he enlists his friends to go with him late one night, and to Mark's relief the shack is where they expected. Expect this time something is inside, and it changes the boy's lives forever.
Now Mark is being questioned by the police, and his many fights are making him look particularly suspicious concerning the whereabouts of one of his friends. He's told repeatedly to check in with his parents, but the shack is now making demands of Mark, and he is forced to disappear for hours at a time to carry out its commands. This secret place that once made Mark feel safe has now become a terrifying horror for him, and after isolating himself from everyone he knows, Mark has to deal with the threats and demands of the shack completely on his own.
I read this book in a single sitting. I started it in the afternoon, and by evening I realized that I was still furiously turning pages. This story pulls you in immediately, and then keeps you reading so that you can find out Mark's fate. I really enjoy coming of age horror, and Thorn nailed it with this novel. You can feel the awkwardness and longing in each of the teenage characters, and especially with Mark, I felt a deep sympathy for his misguided rage and isolation. He feels like an outcast from everyone, and it causes him to act out. The shack senses these things in Mark and ultimately uses him for its nefarious purposes. Add in a touch of cosmic horror, and the ending had me spellbound. Thorn's characters are all fully realized and Mark in particular is heartbreakingly sympathetic. Make sure you pick this one up when it's released next month. If you're like me, you will be frantically turning pages as well.
The shack has an effect on Mark that the other boys are unaware of. The moment they step inside it gives him a since of warmth and security, and almost like a drug, Mark begins to crave the feelings the shack gives him. Unfortunately, his rage issues intensify when he isn't in the shack, and he eventually ends up suspended and in deep trouble with his parents. He's told he is not permitted to leave the house during his suspension, but Mark takes pains to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night so he can get his fix of the shack's comforting embrace. After retreating to the shack one morning after his mother leaves the house, Mark is horrified to find the shack completely gone from it's now familiar location. Desperate to make the shack appear again, he enlists his friends to go with him late one night, and to Mark's relief the shack is where they expected. Expect this time something is inside, and it changes the boy's lives forever.
Now Mark is being questioned by the police, and his many fights are making him look particularly suspicious concerning the whereabouts of one of his friends. He's told repeatedly to check in with his parents, but the shack is now making demands of Mark, and he is forced to disappear for hours at a time to carry out its commands. This secret place that once made Mark feel safe has now become a terrifying horror for him, and after isolating himself from everyone he knows, Mark has to deal with the threats and demands of the shack completely on his own.
I read this book in a single sitting. I started it in the afternoon, and by evening I realized that I was still furiously turning pages. This story pulls you in immediately, and then keeps you reading so that you can find out Mark's fate. I really enjoy coming of age horror, and Thorn nailed it with this novel. You can feel the awkwardness and longing in each of the teenage characters, and especially with Mark, I felt a deep sympathy for his misguided rage and isolation. He feels like an outcast from everyone, and it causes him to act out. The shack senses these things in Mark and ultimately uses him for its nefarious purposes. Add in a touch of cosmic horror, and the ending had me spellbound. Thorn's characters are all fully realized and Mark in particular is heartbreakingly sympathetic. Make sure you pick this one up when it's released next month. If you're like me, you will be frantically turning pages as well.
October 2, 2023
4,5/5✨
🐙”Mark vislumbró la estructura de una edificación silueteada contra la luna, algo con la vaga forma de una casa. Se detuvo.”
🧙♂️No veo más que niebla. Cada vez que alzo la vista encajo un golpe que me hunde más. No intentéis ayudarme. Quiero seguir cayendo. No me gusta el orden. No me merece respeto. Quiero ver desaparecer todo lo que hay a mi alrededor. Quiero gozar de esa caída que me liberará...
🕯️Podría resumir en pocas líneas de qué va "Un refugio de los condenados" pero no os serviría para haceros una idea de la excelente novela a la que nos enfrentamos. El autor tiene esa rara habilidad de esconder lo que nos quiere contar bajo una oscura y opresiva atmósfera que esconde mucho más de lo que se está leyendo en primera instancia. Con la apariencia de una lectura sencilla y una historia que nos suena mucho de otras veces, Mike Thorn entreteje una excelente novela de terror con tintes de clásico de terror ochentero pero también mucha parte del oficio del que hacía gala Shirley Jackson.
"Un refugio para los condenados" es la historia de la rebeldía de la adolescencia, de la revolución hormonal, de las difíciles relaciones con nuestros progenitores en esa edad... de tantos acontecimientos que súbitamente surgen en esa difícil etapa de nuestra vida y lo fácil que es que todo salga mal si no se maneja con el cuidado adecuado.
Mike Thorn va bajando al abismo. Pero ese descenso es lento y progresivo; creíble e inquietante. Quizás esa lentitud es lo que hace bajar algunos puntos el resultado final. Hay momentos en los que la lectura se atranca y exaspera un poco. La ventaja es que al ser una novela corta tampoco son momentos que nos estropeen definitivamente la experiencia.
La construcción de los personajes es excelente. Sobre todo la de Mark, nuestro rebelde sin causa, ya que consigue que empaticemos, incluso por momentos nos identifiquemos, con una persona que no querríamos tener cerca nuestra en la vida real.
Apartado especial merecen las referencias a la cultura pop que el autor nos va soltando (aunque en ocasiones no nos veamos identificados con su intención) y el devenir final de la novela bordeando el horror cósmico.
En definitiva si queréis leer un libro de terror con todos los ingredientes que os he contado... pocas opciones conozco más recomendables que esta.
¿Qué os parece?¿Lo habéis leído?
🐙”Mark vislumbró la estructura de una edificación silueteada contra la luna, algo con la vaga forma de una casa. Se detuvo.”
🧙♂️No veo más que niebla. Cada vez que alzo la vista encajo un golpe que me hunde más. No intentéis ayudarme. Quiero seguir cayendo. No me gusta el orden. No me merece respeto. Quiero ver desaparecer todo lo que hay a mi alrededor. Quiero gozar de esa caída que me liberará...
🕯️Podría resumir en pocas líneas de qué va "Un refugio de los condenados" pero no os serviría para haceros una idea de la excelente novela a la que nos enfrentamos. El autor tiene esa rara habilidad de esconder lo que nos quiere contar bajo una oscura y opresiva atmósfera que esconde mucho más de lo que se está leyendo en primera instancia. Con la apariencia de una lectura sencilla y una historia que nos suena mucho de otras veces, Mike Thorn entreteje una excelente novela de terror con tintes de clásico de terror ochentero pero también mucha parte del oficio del que hacía gala Shirley Jackson.
"Un refugio para los condenados" es la historia de la rebeldía de la adolescencia, de la revolución hormonal, de las difíciles relaciones con nuestros progenitores en esa edad... de tantos acontecimientos que súbitamente surgen en esa difícil etapa de nuestra vida y lo fácil que es que todo salga mal si no se maneja con el cuidado adecuado.
Mike Thorn va bajando al abismo. Pero ese descenso es lento y progresivo; creíble e inquietante. Quizás esa lentitud es lo que hace bajar algunos puntos el resultado final. Hay momentos en los que la lectura se atranca y exaspera un poco. La ventaja es que al ser una novela corta tampoco son momentos que nos estropeen definitivamente la experiencia.
La construcción de los personajes es excelente. Sobre todo la de Mark, nuestro rebelde sin causa, ya que consigue que empaticemos, incluso por momentos nos identifiquemos, con una persona que no querríamos tener cerca nuestra en la vida real.
Apartado especial merecen las referencias a la cultura pop que el autor nos va soltando (aunque en ocasiones no nos veamos identificados con su intención) y el devenir final de la novela bordeando el horror cósmico.
En definitiva si queréis leer un libro de terror con todos los ingredientes que os he contado... pocas opciones conozco más recomendables que esta.
¿Qué os parece?¿Lo habéis leído?
March 5, 2021
Teenager Mark and his two friends find an abandoned shack in their neighbourhood which becomes a spot where they can go to hang out and smoke in private. The shack seems to attract and repel the boys in equal measure. But eventually Mark can't stop thinking about the place and is either drawn to visit it by himself or feels the urge to corral his friends for a group trip. One of these visits sets something in motion that Mark has to follow through no matter the cost.
Part coming of age, part commentary on themes including addiction and toxic masculinity, part cosmic staring-into-the-void horror. This is one that has stuck with me after reading with its themes to dig deeper into and visuals to be in awe of.
Thorn depicted the struggles of being a teenager in such an authentic and believable way. Mark is a troubled kid with no outlet to direct his anger and frustration, and he is forced to repress these feelings until he has no control over the inevitable outbursts. The way that Mark becomes obsessed with and addicted to the shack is very haunting and it reaches a point where the shack has a hold over him that will overbear anything and everything else. But it's too late to go back now and Mark can only submit to its pull.
I found this to be a thoroughly engrossing read and I couldn't look away as the story unfolded. Thorn definitely has a way with words and some of the moments that really stood out to me were the chilling and grisly parts which he has an especial talent for. There was even a moment where I turned the page and I experienced a sharp intake of breath as I read what happened next.
There is definitely a big cosmic horror vibe here, skilfully applied to a contemporary setting, with a splash of The Cipher by Kathe Koja and a dash of It by Stephen King. If that sounds intriguing to you then I highly recommend picking this one up.
I received a review copy of this book from the author.
Part coming of age, part commentary on themes including addiction and toxic masculinity, part cosmic staring-into-the-void horror. This is one that has stuck with me after reading with its themes to dig deeper into and visuals to be in awe of.
Thorn depicted the struggles of being a teenager in such an authentic and believable way. Mark is a troubled kid with no outlet to direct his anger and frustration, and he is forced to repress these feelings until he has no control over the inevitable outbursts. The way that Mark becomes obsessed with and addicted to the shack is very haunting and it reaches a point where the shack has a hold over him that will overbear anything and everything else. But it's too late to go back now and Mark can only submit to its pull.
I found this to be a thoroughly engrossing read and I couldn't look away as the story unfolded. Thorn definitely has a way with words and some of the moments that really stood out to me were the chilling and grisly parts which he has an especial talent for. There was even a moment where I turned the page and I experienced a sharp intake of breath as I read what happened next.
There is definitely a big cosmic horror vibe here, skilfully applied to a contemporary setting, with a splash of The Cipher by Kathe Koja and a dash of It by Stephen King. If that sounds intriguing to you then I highly recommend picking this one up.
I received a review copy of this book from the author.
September 14, 2023
La reseña completa en https://inthenevernever.blogspot.com/...
«En cuanto entró, deseó no abandonar jamás aquel lugar. No estaba preparado para comprender. Solo sabía que, en aquel momento cargado de intensidad, quería respirar el aire mísero del refugio para siempre».
¿Qué pasaría si un día, mientras buscas un lugar donde poder fumar a escondidas junto a tus dos mejores amigos, encuentran una casa muy vieja? Un cobertizo destartalado en medio de los suburbios. Un sitio que de manera automática se convierte en tu refugio, aunque nunca antes lo habías visto. Quizás el único lugar donde te sientes en paz. Pero puede que esa tranquilidad venga con un precio. Uno muy alto. Hoy quiero hablarles de Un refugio para los condenados, de Mike Thorn, una novela tan llena de terror como de ira adolescente. Un libro que nos llega con la excelente traducción de José Ángel de Dios.
«En cuanto entró, deseó no abandonar jamás aquel lugar. No estaba preparado para comprender. Solo sabía que, en aquel momento cargado de intensidad, quería respirar el aire mísero del refugio para siempre».
¿Qué pasaría si un día, mientras buscas un lugar donde poder fumar a escondidas junto a tus dos mejores amigos, encuentran una casa muy vieja? Un cobertizo destartalado en medio de los suburbios. Un sitio que de manera automática se convierte en tu refugio, aunque nunca antes lo habías visto. Quizás el único lugar donde te sientes en paz. Pero puede que esa tranquilidad venga con un precio. Uno muy alto. Hoy quiero hablarles de Un refugio para los condenados, de Mike Thorn, una novela tan llena de terror como de ira adolescente. Un libro que nos llega con la excelente traducción de José Ángel de Dios.
January 14, 2021
As if adolescence wasn’t tough enough, a teen boy discovers an otherworldly shack that seems to bring out all of the growing pains, weaknesses and monsters that Mark will face in his journey between childhood and adulthood. Will this secret hideaway be his downfall, his journey into an unspeakable hell or something else?
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED by Mike Thorn is dark horror at its most intriguing as readers can simply read for the thrill of the darkness or interpret events in a much deeper way. Either way, this story is riveting from start to finish as an emotionally lost teen discovers an escape within the walls of a hidden shack that will forever change his path.
Chilling, filled with suspense, teen weaknesses, that feeling of “otherness” and knowing that something terrifying is just out of sight, but it is coming.
Great writing, filled with atmosphere, this tale is one to definitely not miss. Mike Thorn has the talent to put together all of the jagged pieces and create a collage of darkness one surely won’t forget soon.
I received a complimentary ARC edition from Mike Thorn! This is my honest and voluntary review.
Publisher : JournalStone (February 26, 2021)
Publication date : February 26, 2021
Genre: Horror
Print length : 182 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED by Mike Thorn is dark horror at its most intriguing as readers can simply read for the thrill of the darkness or interpret events in a much deeper way. Either way, this story is riveting from start to finish as an emotionally lost teen discovers an escape within the walls of a hidden shack that will forever change his path.
Chilling, filled with suspense, teen weaknesses, that feeling of “otherness” and knowing that something terrifying is just out of sight, but it is coming.
Great writing, filled with atmosphere, this tale is one to definitely not miss. Mike Thorn has the talent to put together all of the jagged pieces and create a collage of darkness one surely won’t forget soon.
I received a complimentary ARC edition from Mike Thorn! This is my honest and voluntary review.
Publisher : JournalStone (February 26, 2021)
Publication date : February 26, 2021
Genre: Horror
Print length : 182 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
January 1, 2021
Whoa. Where to start?
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED, Mike Thorn's stellar debut, exists at the intersection between metaphor and everyday life. That's something of an oversimplification, I suppose--let me try again and see if I can strike a little closer. What we've got here is a book whose (exceptionally) big ideas have been grounded in the most ordinary of settings: suburbia. Those with an affinity for cerebral horror will be delighted by Thorn's deep exploration of adolescence's underbelly.
There's a lot going on here, and while none of the subject material is particularly pleasant, Thorn is a deft navigator, capable of steering between the banal and the philosophical (not to mention the terrifying) with rare and refreshing nuance. I was especially impressed by the characterization and juxtaposition of the story's central father figures. I'm not going to dish out specific details, but some pretty horrific abuse takes place in one of the households--stuff that will make the most hardened reader squirm--and yet Thorn is wise enough not to wallow in these moments. He knows the value of a subtle touch.
I said I wouldn't go into detail, and I won't, but I want to hang on this ledge for another moment. There's a father in SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED who is, not to mince words, a monster. But instead of seeing him at his most vile, we the reader are instead given a look at the chummy, just-one-of-the-boys mask he wears over his worst self. This contradiction, given what we know and learn about his temper, makes him believable and compelling when he could so easily have been tiresome. I've slogged my way through swamps of drunk, mean patriarchs in fiction, and too often do they veer into the realm of caricature. That doesn't happen here, and it was a breath of fresh air.
As for the Shack itself, well, I won't say much. It would be hard to without spoiling the central conceit. That said, this book has some serious old-school vibes going for it. I'm talking John Carpenter during one of his headier outings (say, Prince of Darkness) or David Cronenberg, basically always. It's work that wants to be captured on film, and deserves to be. Should it happen, I'm there on day one.
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED, Mike Thorn's stellar debut, exists at the intersection between metaphor and everyday life. That's something of an oversimplification, I suppose--let me try again and see if I can strike a little closer. What we've got here is a book whose (exceptionally) big ideas have been grounded in the most ordinary of settings: suburbia. Those with an affinity for cerebral horror will be delighted by Thorn's deep exploration of adolescence's underbelly.
There's a lot going on here, and while none of the subject material is particularly pleasant, Thorn is a deft navigator, capable of steering between the banal and the philosophical (not to mention the terrifying) with rare and refreshing nuance. I was especially impressed by the characterization and juxtaposition of the story's central father figures. I'm not going to dish out specific details, but some pretty horrific abuse takes place in one of the households--stuff that will make the most hardened reader squirm--and yet Thorn is wise enough not to wallow in these moments. He knows the value of a subtle touch.
I said I wouldn't go into detail, and I won't, but I want to hang on this ledge for another moment. There's a father in SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED who is, not to mince words, a monster. But instead of seeing him at his most vile, we the reader are instead given a look at the chummy, just-one-of-the-boys mask he wears over his worst self. This contradiction, given what we know and learn about his temper, makes him believable and compelling when he could so easily have been tiresome. I've slogged my way through swamps of drunk, mean patriarchs in fiction, and too often do they veer into the realm of caricature. That doesn't happen here, and it was a breath of fresh air.
As for the Shack itself, well, I won't say much. It would be hard to without spoiling the central conceit. That said, this book has some serious old-school vibes going for it. I'm talking John Carpenter during one of his headier outings (say, Prince of Darkness) or David Cronenberg, basically always. It's work that wants to be captured on film, and deserves to be. Should it happen, I'm there on day one.
July 16, 2024
TW: Language, smoking, cutting, child sexual abuse, drinking, alcoholism, toxic parent relationships, violence, gore, abuse
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
While looking for a secret place to smoke cigarettes with his two best friends, troubled teenager Mark discovers a mysterious shack in a suburban field. Alienated from his parents and peers, Mark finds within the shack an escape greater than anything he has ever experienced.
But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Genre: Horror
Pages: 190
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Cover is creepy beautiful
2. Very scenic
3. Characters were very male
What I Didn't Like:
1. Writing at times came off childish
2. Boring most of the part
Overall Thoughts:
Not caring for the forced swearing. Feels so out of place for the narrator and these teens.
Honestly is something else going to happen outside of chores, fighting, and going to school? I had a brother I don't need to read page after page of boys swearing and talking about banging girls.
Another talk to Mark from his father telling him to behave and do good.
Half way through and something actually happened at the shack. So the shack only shows itself to all the teens and not to just Mark, but now Scott is missing and they are saying they won't talk about it.
Marks mom is not upset that her son is smoking and even asks him for a cigarette despite him being underage.
Mark is just so willing to kill one after the other person with very little resistance.
I know things are happening but it kind of feels like nothing is happening because it's all so repetitive feeling.
The fight scene was so over written that it was difficult to pay attention to what was happening with the characters.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly it wasn't a bad book but I doubt a month from now I'll even remember much from it.
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
While looking for a secret place to smoke cigarettes with his two best friends, troubled teenager Mark discovers a mysterious shack in a suburban field. Alienated from his parents and peers, Mark finds within the shack an escape greater than anything he has ever experienced.
But it isn't long before the place begins revealing its strange, powerful sentience. And it wants something in exchange for the shelter it provides.
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Genre: Horror
Pages: 190
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Cover is creepy beautiful
2. Very scenic
3. Characters were very male
What I Didn't Like:
1. Writing at times came off childish
2. Boring most of the part
Overall Thoughts:
Not caring for the forced swearing. Feels so out of place for the narrator and these teens.
Honestly is something else going to happen outside of chores, fighting, and going to school? I had a brother I don't need to read page after page of boys swearing and talking about banging girls.
Another talk to Mark from his father telling him to behave and do good.
Half way through and something actually happened at the shack. So the shack only shows itself to all the teens and not to just Mark, but now Scott is missing and they are saying they won't talk about it.
Marks mom is not upset that her son is smoking and even asks him for a cigarette despite him being underage.
Mark is just so willing to kill one after the other person with very little resistance.
I know things are happening but it kind of feels like nothing is happening because it's all so repetitive feeling.
The fight scene was so over written that it was difficult to pay attention to what was happening with the characters.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly it wasn't a bad book but I doubt a month from now I'll even remember much from it.
IG | Blog
January 29, 2021
My thanks to the author for sending me a review copy of this book. It releases next month!
Nailing the voices and actions of teenagers in (horror) fiction is tricky business: I’ve certainly read my share of cringe-inducing coming-of-age horror novels that all want to be IT and failing miserably. Luckily, Mike Thorn’s teen-aged characters are written well, especially Mark, our main character. Much of this story hinges on the reader’s ability to “picture” and sympathize with this guy, in all his self-hatred and confusion and awkwardness. Hey, it’s puberty. And high school.
And that’s the thing: Thorn nails the grittiness of being a teenager, especially a teenage male. A review I read of this book mentioned “male shame”, and I think it’s highly relevant. Shelter for the Damned could be seen, at least in part, as an examination of toxic masculinity—look no further than the overbearing, hardly-able-to-cope father of Mark, or the monstrously abusive father of friend Adam. Or even the laid-back but rather incapable father of other friend Scott. Much of the horror found here is in the horrible things men do to themselves, and others.
I had only slight issues with this book. I felt Mark’s (possible) descent into madness was a bit rushed, and at times unconvincing; it was not aided by his occasional inner monologuing that spell out things the reader should already know/ponder: “Am I really going crazy?” etc. Moments like that took me out of the experience a bit, reminding me I was reading fiction. Oh, and I felt Mark’s love interest, while nice and interesting enough, was a bit of a manic pixie dream girl. Only a bit. But . . . Still.
I was impressed by Thorn’s previous release, story collection Darkest Hours, and I suspected I’d like this too. I was right. For a debut novel it’s quite good: a horror story that goes in occasionally unexpected directions, it’s sure to leave the reader pondering what they just experienced.
Nailing the voices and actions of teenagers in (horror) fiction is tricky business: I’ve certainly read my share of cringe-inducing coming-of-age horror novels that all want to be IT and failing miserably. Luckily, Mike Thorn’s teen-aged characters are written well, especially Mark, our main character. Much of this story hinges on the reader’s ability to “picture” and sympathize with this guy, in all his self-hatred and confusion and awkwardness. Hey, it’s puberty. And high school.
And that’s the thing: Thorn nails the grittiness of being a teenager, especially a teenage male. A review I read of this book mentioned “male shame”, and I think it’s highly relevant. Shelter for the Damned could be seen, at least in part, as an examination of toxic masculinity—look no further than the overbearing, hardly-able-to-cope father of Mark, or the monstrously abusive father of friend Adam. Or even the laid-back but rather incapable father of other friend Scott. Much of the horror found here is in the horrible things men do to themselves, and others.
I had only slight issues with this book. I felt Mark’s (possible) descent into madness was a bit rushed, and at times unconvincing; it was not aided by his occasional inner monologuing that spell out things the reader should already know/ponder: “Am I really going crazy?” etc. Moments like that took me out of the experience a bit, reminding me I was reading fiction. Oh, and I felt Mark’s love interest, while nice and interesting enough, was a bit of a manic pixie dream girl. Only a bit. But . . . Still.
I was impressed by Thorn’s previous release, story collection Darkest Hours, and I suspected I’d like this too. I was right. For a debut novel it’s quite good: a horror story that goes in occasionally unexpected directions, it’s sure to leave the reader pondering what they just experienced.
April 2, 2021
Superbly written. Initial slow burn as we get to know the characters, which beautifully settles us into the horror to come. Deeply unnerving and unique.
February 13, 2021
This story is what feels to me to be a sort of coming of age horror.
I did received an ARC from the author to read and review and I believe the expected publication date will be 02/26/21.
To briefly summarize the plot, this story focuses on 3 teenage boys who are described exactly as you would expect them to be and it was done so well as to make these boys feel real and actual. They're mission is to sneak off and smoke without being caught with their parents. In search of the perfect secluded spot from prying eyes, the boys stumble upon an old Shack. Entering the Shack set in motion the malevolent force that drives the story forward.
The writing style of the author was very enjoyable. It was free flowing, easy to follow, conversational. It was also very descriptive, which allowed me to feel like I was standing there watching it all play out instead of reading it. I LOVE that - it puts me right up front with the story and allows me to connect in a very solid way.
I will preface this next part with a disclaimer: I am not an author nor am I an editor. I'm just a reader. This is a horror story, very clear going in what it is. There was nothing scary or horror related truly until Chapter 10 - practically midway into the book. In my opinion, Chapter 10 should have been where we started the story. Get some serious scary action in at the start to grab readers and suck them in - THEN have the character development and slow building plot in Chapters 1-9 with the concluding chapters.
I also was left a touch unsatisfied that we got zero explanation of what this supernatural force was with the Shack. No explanation, no back story, nothing. Literally nothing. Not even a hint so I could theorize myself afterwards. It just sort of....stopped. I'm good with an unresolved ending, as long as I'm given enough information with which to work it through and have fun with - but this is strictly personal preference.
At the end of the day, did the author do what he set out to do? Yes. I loved what he wrote. I just wanted MORE, which is never a bad thing when it comes to a book! I think Mike Thorn has some amazing potential and I will definitely keep an eye on what he's up to and what he puts out next for us.
I did received an ARC from the author to read and review and I believe the expected publication date will be 02/26/21.
To briefly summarize the plot, this story focuses on 3 teenage boys who are described exactly as you would expect them to be and it was done so well as to make these boys feel real and actual. They're mission is to sneak off and smoke without being caught with their parents. In search of the perfect secluded spot from prying eyes, the boys stumble upon an old Shack. Entering the Shack set in motion the malevolent force that drives the story forward.
The writing style of the author was very enjoyable. It was free flowing, easy to follow, conversational. It was also very descriptive, which allowed me to feel like I was standing there watching it all play out instead of reading it. I LOVE that - it puts me right up front with the story and allows me to connect in a very solid way.
I will preface this next part with a disclaimer: I am not an author nor am I an editor. I'm just a reader. This is a horror story, very clear going in what it is. There was nothing scary or horror related truly until Chapter 10 - practically midway into the book. In my opinion, Chapter 10 should have been where we started the story. Get some serious scary action in at the start to grab readers and suck them in - THEN have the character development and slow building plot in Chapters 1-9 with the concluding chapters.
I also was left a touch unsatisfied that we got zero explanation of what this supernatural force was with the Shack. No explanation, no back story, nothing. Literally nothing. Not even a hint so I could theorize myself afterwards. It just sort of....stopped. I'm good with an unresolved ending, as long as I'm given enough information with which to work it through and have fun with - but this is strictly personal preference.
At the end of the day, did the author do what he set out to do? Yes. I loved what he wrote. I just wanted MORE, which is never a bad thing when it comes to a book! I think Mike Thorn has some amazing potential and I will definitely keep an eye on what he's up to and what he puts out next for us.
January 11, 2021
Coming of age stories are always going to grab my attention. And then throw in some elements of horror and then you definitely have a reader out of me! In SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED, Mike Thorn's debut, we have a great mix of both. We also get a little more inside the main character's head as he struggles with feeling outcast, like he doesn't belong, a wife range of emotions and frustrations, as well as this descent into... well... finding THAT out will require you to read this book!
The story follows Mark and his friends as they are discovering a shack out in the middle of nowhere. They think it will be a good place to cut loose, relax, and smoke some cigarettes. After the first visit, something about the shack seems to grab hold of Mark. Mark, who is a known troublemaker already, begins to display even more violence and ends up getting suspended. His parents are trying to make heads or tails of what is happening, even though his dad is one of the most awful characters. I hope he was intended to be worse than the dad/sheriff from the film Pet Sematary 2 before AND after he gets killed and turns evil...
During his suspension he goes back to the shack. The shack is always calling to him. He sneaks out of his house and notices it is no longer standing. It is not there period. He gathers his friends to go check it out and it is surprisingly right where they all left it. At this point you are starting to wonder what is in Mark's head vs. what is really happening. Things just get worse and worse for Mark and his friends as he gets closer and more connected to the shack.
One of my only grievances reading this book is the repetitive use of any iteration of 'f*ck.' It felt like I was reading a Scorcese script at times and it got distracting to me. I could have read longer and not seen it on the page nearly as often and might have even had a better impact. That's just my 2 cents on that.
Fans of Christine by Stephen King and cosmic horror will eat this one right up! There are some great elements of both to be had in this stunning debut from Mike Thorn. He is a voice to look out for in the future! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
The story follows Mark and his friends as they are discovering a shack out in the middle of nowhere. They think it will be a good place to cut loose, relax, and smoke some cigarettes. After the first visit, something about the shack seems to grab hold of Mark. Mark, who is a known troublemaker already, begins to display even more violence and ends up getting suspended. His parents are trying to make heads or tails of what is happening, even though his dad is one of the most awful characters. I hope he was intended to be worse than the dad/sheriff from the film Pet Sematary 2 before AND after he gets killed and turns evil...
During his suspension he goes back to the shack. The shack is always calling to him. He sneaks out of his house and notices it is no longer standing. It is not there period. He gathers his friends to go check it out and it is surprisingly right where they all left it. At this point you are starting to wonder what is in Mark's head vs. what is really happening. Things just get worse and worse for Mark and his friends as he gets closer and more connected to the shack.
One of my only grievances reading this book is the repetitive use of any iteration of 'f*ck.' It felt like I was reading a Scorcese script at times and it got distracting to me. I could have read longer and not seen it on the page nearly as often and might have even had a better impact. That's just my 2 cents on that.
Fans of Christine by Stephen King and cosmic horror will eat this one right up! There are some great elements of both to be had in this stunning debut from Mike Thorn. He is a voice to look out for in the future! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
October 26, 2021
Mix Lovecraft's keen ability in creating creepy and trippy atmospheres with Erica LaRocca and Jack Ketchum's ultra realistic content and skill to reflect the disturbing violence within our species, and you got Mike Thorn's Shelter for the Damned.
The buildup of a coming-of-age story involving 90s kids in a relatable suburban neighborhood similar to one I grew up in sunk the hook in my heart. When we start learning about the family life of the boy's and what happens behind closed doors (in one particular case, it's bad enough within public eyes) my Irish Blood started to boil and my tears began to pump out of my eyes.
We know simply by reading the title and seeing the cover that the center stage is a structure that may or may not be a house. Nonetheless, when we enter, that's when the text-hallucinogens entered your system.
Throughout the story it's clear what is happening, but at the same time... the ambiguity sprinkled throughout is evident enough that I can't actually tell what to believe. I LOVE that in a story--an unreliable narrator or POV character--because that's life. Everyone has their own version, the other guy has theirs, and then, somewhere in the middle is the truth.
There's monsters, brutality, a protagonist (I think?) that gets involved in the worst of the worst scenario, and then there's the truth somewhere between all the chaos.
This is a powerful story that will twirl your mind around the more you think about how you got to where the story ended and what actually rests within that shelter.
The buildup of a coming-of-age story involving 90s kids in a relatable suburban neighborhood similar to one I grew up in sunk the hook in my heart. When we start learning about the family life of the boy's and what happens behind closed doors (in one particular case, it's bad enough within public eyes) my Irish Blood started to boil and my tears began to pump out of my eyes.
We know simply by reading the title and seeing the cover that the center stage is a structure that may or may not be a house. Nonetheless, when we enter, that's when the text-hallucinogens entered your system.
Throughout the story it's clear what is happening, but at the same time... the ambiguity sprinkled throughout is evident enough that I can't actually tell what to believe. I LOVE that in a story--an unreliable narrator or POV character--because that's life. Everyone has their own version, the other guy has theirs, and then, somewhere in the middle is the truth.
There's monsters, brutality, a protagonist (I think?) that gets involved in the worst of the worst scenario, and then there's the truth somewhere between all the chaos.
This is a powerful story that will twirl your mind around the more you think about how you got to where the story ended and what actually rests within that shelter.
March 28, 2024
“Mark’s real bedroom, after all, had become a haven for ghostly sounds, dead bodies, and monsters. The Shack, comparatively, was a sanctuary.”
Writing on Mike Thorn’s short fiction duology, Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation, I said “There’s something of an occult psychologist in every good horror writer.” A sweeping over-generalization, perhaps, but also a fine description for Thorn’s particular skills. Shelter for the Damned will strike an immediately familiar chord for those who’ve read Darkest Hours or the aforementioned duology, with its tale of suburban anonymity, everyday trauma, and abstract ghouls, but it makes use of its greater length to synthesize the diverse strands of Thorn’s imagination, and, I’d argue, potentiates the emotional core of those recurring themes and motifs.
The focal point is the distorted mind of protagonist Mark, a lost and alienated teen. His sickness is our lens, a gamble on Thorn’s part to bring us closer to the Monster and grasp the root of his violence. Thorn himself describes this as a “coming-of-age” story, and as such we’re left to trace the emergence of another self in Mark, materialized into another of Thorn’s gray beings. From adolescent irresolution to the resolve to take life. One can perhaps get hung-up on the ambiguities -- how many of the supernatural events are inventions of this sick mind, and how much is really compelled by a force of cosmic evil? -- but that misses Thorn’s psychological craft: Mark is a portrait of the youthful mind divided, between the conditioning of what’s expected and the need to actualize outside of that, however broken and in fact psychotic the approach. It’s unnerving, but also desperate and sad. In a world of casual and accepted violence, the raw wound that is Mark highlights contradictory horror that is law: savagery in politesse, brutality in rites of passage.
This law is embodied in the characters of the adults, more precisely the men, masculine violence in multiple permutations on a scale from the performative to the genuinely sadistic. “Playing Clint Eastwood,” the righteous authority of the more socialized men is understood as an inheritance of repressive role-playing. Authority’s severity is likened, repeatedly, to the inhuman gaze of an attack dog, be it a cop or a lecturing bystander, the threat implicit. On the other end, degenerating in addiction and economic malaise, masculinity distorts into sadism cloaked by closed doors. Given no center of social respect and discipline, its animality oozes outwards and damns others in its presence to its own narcissistic hell; its pain must not be contained but spread. Shelter for the Damned is a novel of fathers and sons, a novel of warped inheritance: Mark can perceive normality’s lines and, in some fragment of himself, the need to walk them, but the seeds of violence (planted, perhaps, by abuse) have grown uncontrollably, to the extent in which the aforementioned contradictions come into crystal clarity.
For Mark can apologize, he can even “mean it,” and yet this in no way mitigates his path to damnation. It may even abet it. Compartmentalizing the need to assert, learned as the need to lash violently, and emotional responsibilities to others, felt as overwhelming pangs of guilt and in confounding encounters with intimacy, into parallel tracks of his being, Mark effectively removes himself from responsibility for his acts. He becomes the perfect scion for this suburban horror: oh-so-innocent and oh-so-murderous in equal proportions. We don’t talk about it, we don’t think about it, but we still do it.
The Shack, like an empty plot, the far-edge of a massive parking lot, or some river’s concrete drainway, is one of those dead and anonymous suburban spaces. It reflects Mark’s own lack of center, lingering like a forgotten secret between more organized rows of houses. Flying from ennui or abuse, these negative spaces become, yes, unlikely sanctuaries, nooks and crannies for beleaguered souls to sequester themselves with cigarettes and bad beer. When a society is predicated on leaving what’s most frightening or painful unsaid, such spaces become truth’s strange haven -- albeit, sometimes, a terrible truth.
Is Mark actualized by this space, or a slave to it? One and then the other. When Mark pushes further into the story and meets this space’s otherworldly presence more concretely, or, more accurately, is possessed by it, Thorn writes: “He was the indifferent but all-powerful energy that guided not only his own narrative, but all narratives…” Violence, at first an assertion of ego, begins to subsume him as element force. In giving himself to this force, the Mark that is of normality begins to fade, even literally in one particularly memorable passage. His pathological compartmentalization of his sickness cannot hold up to the pressure, and, in a gutting descent, he is stripped of anything that might’ve connected him to others in a healthy manner. And always, until the very end, the mask still tries to hold on. Apologetic and even confessional, the last remnant of Human Mark dies a pitiful death, alone, afraid, and consumed by what he set free.
The novel’s most effective horror is found here. The success in Thorn’s characterization of Mark, budding sociopath, is in the realization of his adolescent confusion regarding these transformations. These aren’t the bold leaps of some fully-formed psychopath, but awkward fumblings, in both internal and external terms. The crimes Mark commits are clumsy, and his experience of his own descent inconsistent and torturous. He can never decide which him is the real Him, or at least can’t perceive having the choice. The novel’s tragedy is of a fall experienced by one who can’t even comprehend what that might really mean. Child of silent rot, condemned to create his own void. Damned, indeed.
Writing on Mike Thorn’s short fiction duology, Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation, I said “There’s something of an occult psychologist in every good horror writer.” A sweeping over-generalization, perhaps, but also a fine description for Thorn’s particular skills. Shelter for the Damned will strike an immediately familiar chord for those who’ve read Darkest Hours or the aforementioned duology, with its tale of suburban anonymity, everyday trauma, and abstract ghouls, but it makes use of its greater length to synthesize the diverse strands of Thorn’s imagination, and, I’d argue, potentiates the emotional core of those recurring themes and motifs.
The focal point is the distorted mind of protagonist Mark, a lost and alienated teen. His sickness is our lens, a gamble on Thorn’s part to bring us closer to the Monster and grasp the root of his violence. Thorn himself describes this as a “coming-of-age” story, and as such we’re left to trace the emergence of another self in Mark, materialized into another of Thorn’s gray beings. From adolescent irresolution to the resolve to take life. One can perhaps get hung-up on the ambiguities -- how many of the supernatural events are inventions of this sick mind, and how much is really compelled by a force of cosmic evil? -- but that misses Thorn’s psychological craft: Mark is a portrait of the youthful mind divided, between the conditioning of what’s expected and the need to actualize outside of that, however broken and in fact psychotic the approach. It’s unnerving, but also desperate and sad. In a world of casual and accepted violence, the raw wound that is Mark highlights contradictory horror that is law: savagery in politesse, brutality in rites of passage.
This law is embodied in the characters of the adults, more precisely the men, masculine violence in multiple permutations on a scale from the performative to the genuinely sadistic. “Playing Clint Eastwood,” the righteous authority of the more socialized men is understood as an inheritance of repressive role-playing. Authority’s severity is likened, repeatedly, to the inhuman gaze of an attack dog, be it a cop or a lecturing bystander, the threat implicit. On the other end, degenerating in addiction and economic malaise, masculinity distorts into sadism cloaked by closed doors. Given no center of social respect and discipline, its animality oozes outwards and damns others in its presence to its own narcissistic hell; its pain must not be contained but spread. Shelter for the Damned is a novel of fathers and sons, a novel of warped inheritance: Mark can perceive normality’s lines and, in some fragment of himself, the need to walk them, but the seeds of violence (planted, perhaps, by abuse) have grown uncontrollably, to the extent in which the aforementioned contradictions come into crystal clarity.
For Mark can apologize, he can even “mean it,” and yet this in no way mitigates his path to damnation. It may even abet it. Compartmentalizing the need to assert, learned as the need to lash violently, and emotional responsibilities to others, felt as overwhelming pangs of guilt and in confounding encounters with intimacy, into parallel tracks of his being, Mark effectively removes himself from responsibility for his acts. He becomes the perfect scion for this suburban horror: oh-so-innocent and oh-so-murderous in equal proportions. We don’t talk about it, we don’t think about it, but we still do it.
The Shack, like an empty plot, the far-edge of a massive parking lot, or some river’s concrete drainway, is one of those dead and anonymous suburban spaces. It reflects Mark’s own lack of center, lingering like a forgotten secret between more organized rows of houses. Flying from ennui or abuse, these negative spaces become, yes, unlikely sanctuaries, nooks and crannies for beleaguered souls to sequester themselves with cigarettes and bad beer. When a society is predicated on leaving what’s most frightening or painful unsaid, such spaces become truth’s strange haven -- albeit, sometimes, a terrible truth.
Is Mark actualized by this space, or a slave to it? One and then the other. When Mark pushes further into the story and meets this space’s otherworldly presence more concretely, or, more accurately, is possessed by it, Thorn writes: “He was the indifferent but all-powerful energy that guided not only his own narrative, but all narratives…” Violence, at first an assertion of ego, begins to subsume him as element force. In giving himself to this force, the Mark that is of normality begins to fade, even literally in one particularly memorable passage. His pathological compartmentalization of his sickness cannot hold up to the pressure, and, in a gutting descent, he is stripped of anything that might’ve connected him to others in a healthy manner. And always, until the very end, the mask still tries to hold on. Apologetic and even confessional, the last remnant of Human Mark dies a pitiful death, alone, afraid, and consumed by what he set free.
The novel’s most effective horror is found here. The success in Thorn’s characterization of Mark, budding sociopath, is in the realization of his adolescent confusion regarding these transformations. These aren’t the bold leaps of some fully-formed psychopath, but awkward fumblings, in both internal and external terms. The crimes Mark commits are clumsy, and his experience of his own descent inconsistent and torturous. He can never decide which him is the real Him, or at least can’t perceive having the choice. The novel’s tragedy is of a fall experienced by one who can’t even comprehend what that might really mean. Child of silent rot, condemned to create his own void. Damned, indeed.
September 8, 2021
Dude. 👀
Definitely one of the few able to compete with Octavia’s ‘Kindred’ for my favorite of the entire year.
Definitely one of the few able to compete with Octavia’s ‘Kindred’ for my favorite of the entire year.
June 26, 2021
There is not enough written on how our bodies remember rooms, bringing the outside in. And there is never enough of an emphasis on the inverse: the way our skin and breath and habits continue to line the rooms once inhabited, long after we've left. When it's done it's done with the noise of ghosts. The Gothic house either reveals its memories to the visitor as hauntings, or puts work into staging the visitor's memories for them within this unfamiliar environment. What is uncanny about the Gothic house is the way it shapes the memories of the visitor, or personalises the haunting for them, in any case welcoming them to a home that is not their home. Beneath the warm memories projected by the Gothic house is a cold, indifferent architecture, and this demystified state is the concern of Shelter for the Damned. Mike Thorn asks, what if rather than the layers of human meaning we inscribe on the walls of a room, it is that fundamental anonymity that attracts us to a house; what if homelessness itself that constitutes the home; what if it is the drive to emptiness that is the essence of the human. Shelter for the Damned is not about the Gothic house storing and presenting memories to some future visitor, but about the loss of self in entering the domain of the house's memories; of becoming dust.
Thorn's most emphatic descriptions come when Mark, the protagonist, is trying to absorb and explain Shelter for the Damned's source of architectural antagonism, the Shack. The Shack, we're told in vivid and excited prose, is defined by its non-specificity, its inability to be made vivid in literary description. The Shack's categorical formlessness is contrasted with the narrative's actual homes which Thorn describes in generic economy; skeletal fragments of the ordinary that the reader is expected to fill in through their own memories of the same. What is creepy about literature is that it always works this way. The author draws from memory to paint a scene, and the reader wanders through memories that are not their own, understanding them through those that are. Shelter for the Damned draws attention to what is usually done without thought, the absorption of something alien through its fusion with the buried and familiar. The book contains every ordinary house the reader ever spent time in and forgot. The Shack however withholds itself despite being traced time again in prose. Without that connection to the reader's imagined past it exists solely in the tangle of words that reach from the page and into the reader's eyes, clawing toward their thoughts. It would be enough to say the Shack resides just outside of language, at that hole we cover over in every conversation just to stay sane, which is the noise of transmission, and the knowledge that with broken words we can never truly know one another.
For Thorn this distance produces an itch, where the indescribability of the Shack throws us into the mad task of dreaming it into reality. The Shack is more real than the language around it because it is the cold walls and floors and ceilings behind every memory. These formless forms, these itinerant words that point to something lurking beyond the page, evoke the much celebrated 'gaps' in Lovecraftian weird prose. The Shack's name alone fits within the Gothic tradition of the definite article following the indefinite adverb-noun: "The Unnamable," "The Thing," "The Shape," and so on. What shack? Every Shack that ever was and will be, traceable to no specific instance of 'shack' but nevertheless there, clinging to the backs of your memories like glue. You know it although you can't know it, you've touched it although you can't hold it. This is not to say that Shelter for the Damned fits entirely within that model, however. There is an ongoing conversation between these evocative gaps that gesture to some sort of cosmic force, and Thorn's interest in the psychological intensity of an entity or event's appearance in reality. In Mark's own words, there are scenes and descriptions "that would make Tom Savini proud", and in the context of the Shack this is all cosmic suggestion cut through with the raw fact of viscera, the two churning back and forth in an ultraviolent spectacle both chilling and corporeal. A cosmic disorder tying reality from the skies to an errant tooth.
Shelter for the Damned gets at the sweaty mess of adolescence in Mark without resorting to the abject bodily fluids and soapie melodrama that writers so often use to frame teenagehood as a kind of transgression against both adult wisdom and childhood innocence. As in all good horror there's a dignity to the messiness of existence brought about through Thorn's contempt for stratifications that place normality as the goal. Normality cannot be restored because there is no normal. Through Mark universal isolation is explored alongside ever encroaching cycles of masculine violence. Mark's anger seems to come from nowhere. There are brief holes in the plot and even the character is left wondering what triggered it after the fact. There's an atmosphere of violence then, where violence seemingly needs to happen. To explain this Thorn goes to good lengths accounting for the adult men in Mark's orbit. If it's not relating to Mark's interiority on a personal level, the reader can likely appreciate the catalogue of terrible fathers in Shelter for the Damned, and relate to the book's searing observations on the middle-class nuclear family. It is no wonder that the familiar homes in the book feel so empty, but the amorphous Shack, so striking in its anonymity, immediately becomes a true Home for Mark. The novel's teenage angst is perfectly rendered, and there's a real kick to having it, not coupled with (in the form of a pastiche), but as a genuinely affecting portal to questions of cosmic indifference, the homeliness of nothingness, and the human search for silence.
I'm hugely drawn to the rhythms of the book, and the dilation and compression of time and description. For the first two thirds Thorn deploys this stylistic tic of cutting sentences into individual clauses and removing pronouns along with the conjunctions. There's a fluidity to his conversations that's neatly offset by these fragments, and this draws attention to the formal economy used throughout. The penultimate few chapters however rise to a kind of incantatory excess as Mark and the Shack become indivisible, italicised and hyphenated spells thrashing against the rising and falling tides of polysyndeton. It's ecstatic and biblical, and it's in these passages the reader could be forgiven for forgetting to breathe.
Thorn's most emphatic descriptions come when Mark, the protagonist, is trying to absorb and explain Shelter for the Damned's source of architectural antagonism, the Shack. The Shack, we're told in vivid and excited prose, is defined by its non-specificity, its inability to be made vivid in literary description. The Shack's categorical formlessness is contrasted with the narrative's actual homes which Thorn describes in generic economy; skeletal fragments of the ordinary that the reader is expected to fill in through their own memories of the same. What is creepy about literature is that it always works this way. The author draws from memory to paint a scene, and the reader wanders through memories that are not their own, understanding them through those that are. Shelter for the Damned draws attention to what is usually done without thought, the absorption of something alien through its fusion with the buried and familiar. The book contains every ordinary house the reader ever spent time in and forgot. The Shack however withholds itself despite being traced time again in prose. Without that connection to the reader's imagined past it exists solely in the tangle of words that reach from the page and into the reader's eyes, clawing toward their thoughts. It would be enough to say the Shack resides just outside of language, at that hole we cover over in every conversation just to stay sane, which is the noise of transmission, and the knowledge that with broken words we can never truly know one another.
For Thorn this distance produces an itch, where the indescribability of the Shack throws us into the mad task of dreaming it into reality. The Shack is more real than the language around it because it is the cold walls and floors and ceilings behind every memory. These formless forms, these itinerant words that point to something lurking beyond the page, evoke the much celebrated 'gaps' in Lovecraftian weird prose. The Shack's name alone fits within the Gothic tradition of the definite article following the indefinite adverb-noun: "The Unnamable," "The Thing," "The Shape," and so on. What shack? Every Shack that ever was and will be, traceable to no specific instance of 'shack' but nevertheless there, clinging to the backs of your memories like glue. You know it although you can't know it, you've touched it although you can't hold it. This is not to say that Shelter for the Damned fits entirely within that model, however. There is an ongoing conversation between these evocative gaps that gesture to some sort of cosmic force, and Thorn's interest in the psychological intensity of an entity or event's appearance in reality. In Mark's own words, there are scenes and descriptions "that would make Tom Savini proud", and in the context of the Shack this is all cosmic suggestion cut through with the raw fact of viscera, the two churning back and forth in an ultraviolent spectacle both chilling and corporeal. A cosmic disorder tying reality from the skies to an errant tooth.
Shelter for the Damned gets at the sweaty mess of adolescence in Mark without resorting to the abject bodily fluids and soapie melodrama that writers so often use to frame teenagehood as a kind of transgression against both adult wisdom and childhood innocence. As in all good horror there's a dignity to the messiness of existence brought about through Thorn's contempt for stratifications that place normality as the goal. Normality cannot be restored because there is no normal. Through Mark universal isolation is explored alongside ever encroaching cycles of masculine violence. Mark's anger seems to come from nowhere. There are brief holes in the plot and even the character is left wondering what triggered it after the fact. There's an atmosphere of violence then, where violence seemingly needs to happen. To explain this Thorn goes to good lengths accounting for the adult men in Mark's orbit. If it's not relating to Mark's interiority on a personal level, the reader can likely appreciate the catalogue of terrible fathers in Shelter for the Damned, and relate to the book's searing observations on the middle-class nuclear family. It is no wonder that the familiar homes in the book feel so empty, but the amorphous Shack, so striking in its anonymity, immediately becomes a true Home for Mark. The novel's teenage angst is perfectly rendered, and there's a real kick to having it, not coupled with (in the form of a pastiche), but as a genuinely affecting portal to questions of cosmic indifference, the homeliness of nothingness, and the human search for silence.
I'm hugely drawn to the rhythms of the book, and the dilation and compression of time and description. For the first two thirds Thorn deploys this stylistic tic of cutting sentences into individual clauses and removing pronouns along with the conjunctions. There's a fluidity to his conversations that's neatly offset by these fragments, and this draws attention to the formal economy used throughout. The penultimate few chapters however rise to a kind of incantatory excess as Mark and the Shack become indivisible, italicised and hyphenated spells thrashing against the rising and falling tides of polysyndeton. It's ecstatic and biblical, and it's in these passages the reader could be forgiven for forgetting to breathe.
March 21, 2021
Shelter for the Damned was an interesting read, a new voice to me and one I’ll be looking at reading more of in the future given this outing, but that is not to say it was smooth sailing - I did had some niggling issues with the story itself.
The novel starts out great, an opening where we are introduced to our three main protagonists (albeit very quickly and I did struggle working out who was who for the first few pages) who discover a shack in the middle of nowhere. It’s not there one day and the next it appears like a thing from a nightmare!
The building itself was something so hideously brilliant and macabre that I wanted to know more (Mike Thorn describes this so vividly that it made me feel both sick and horrified - there was something about the physical structure of the walls that creeped me out) - our three protagonists want to smoke somewhere quiet and out of the way and so they force their way inside and discover more than they wished for.
There is a lot of teenage angst and distrust in this book. Many teenagers keep secrets from their parents and that’s what these three protagonist are doing and it’s rendered to perfection by Thorn.
But what I really enjoyed about our main protagonists was the aspect around how three young boys try to grow up under their parents looming shadows - again the work that Thorn does here with the parental abuse is stunning, well restrained but keeps the barbarity for the reader to imagine, he hardly ever shows it.
There are also the common themes of love, depression, underage drinking, smoking, bullying, well if you can think of a teenage issue it’s probably in here somewhere - there is also a huge slice of horror I was just annoyed that we were pulled away from it for so long.
The book as I mentioned opens so well - but then we get torn away from all that fabulous pacing, set up and work that focuses around sustaining the oncoming dread and we spend the next 10 chapters roughly (whenever the Tooth scene happens) where the shack doesn’t really get mentioned again, or if so it’s just in passing. We spend a long while just meandering around the characters and their friendship issues - I don’t know if it’s just me but I wanted that shack to have a more central theme to the story - don’t get me wrong it does come back but much later in the book, but the work that was done initially got me so hooked that when it didn’t resurface my attention waned to the story that was unfolding as it was occupied with questions about where is the shack and when is it coming back.
Also the other issues I had were around the shack itself, we don’t really get given much information about it, where it came from, what it does, how it does what it does - it’s just there, and I’m all up for ambiguity but this story and with the depth that Thorn goes to in some elements was lacking a real explanation of what it was, and without that I felt the story just didn’t have the impact that Thorn works so hard to show us.
You might be thinking I didn’t like this book, but let me tell you that I did, there are some fabulous passages in this book, some thematic elements that are so deftly crafted and restrained (abuse) that you would imagine Thorn has been writing novels for years - there is also what I would describe as prose magic here too, I highlighted a great many passages, all mainly in the first chapter and later in the book when the shack is there - because the shack is the main character in this regardless of our protagonists!
Thorn does an exceptional job at nailing the voices of his protagonists (teenagers) and I was fully invested in discovering their plights, not so much the secondary characters but that trio and the shack were all I needed - I just felt a bit unsatisfied at the story’s conclusion with much left unsaid about the supernatural elements of the shack.
There was a tremendous scene with something in a cupboard that crawled out and it brought to mind John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ - it was that good, also had some Hellraiser vibes too... damn good!
Would I read more Thorn? You bet your life I will!
The novel starts out great, an opening where we are introduced to our three main protagonists (albeit very quickly and I did struggle working out who was who for the first few pages) who discover a shack in the middle of nowhere. It’s not there one day and the next it appears like a thing from a nightmare!
The building itself was something so hideously brilliant and macabre that I wanted to know more (Mike Thorn describes this so vividly that it made me feel both sick and horrified - there was something about the physical structure of the walls that creeped me out) - our three protagonists want to smoke somewhere quiet and out of the way and so they force their way inside and discover more than they wished for.
There is a lot of teenage angst and distrust in this book. Many teenagers keep secrets from their parents and that’s what these three protagonist are doing and it’s rendered to perfection by Thorn.
But what I really enjoyed about our main protagonists was the aspect around how three young boys try to grow up under their parents looming shadows - again the work that Thorn does here with the parental abuse is stunning, well restrained but keeps the barbarity for the reader to imagine, he hardly ever shows it.
There are also the common themes of love, depression, underage drinking, smoking, bullying, well if you can think of a teenage issue it’s probably in here somewhere - there is also a huge slice of horror I was just annoyed that we were pulled away from it for so long.
The book as I mentioned opens so well - but then we get torn away from all that fabulous pacing, set up and work that focuses around sustaining the oncoming dread and we spend the next 10 chapters roughly (whenever the Tooth scene happens) where the shack doesn’t really get mentioned again, or if so it’s just in passing. We spend a long while just meandering around the characters and their friendship issues - I don’t know if it’s just me but I wanted that shack to have a more central theme to the story - don’t get me wrong it does come back but much later in the book, but the work that was done initially got me so hooked that when it didn’t resurface my attention waned to the story that was unfolding as it was occupied with questions about where is the shack and when is it coming back.
Also the other issues I had were around the shack itself, we don’t really get given much information about it, where it came from, what it does, how it does what it does - it’s just there, and I’m all up for ambiguity but this story and with the depth that Thorn goes to in some elements was lacking a real explanation of what it was, and without that I felt the story just didn’t have the impact that Thorn works so hard to show us.
You might be thinking I didn’t like this book, but let me tell you that I did, there are some fabulous passages in this book, some thematic elements that are so deftly crafted and restrained (abuse) that you would imagine Thorn has been writing novels for years - there is also what I would describe as prose magic here too, I highlighted a great many passages, all mainly in the first chapter and later in the book when the shack is there - because the shack is the main character in this regardless of our protagonists!
Thorn does an exceptional job at nailing the voices of his protagonists (teenagers) and I was fully invested in discovering their plights, not so much the secondary characters but that trio and the shack were all I needed - I just felt a bit unsatisfied at the story’s conclusion with much left unsaid about the supernatural elements of the shack.
There was a tremendous scene with something in a cupboard that crawled out and it brought to mind John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ - it was that good, also had some Hellraiser vibes too... damn good!
Would I read more Thorn? You bet your life I will!
April 28, 2021
** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **
Having been a fan of Mike’s collection ‘Darkest Hours’ and his Demain Short! Sharp! Shocks! release ‘Dreams of Lake Drukka/Exhumation’ I was excited to see what he had in store for us for his first novel, ‘Shelter for the Damned.’
His story that appeared in the anthology ‘Prairie Gothic’ revolved around a house that wasn’t a house and was fantastic, so seeing what the synopsis of this was, I was very intrigued to dive in and discover what new nightmares he’d conjured for us.
Ultimately, this one was an odd read. Parts I absolutely loved and parts that really ground my gears. When all was said and done and I finished the book, I sat back and thought about it and wondered if maybe this release had started life as a screenplay. I know Mike’s a massive cinephile and there were some sections in here that read very much like it was written in script format and then transferred over into the novel. When I started to consider it in that aspect, I think some things clicked for me in a way they hadn’t when I initially read it.
What I liked: The story follows Mark, a teen kid who struggles to control his impulses. We get told he’s dealt with counselling already as well as multiple run-ins with school administration, but ultimately he isn’t sure why he acts as he does. Scott and Adam, Mark’s two best friends are hanging out with him when they find a random shack in a field, one they’ve never seen before.
Thorn uses that point to jump off into a story that focuses on a portal that soothes Mark’s shattered nerves but also feeds into his impulses and works to make him act out.
For me, the highlights were when Mark was interacting with the shack and the ‘inhabitants’ and struggling to come to grips with what they need him to do. In those moments Mark was a very believable character, one that you felt for and desperately wished he’d make the right choice.
What I didn’t like: The story attempts to have a few additional plotlines within, one about toxic masculinity and one about abusive parents. For me personally, I found that it made for difficult sections where the dialogue and interactions were off and didn’t feel like how real people would speak.
As well, and this leads back to my screenplay theory, the ending lost some impact from it being described from a phone call, instead of an actual action description.
One thing I’ll note – I wasn’t completely sure when/what year this takes place or exactly how old the kids were. This did make it tough at times with how the story was unfolding. There were no cell phones throughout, people instead phoning on landlines, yet in one instance with a homeless man, he mentions kids were beating him up while filming with a camcorder to load on Youtube. It threw me for a loop, as if Youtube exists, cell phones exist. Saying that – where I grew up, cell phone reception is still incredibly spotty and just last year, in 2020, they finally stopped using dial-up internet. Even where I live now, in the capital city of Alberta, you can drive for a few hours in any direction and find yourself out of cell service/range. So, in that aspect, I accepted the reality of no cell phones, but it may grind on some readers.
Why you should buy this: Thorn gives us a slow burn story that shows a kid spiral as the shack he loves hooks its tentacles into him and begins to distort right from wrong. Matt is a kid you want to root for and ultimately succeed, but in classic horror fashion, you just know that this won’t happen. Fans of Barker’s The Hellbound Heart will see similarities with Matt’s story arc and there are some amazingly grotesque moments that’ll make fans of horror happy.
Having been a fan of Mike’s collection ‘Darkest Hours’ and his Demain Short! Sharp! Shocks! release ‘Dreams of Lake Drukka/Exhumation’ I was excited to see what he had in store for us for his first novel, ‘Shelter for the Damned.’
His story that appeared in the anthology ‘Prairie Gothic’ revolved around a house that wasn’t a house and was fantastic, so seeing what the synopsis of this was, I was very intrigued to dive in and discover what new nightmares he’d conjured for us.
Ultimately, this one was an odd read. Parts I absolutely loved and parts that really ground my gears. When all was said and done and I finished the book, I sat back and thought about it and wondered if maybe this release had started life as a screenplay. I know Mike’s a massive cinephile and there were some sections in here that read very much like it was written in script format and then transferred over into the novel. When I started to consider it in that aspect, I think some things clicked for me in a way they hadn’t when I initially read it.
What I liked: The story follows Mark, a teen kid who struggles to control his impulses. We get told he’s dealt with counselling already as well as multiple run-ins with school administration, but ultimately he isn’t sure why he acts as he does. Scott and Adam, Mark’s two best friends are hanging out with him when they find a random shack in a field, one they’ve never seen before.
Thorn uses that point to jump off into a story that focuses on a portal that soothes Mark’s shattered nerves but also feeds into his impulses and works to make him act out.
For me, the highlights were when Mark was interacting with the shack and the ‘inhabitants’ and struggling to come to grips with what they need him to do. In those moments Mark was a very believable character, one that you felt for and desperately wished he’d make the right choice.
What I didn’t like: The story attempts to have a few additional plotlines within, one about toxic masculinity and one about abusive parents. For me personally, I found that it made for difficult sections where the dialogue and interactions were off and didn’t feel like how real people would speak.
As well, and this leads back to my screenplay theory, the ending lost some impact from it being described from a phone call, instead of an actual action description.
One thing I’ll note – I wasn’t completely sure when/what year this takes place or exactly how old the kids were. This did make it tough at times with how the story was unfolding. There were no cell phones throughout, people instead phoning on landlines, yet in one instance with a homeless man, he mentions kids were beating him up while filming with a camcorder to load on Youtube. It threw me for a loop, as if Youtube exists, cell phones exist. Saying that – where I grew up, cell phone reception is still incredibly spotty and just last year, in 2020, they finally stopped using dial-up internet. Even where I live now, in the capital city of Alberta, you can drive for a few hours in any direction and find yourself out of cell service/range. So, in that aspect, I accepted the reality of no cell phones, but it may grind on some readers.
Why you should buy this: Thorn gives us a slow burn story that shows a kid spiral as the shack he loves hooks its tentacles into him and begins to distort right from wrong. Matt is a kid you want to root for and ultimately succeed, but in classic horror fashion, you just know that this won’t happen. Fans of Barker’s The Hellbound Heart will see similarities with Matt’s story arc and there are some amazingly grotesque moments that’ll make fans of horror happy.
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January 12, 2022This book had me at:
SUBURBAN SOMEWHERE
2003
Those words follow the title page, appearing big and bolded--a menacing promise of alienation and anomie. The refusal to name the setting serves multiple ends, and prominent among them is a two-pronged statement: that the story could take place in many places, and that this is so because those places are constructed, more likely out of indifference rather than any real aim, to have few distinguishing characteristics other than blandness. Shelter for the Damned contains domestic abuse, lethal bludgeoning, supernatural violence, and more horrors besides, but for me what's most disturbing about it is the utter anonymity of setting. Carefully--and through omission as much as inclusion--the author constructs a world almost totally lacking in distinguishing visual character. The novel features a high school, a corner store, and a bunch of houses; these last have few distinctive features save for the interiors, and even most of those are portrayed as having few marks of idiosyncrasy. Little wonder, then, that a rundown shack is such a draw for the protagonist; sitting alone and anomalous, it attracts him in part because it's something worth noting in a place where almost nothing else is.
The theme of stultifying, repressive suburban existence has served a lot of writers and filmmakers well; here, it's combined with explorations of masculine power and victimhood, as well as one very classic horror theme: the diversion of the sex drive into the realm of brutal violence. The novel's hero, Mark, is drawn away from desire for classmate Madeline by the evil spectral powers of the Shack, which, much like any good drug, first provides bliss and then demands an awful price, even after the user has recognized its malign nature. Part of what makes the Shack so appealing--to the reader as well as to Mark--is the awfulness of what it stands opposed to: not only the typical social and psychosexual woes of adolescence (portrayed quite well here), but the utter sterility of the surrounding community. This sterility extends beyond the functional architecture and urban design into the realm of family relations; inside these homes, the only thing able to consistently break through the layers of disaffection is anger.
Mike Thorn writes in insistently short paragraphs, and the prose is softly but sharply percussive in its arrangement. The result is strong tension and a constant sense of explosive pressure--the novel seems constantly perched on the edge of horrific climax. That's not to say that Thorn defers violence and gore for very long in his story, but rather that he creates a constant fear that the next instance of them will be even worse, and that the last one we experience will be, well, the end of everything. I won't spoil the conclusion of the book, but I will say that the climactic episode is enthralling, and the very last sentence is an outright gut-punch.
SUBURBAN SOMEWHERE
2003
Those words follow the title page, appearing big and bolded--a menacing promise of alienation and anomie. The refusal to name the setting serves multiple ends, and prominent among them is a two-pronged statement: that the story could take place in many places, and that this is so because those places are constructed, more likely out of indifference rather than any real aim, to have few distinguishing characteristics other than blandness. Shelter for the Damned contains domestic abuse, lethal bludgeoning, supernatural violence, and more horrors besides, but for me what's most disturbing about it is the utter anonymity of setting. Carefully--and through omission as much as inclusion--the author constructs a world almost totally lacking in distinguishing visual character. The novel features a high school, a corner store, and a bunch of houses; these last have few distinctive features save for the interiors, and even most of those are portrayed as having few marks of idiosyncrasy. Little wonder, then, that a rundown shack is such a draw for the protagonist; sitting alone and anomalous, it attracts him in part because it's something worth noting in a place where almost nothing else is.
The theme of stultifying, repressive suburban existence has served a lot of writers and filmmakers well; here, it's combined with explorations of masculine power and victimhood, as well as one very classic horror theme: the diversion of the sex drive into the realm of brutal violence. The novel's hero, Mark, is drawn away from desire for classmate Madeline by the evil spectral powers of the Shack, which, much like any good drug, first provides bliss and then demands an awful price, even after the user has recognized its malign nature. Part of what makes the Shack so appealing--to the reader as well as to Mark--is the awfulness of what it stands opposed to: not only the typical social and psychosexual woes of adolescence (portrayed quite well here), but the utter sterility of the surrounding community. This sterility extends beyond the functional architecture and urban design into the realm of family relations; inside these homes, the only thing able to consistently break through the layers of disaffection is anger.
Mike Thorn writes in insistently short paragraphs, and the prose is softly but sharply percussive in its arrangement. The result is strong tension and a constant sense of explosive pressure--the novel seems constantly perched on the edge of horrific climax. That's not to say that Thorn defers violence and gore for very long in his story, but rather that he creates a constant fear that the next instance of them will be even worse, and that the last one we experience will be, well, the end of everything. I won't spoil the conclusion of the book, but I will say that the climactic episode is enthralling, and the very last sentence is an outright gut-punch.
March 12, 2021
Horror author Mike Thorn has written a nightmare inducing tale in “Shelter of the Damned.” The story centers around a teen named Mark and his two friends, Adam and Scott. Typical teens, trying to be cool, trying to be rebels. Mark seems to have a somewhat normal family, both parents at home, both seem like they give a damn about their son. His friends are not so lucky as both come from much more dismal backgrounds. They are very well written characters and are relatable. Their friendship is genuine and will remind you of your days as a bored teen in suburbia, USA.
As suburban kids often do, they are out for a walk, looking for some way to relieve the boredom, maybe someplace to sneak a few smokes out of watching adult eyes, when they stumble across an old shack. A dark, abandoned shack that they hadn’t noticed before. A shack that Mark is instantly drawn to, as they cross the threshold. As the days go on, Mark’s need for the shack, for the feeling it gives him, becomes an addiction for him. It does not hold the same appeal for his friends, which turns out to be fine because Mark realizes that he doesn’t want to share “his place” anymore.
As the shack begins to influence Mark on darker levels, his life begins a slow descent into a hellish nightmare that he cannot escape. Something dwells within the shack, something dark and evil and malicious, something that becomes more demanding and more twisted as it demands more from Mark. Demands that must be met, or Mark himself will become its prey. This story feels like a supernatural tale in the beginning, but the latter half reveals it to be something more. This is not your average ghost story, this evil is something else, from someplace else. This is cosmic horror, at its most unexpected.
This was a highly enjoyable story with excellent characters, well-written dialogue and a tense atmosphere that grips you early on and doesn’t let go until the final pages. I look forward to more stories by this new author.
As suburban kids often do, they are out for a walk, looking for some way to relieve the boredom, maybe someplace to sneak a few smokes out of watching adult eyes, when they stumble across an old shack. A dark, abandoned shack that they hadn’t noticed before. A shack that Mark is instantly drawn to, as they cross the threshold. As the days go on, Mark’s need for the shack, for the feeling it gives him, becomes an addiction for him. It does not hold the same appeal for his friends, which turns out to be fine because Mark realizes that he doesn’t want to share “his place” anymore.
As the shack begins to influence Mark on darker levels, his life begins a slow descent into a hellish nightmare that he cannot escape. Something dwells within the shack, something dark and evil and malicious, something that becomes more demanding and more twisted as it demands more from Mark. Demands that must be met, or Mark himself will become its prey. This story feels like a supernatural tale in the beginning, but the latter half reveals it to be something more. This is not your average ghost story, this evil is something else, from someplace else. This is cosmic horror, at its most unexpected.
This was a highly enjoyable story with excellent characters, well-written dialogue and a tense atmosphere that grips you early on and doesn’t let go until the final pages. I look forward to more stories by this new author.
February 12, 2021
Three boys enter a shack, and although they all seem to feel that it is more than it appears to be, one boy falls helplessly under it's control. I can't say I ever figured out exactly what the shack is or how it chooses it's victims.
Mark has always had a mean streak, a short fuse that is easily lit, and maybe that is why the shack has latched on to him. After their initial discovery, Mark's friends don't want to revisit the shack, but Mark is compelled to return, to the point of obsession. As Mark's friendships begin to deteriorate, so too does his school and home life, making the shack feel like the only good thing in his world. I felt that one reason Mark may have been easily swayed was his own proclivity towards violence but another may have been the implied physical abuse at the hands of his father. Although one of his friends is obviously abused repeatedly at home, the shack does not have the same hold over him so my theory could be wrong. It's possible that in addition to a supernatural element Mark may have suffered some form of mental illness because there were times I was not sure if he was hallucinating things that I thought his mother should have seen, if it were real. I guess this left me with more questions than answers, as to whether this is a dark descent into murder and madness, or a supernatural entity taking control.
4 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
Mark has always had a mean streak, a short fuse that is easily lit, and maybe that is why the shack has latched on to him. After their initial discovery, Mark's friends don't want to revisit the shack, but Mark is compelled to return, to the point of obsession. As Mark's friendships begin to deteriorate, so too does his school and home life, making the shack feel like the only good thing in his world. I felt that one reason Mark may have been easily swayed was his own proclivity towards violence but another may have been the implied physical abuse at the hands of his father. Although one of his friends is obviously abused repeatedly at home, the shack does not have the same hold over him so my theory could be wrong. It's possible that in addition to a supernatural element Mark may have suffered some form of mental illness because there were times I was not sure if he was hallucinating things that I thought his mother should have seen, if it were real. I guess this left me with more questions than answers, as to whether this is a dark descent into murder and madness, or a supernatural entity taking control.
4 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
February 7, 2021
Review of “Shelter for the Damned by Mike Thorn”
Release date 2/26/2021
A cosmic coming of age novel that will have you chewing your nails down to the quick.
Mark and his friends seek out a place to sneak their cigs. You know, all that coming of age jazz, where kids are sneaking around to do the things parents wouldn’t approve of. When they come upon this shack, it seems like the obvious place to sneak off too where no one could tell on them. There’s something euphoric about the shack for Mark though and almost addicting, until it starts to get into his head.
There were some definite highs to this book for me such as the creativity of the story and the action towards the end. It blew me away with its mind bending cosmic horror scenes and even drove my heart racing with some of the decisions the main character made. The lows of this book for me were the interactions/dialogue between Mark and the other characters in the beginning and the lack of connection. Where this book felt lacking in some areas it made up for it in others so I gave this one 3 ⭐️. The action and anxiety inducing scenes in the middle to end of the book makes me want to try more of this author's work in the future for sure.
Thank you Mike for sending me this ebook in exchange for an honest review!
Release date 2/26/2021
A cosmic coming of age novel that will have you chewing your nails down to the quick.
Mark and his friends seek out a place to sneak their cigs. You know, all that coming of age jazz, where kids are sneaking around to do the things parents wouldn’t approve of. When they come upon this shack, it seems like the obvious place to sneak off too where no one could tell on them. There’s something euphoric about the shack for Mark though and almost addicting, until it starts to get into his head.
There were some definite highs to this book for me such as the creativity of the story and the action towards the end. It blew me away with its mind bending cosmic horror scenes and even drove my heart racing with some of the decisions the main character made. The lows of this book for me were the interactions/dialogue between Mark and the other characters in the beginning and the lack of connection. Where this book felt lacking in some areas it made up for it in others so I gave this one 3 ⭐️. The action and anxiety inducing scenes in the middle to end of the book makes me want to try more of this author's work in the future for sure.
Thank you Mike for sending me this ebook in exchange for an honest review!
November 8, 2021
A truly excellent horror story that captures the feeling of adolescence perfectly.
March 8, 2021
Every year around film awards season, I find myself scrambling, making sure I haven’t missed watching any of the nominated movies. These are supposed to represent the best of the best, so my expectations are high. Then, almost without fail, I’m utterly disappointed – not at the ultimate winners, but by the nominees in general. Movies that are championed as superb, cerebral, and unflinching, just don’t seem to do it for me. That probably says more about my personal taste than a critique of the accolade process, and keep that in mind, because the same thing can happen to me with books.
After reading the synopsis of Shelter for the Damned by Mike Thorn, I was pumped to crack that novel open. Troubled teens, suburban violence, and a terrifying, sentient building – yes, please! And once advanced rave reviews began pouring in, I was even more excited. Sadly, however, my experience with this book was reminiscent of being disappointed by award-nominated films.
The story follows Mark who stumbles across an abandoned shack in suburbia when he and some friends are looking for a place to smoke cigarettes. All three teens are both drawn to and repulsed by the mysterious building they could have sworn wasn’t there before. But from the first time Mark steps inside, the shack becomes an obsession. Like an addict, he needs to go back as often as he can, and by the time he realizes the entity of the shack expects something sinister in return he’s helpless to resist.
Much of the novel is spent with Mark being isolated, but I never got a deep insight to his character. Something changed within him before the story begins, leading down a path where he’s constantly filled with rage, and I felt it was a missed opportunity that his backstory wasn’t explored, especially given the amount of time spent with only him and his thoughts. Through conversations with his parents, it’s revealed that at one point Mark was receiving counseling, however the reason why his sessions began or ended is never discussed.
My experience with the other characters wasn’t much different. From the parents to the other teenagers in the story, they all felt self-absorbed and hollow, with stilted dialogue. I don’t have a problem with unlikeable characters as long as there is something that explains their motivations. As a reader I want to gain an understanding of what the characters hope to gain or avoid, and I felt this was lacking throughout the story.
However, I did find some fantastic passages and descriptions throughout the book, and that’s what kept me reading to the end. Brawls between Mark and another student were tense and captured the gut-wrenching brutality that can consume teenaged boys. There were also a few scenes where Mark comes face to face with the cosmic entity from the shack which were supremely creepy. One of my favourite lines was from a nightmare Mark has of this being, and screams “…Until he’d screamed sound itself into extinction.”
Unfortunately, these terrific sections weren’t enough to fill the void I felt with the rest of the book.
*Review first appeared on Kendall Reviews*
After reading the synopsis of Shelter for the Damned by Mike Thorn, I was pumped to crack that novel open. Troubled teens, suburban violence, and a terrifying, sentient building – yes, please! And once advanced rave reviews began pouring in, I was even more excited. Sadly, however, my experience with this book was reminiscent of being disappointed by award-nominated films.
The story follows Mark who stumbles across an abandoned shack in suburbia when he and some friends are looking for a place to smoke cigarettes. All three teens are both drawn to and repulsed by the mysterious building they could have sworn wasn’t there before. But from the first time Mark steps inside, the shack becomes an obsession. Like an addict, he needs to go back as often as he can, and by the time he realizes the entity of the shack expects something sinister in return he’s helpless to resist.
Much of the novel is spent with Mark being isolated, but I never got a deep insight to his character. Something changed within him before the story begins, leading down a path where he’s constantly filled with rage, and I felt it was a missed opportunity that his backstory wasn’t explored, especially given the amount of time spent with only him and his thoughts. Through conversations with his parents, it’s revealed that at one point Mark was receiving counseling, however the reason why his sessions began or ended is never discussed.
My experience with the other characters wasn’t much different. From the parents to the other teenagers in the story, they all felt self-absorbed and hollow, with stilted dialogue. I don’t have a problem with unlikeable characters as long as there is something that explains their motivations. As a reader I want to gain an understanding of what the characters hope to gain or avoid, and I felt this was lacking throughout the story.
However, I did find some fantastic passages and descriptions throughout the book, and that’s what kept me reading to the end. Brawls between Mark and another student were tense and captured the gut-wrenching brutality that can consume teenaged boys. There were also a few scenes where Mark comes face to face with the cosmic entity from the shack which were supremely creepy. One of my favourite lines was from a nightmare Mark has of this being, and screams “…Until he’d screamed sound itself into extinction.”
Unfortunately, these terrific sections weren’t enough to fill the void I felt with the rest of the book.
*Review first appeared on Kendall Reviews*
February 23, 2021
Mike Thorn clearly knows his horror. For his Master’s thesis in English Literature he analyzed the role of epistemophobia in John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness. Clever readers will be able to notice his quick mention of this classic film in his latest novel, SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED.
Thorn steps into territory often used by horror authors, that being the use of teen-agers as the principal characters in the story. However, most often it comes across sounding like adults trying to get inside the mind and vocabulary of a teen. It takes authors like Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Dan Simmons or Richard Laymon to really do this right. I am pleased to say that the teen characters that carry the narrative here are all very believable.
It begins with a simple enough premise. Three high school buddies: Mark, Adam, and Scott, are bored on a typical small-town night and seeking a place where they can smoke cigarettes without being caught or seen. They find a shack literally by itself in the middle of a field. It resembles a small, broken-down house and initially the trio are hesitant to enter. Mark is the most fearless and he steps inside the shack, which is completely empty, dark, and very creepy. They speculate on what the place could be --- a home for bums, a sanctuary for Satan worshippers, etc.… It is one of those places that is something different to whoever seeks it out. Let us just say it immediately has a hold on Mark and he will become obsessed with going there after this first visit.
Mark is going through a troubled period at school where he is one step away from expulsion and a few fights with the slow-witted big lug in his class does not make him any more popular. His friends, Adam and Scott, begin to worry about him and want to hang out with him less and less. His parents are upset with his recent change in behavior and have grounded him. This, however, will not stop his middle-of-the-night visits to the shack. You see, Mark has found a real friend inside the shack, a being that often appears to him as a mirror image of himself --- and that mirror image starts to take revenge out on the people in Mark’s life that he has problems with. The major issue is that the shack is hungry for more souls and has an insatiable desire for them. Mark is now stuck serving the dark lord of the shack and there may be no escape for him.
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED is high-octane horror that really delivers while never being too predictable. Mike Thorn respects the genre and, as you can see by the accompanying Q&A, is a well-read student of horror which means he has the foundation to do great things and this novel is a perfect start!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for JournalStone Hell Notes
Thorn steps into territory often used by horror authors, that being the use of teen-agers as the principal characters in the story. However, most often it comes across sounding like adults trying to get inside the mind and vocabulary of a teen. It takes authors like Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Dan Simmons or Richard Laymon to really do this right. I am pleased to say that the teen characters that carry the narrative here are all very believable.
It begins with a simple enough premise. Three high school buddies: Mark, Adam, and Scott, are bored on a typical small-town night and seeking a place where they can smoke cigarettes without being caught or seen. They find a shack literally by itself in the middle of a field. It resembles a small, broken-down house and initially the trio are hesitant to enter. Mark is the most fearless and he steps inside the shack, which is completely empty, dark, and very creepy. They speculate on what the place could be --- a home for bums, a sanctuary for Satan worshippers, etc.… It is one of those places that is something different to whoever seeks it out. Let us just say it immediately has a hold on Mark and he will become obsessed with going there after this first visit.
Mark is going through a troubled period at school where he is one step away from expulsion and a few fights with the slow-witted big lug in his class does not make him any more popular. His friends, Adam and Scott, begin to worry about him and want to hang out with him less and less. His parents are upset with his recent change in behavior and have grounded him. This, however, will not stop his middle-of-the-night visits to the shack. You see, Mark has found a real friend inside the shack, a being that often appears to him as a mirror image of himself --- and that mirror image starts to take revenge out on the people in Mark’s life that he has problems with. The major issue is that the shack is hungry for more souls and has an insatiable desire for them. Mark is now stuck serving the dark lord of the shack and there may be no escape for him.
SHELTER FOR THE DAMNED is high-octane horror that really delivers while never being too predictable. Mike Thorn respects the genre and, as you can see by the accompanying Q&A, is a well-read student of horror which means he has the foundation to do great things and this novel is a perfect start!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for JournalStone Hell Notes
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