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Mike Thorn
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Darkest Hours Paperback – November 20, 2017

by Mike Thorn (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 46 ratings
In the bleak landscape of Darkest Hours, people make decisions that lead them into extreme scenarios – sometimes bizarre, often horrific, always unexpected. Between this book’s covers you will find academics in distress; monsters abused by people; people terrorized by demons; ghostly reminiscences; resurrected trauma; and occult filmmaking. Ranging from satirical to dreadful, these stories share a distinct voice: urgent, sardonic, brutal, but always empathetic.
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  1. Print length
    254 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 20, 2017
  4. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.58 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0995975353
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0995975354
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Unnerving; Second edition (November 20, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0995975353
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0995975354
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.58 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

About the author

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Mike Thorn

Mike Thorn

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Mike Thorn is the author of Shelter for the Damned, Darkest Hours, and Peel Back and See. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies and podcasts, including Vastarien, Dark Moon Digest and The NoSleep Podcast. His work has earned praise from Jamie Blanks (director of Urban Legend and Valentine), Jeffrey Reddick (creator of Final Destination), and Daniel Goldhaber (director of Cam). His essays and articles have been published in American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper (University of Texas Press), Beyond Empowertainment: Exploring Feminist Horror (Seventh Row), The Film Stage, and elsewhere. He completed his M.A. with a major in English literature at the University of Calgary, and he is currently pursuing his PhD in Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick.

Visit his website: mikethornwrites.com and connect with him on Twitter @MikeThornWrites.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
46 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers appreciate the book's diverse collection of stories that run the gamut of the horror genre. Moreover, the writing style receives positive feedback for being cleverly written, though some find it gag-inducing. Additionally, one customer notes the consistent voice throughout the book.

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5 customers mention "Story variety"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the variety of stories in the book, noting that no two tales are alike, with one customer highlighting how they run the gamut of the horror genre.

"...The characters are all too real. The monstrosities are smart. The dialogue is great. Mike Thorn's writing style is solid as well...." Read more

"Mike Thorn's collection Darkest Hours is a diverse collection of stories, that, at its best, reminds me of Graham Masterton, less in style, more in..." Read more

"...Thorn's voice is consistent across the board, although each story is different, ranging from quiet horror to full on weird and grotesque...." Read more

"Unique concepts meet a confident and fresh voice, with a good peppering of terror...." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing style"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as cleverly written and witty, though some find it gag-inducing.

"...The dialogue is great. Mike Thorn's writing style is solid as well. Highly Recommend! 5/5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐" Read more

"...were a little stomach churning for my taste, but Thorn is a talented writer even when going for the gross-out...." Read more

"...The classic tropes feel refreshing, new, told in very crisp prose...." Read more

"A bloody fantastic collection. Gag-inducing (the first story made me want to hurl), unsettling, and cleverly written...." Read more

3 customers mention "Voice"3 positive0 negative

Customers like the voice of the book, with one mentioning that the dialogue is great.

"...The characters are all too real. The monstrosities are smart. The dialogue is great. Mike Thorn's writing style is solid as well...." Read more

"...Thorn's voice is consistent across the board, although each story is different, ranging from quiet horror to full on weird and grotesque...." Read more

"Unique concepts meet a confident and fresh voice, with a good peppering of terror...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Cedar Hollow Horror Reviews
    5.0 out of 5 stars which makes it even better. Party Time surprised me
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Darkest Hours is a collection of 15 short stories that run the gamut of the horror genre. No two stories are alike. If I'm being honest, Mike Thorn scared me with quite a few stories. I had to stop reading three stories due to the fact that I was reading in the dark. I had to cover a mirror and keep the bedside lamp on.

    The collection kicks off with Hair. This story thoroughly grossed me out. It's about a guy named Theodore who has a fetish for his own hair, which he ingests.

    Mictian Diabolus is a scary read. "Mictian Diabolus... Mictian Diabolus..." The chanting grew louder, the squishy skinless feet stepping nearer and nearer. I can still picture this story in my mind.

    A New Kind of Drug freaked me out. The imagery alone is enough to please any horror fan. The story has teen angst throughout. It's long on dread. The story is told from the girlfriend's point of view, which makes it even better.

    Party Time surprised me! I didn't see it coming!

    Mired contains a blob. Great throwback to the classics.

    The Auteur is about black magic and horror filmmaking.

    Choo-Choo is about two friends who go to the local train yard.

    To me, Fear and Grace is the weakest story in the collection.

    Long Man genuinely scared me. I had to cover a mirror while reading the story. There was something like a man in the mirror.

    Economy These Days is about a brutal workplace. The company gives their employees the opportunity to make a good living, but it comes at a terrible price.

    Sabbatical is great. The details in this story are great. The knobby spine scene reminds me of the sister from Pet Sematary. Also, there is a trippy scene where the characters are not as they seem.

    Satanic Panic is very much a creature feature. A great creature feature. That ending has it all!

    Speaking of Ghosts is an excellent ghost story.

    Lucio Schluter is about creating art in the most sinister way.

    Fusion is about a camping trip gone terribly wrong. The campers try to get at the root of the situation.

    Remembering Absence is about a guy who recollects his own untimely death.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this debut collection by Mike Thorn. Each story is different, which makes it that much better. He brings academia and different types of horror together. I had never heard of Mike Thorn before reading this collection. He has a bright future in horrorr and I can't wait to read his forthcoming work. The pages are filled with tentacles and other monstrosities. The stories are clever and witty. The characters are all too real. The monstrosities are smart. The dialogue is great. Mike Thorn's writing style is solid as well.

    Highly Recommend!

    5/5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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  • Alex Landers
    4.0 out of 5 stars For fans of body horror and tightly written concepts, this is a solid debut collection
    Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2018
    Horror stories: “What could possibly be more natural?” Surprisingly, not my thought, but Theodore’s. A record store owner with a seemingly unnatural desire for a very natural substance – hair. Namely, that of strangers, what sits in corners collecting dust, and even the wefts that begin to sprout from his very own tongue.

    This is what lies in the pages of Mike Thorn’s debut collection of short stories, Darkest Hours. For fans of body horror and tightly written concepts, it is sure to… well, please is the wrong word, isn’t it?

    As an opener, the short and sweet “Hair” provides the special kind of hook that makes you afraid to continue, but somehow calls for multiple readings of its beautifully grotesque sentences. We are often made to believe that the unimaginable is the most terrifying, but the images Thorn conjures up are so horrifically imaginable that they’ll give you pause. And if you’re a true fan, you’ll probably push on.

    Sometimes, it’s simple vocabulary that does it. Certain words and phrases that just eat at you? How about “Fibrous morsel,” “greasy threads,” “hair-spun asparagus,” “luscious locks,” “stray shedding.” I didn’t read them aloud until I read through this review, but each really is “slipping between the teeth.” Reading “Hair,” makes you feel like hearing the word moist does, over and over – only instead of the squish of a piece of meat, you feel the brush of a frizzy knot inside your mouth.

    “What he felt was the thing that mattered.” – from “Hair,” Darkest Hours

    And so the words begin to stir terrible ideas, and from strong ideas – when executed well – come strong feelings. The best horror stories, in my mind, deal with emotion as much as they deliver guts, gore, and empty bodies. Where high-concept writing can sometimes lack a sense of deeper feeling, Darkest Hours rarely suffers this problem.

    In fact, it’s that raw emotion that makes this collection bind together so strongly. 16 stories with 16 individually strong premises could easily make for a disjointed whole, but Thorn’s ability and willingness to allow his characters to suffer (and relish) deeply, lends Darkest Hours an overarching take on what horror truly is.

    *I received a copy of this book from the author for review. The thoughts are my own.

    Think again on Theodore’s desire: his hair lust is, in itself, horrific. But its his genuine, honest excitement as a lust-driven human that is both relatable and totally unmanageable. As hair grows on Theodore, so does our want for more: more grotesquerie, more cringeworthy vocabulary, more dunks in the hair-laden tub. It’s ingenious, really, in its metaphor for the genre itself. Horror can be an acquired taste – one that has the tendency to grow on you.

    “And in that moment, while gazing dumbfounded at the locks plastered against Jason’s skull, Theodore made a choice.” -from “Hair,” Darkest Hours.

    Growing into death
    It’s an interesting thought, that one could grow into death. In tackling thoughts on horror itself, Thorn also uses the tales in Darkest Hours to approach a kind of oddly upbeat bit of existentialism. Whether it’s an art student entombed but forever preserved in his favorite artist’s master work (“Lucio Schluter”), or a sentient tree root (not-really-a-root) that kills people, but brings them together, too (“Fusion”), the concepts of growth and death are never too far apart.

    In “Hair”, it’s a literal growth that brings about Theodore’s death. Hair growing around his heart, his lungs, and probably his eyeballs before long; it’s impossible (if you’re me) not to think of Stephen King’s hapless farmer, Jordy Verrill, in Creepshow.

    Vaguely awkward man is curious (too curious) about a strange thing. Man gives in to his lust for strange thing and brings it home with him. Man starts sprouting growths until he can no longer walk, see, or breathe.

    “Strands grew from the cracks between his teeth, curled from the meat of his gums, rose in clumps from the insides of his lips.” -from “Hair,” Darkest Hours

    But the main difference between Jordy and Theodore is that Jordy’s natural lust for a supernatural thing brings him to end his suffering. Whereas, Theodore’s unnatural lust for a natural thing brings him an impossible kind of joy. His end is equally abrupt, and in many ways, also by his own doing – but oh, boy, did he ever enjoy doing it.

    Horror is like that, really. It’s dirty, it’s awful, it’s wrong, and it’s trash. But it’s as natural as the blood during childbirth, the shadows that creep on the wall, the vomit that pours out our mouths when we’re unwell, and the very hair that grows out of your head (and wherever it may choose to show up later).

    Darkest Hours is horror for horror people. For the “confirmed ghost story and horror film addict,” if you will. But It’s also for people with strong emotions and a desire for philosophical thought. Funny, how horror often is.
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  • Kathryn G. Owen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This One
    Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Mike Thorn's collection Darkest Hours is a diverse collection of stories, that, at its best, reminds me of Graham Masterton, less in style, more in terms of subject matter and gore. Some of the stories (for instance collection opener, "Hair") were a little stomach churning for my taste, but Thorn is a talented writer even when going for the gross-out.

    Animal lovers like myself might want to skip "Fear and Grace" and "Satanic Panic" (although the latter has a standout ending). I also found the cruelty to the creature, although it really wasn't by strict definition an animal, in "A New Kind of Drug" hard to take.

    Many of the stories in this collection concern the topics of academia (with academics being alternately portrayed as buffoonish or somewhat sinister) and drinking/drunkenness; the two are most amusingly combined in the clever "Speaking of Ghosts."

    "Long Man," concerning the titular creature that haunts children's mirrors, was probably my personal favorite, although the collection's second story, "Mictian Diabolus" with its teenager skinning serial killer and Lovecraftian monster, was a close second.

    I know Thorn just came out with a novel, Shelter for the Damned, and I will definitely be checking that out, as well as any future collections he may publish. He's got talent, and Darkest Hours was an entertaining introduction to his work.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Allison Parrell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2017
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    Excellent!!
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  • G Taylor
    4.0 out of 5 stars An accomplished debut.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 3, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I'm not particularly fond of short story collection's as I'd prefer to sink my time into a novel. Only a few writer's can have me devouring a collection of said stories, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell and Francis O'Connor. Which brings me to my opinion on Mike Thorn's collection of 16 stories.
    As with all collection's they are a mixed bag. A theme of either academia or grungy lives is a prevailing theme, along with rock music and a nostalgic wink to the horror film genre. Nice!
    I found a few stories marginally less as compelling as the other's, and it probably was only two of the sixteen stories. The rest worked incredibly well at evoking horrors, and occasionally humour, that was quite unforgettable. If you love horror then you'll love this book as certain influences are clearly, Carpenter and Craven especially. Although a little twist is offered by the author.
    I'd like to read a fully fledged novel from Mike Thorn as this collection is a promising debut of a new talent.
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  • Josee L.
    4.0 out of 5 stars A great debut!
    Reviewed in Canada on October 5, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    These dark stories were unique and fascinating and really well written. I liked how the author also injected humour into many of them. One thing I noticed is that a majority if not all of the stories involve alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. It didn't really irk me, but I found it kind of interesting. I don't know what it means; maybe there's a moral to the book: if you drink, smoke or do drugs in excess bad stuff will happen!
    I had some favourite stories, but they were all quite good. I hope the author publishes a novel, I would definitely pick it up!
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  • Thomas Joyce
    4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating throughout, striking the perfect balance of intelligent insight and horrific action
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    A great debut collection from Thorn, showcasing his versatility and range. There are stories of body horror and psychological horror, terrifying creatures and disturbing human behaviour. His prose is captivating throughout, striking the perfect balance of intelligent insight and horrific action. The final story, "Remembering Absence", is an incredible piece of work that pulsates with pure, raw emotion. Different from the stories that came before, but incredibly well-written. I look forward to reading more fiction from Thorn. I only wish I hadn't waited this long to read the first collection.
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