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Mike Thorn’s ‘Shelter for the Damned’ is an Anxiety-Inducing Must-Read

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Mike Thorn’s debut novel, Shelter for the Damned, is out in digital and paperback formats, and is an absolute must-read for fans of novels likeĀ Carrie and the early catalog of John Saul.

Set against an all-too-familiar suburban backdrop, the novel centers on Mark, a teenage boy dealing with no small amount of alienation, anxiety, and pent-up rage. When he and his friends discover a mysterious shack in the middle of the woods, they decide it’ is the perfect place to hide-out and smoke.

Mark soon realizes, however, that there is a strange presence inside this shack. It is as seductive as it is hungry, and Mark is exactly the vessel it needs to sate that hunger. As his obsession grows with the feelings the shack provides him, he finds himself on a dark path to pay its even darker price.

Thorn proved himself a master storyteller in his previous short story collectionĀ Darkest Hours. In Shelter for the Damned he further underscores that talent, creating a tale that is both immediately gripping while instilling an insidious dread in his reader.

At its core, this is a character study, and one that we rarely see. Thorn forces the reader to take a good long look at the fallout of the hyper-masculine conditioning of the adolescent male, not only in the central character but also through his friends, each of whom seems to deal with it in different ways.

Adam has a temper with unpredictable bursts of violence; Scott is fastidiously clean and helpful in an attempt to avoid punishment, and Mark, well, Mark has a smart-mouth, a mean-streak, and a tendency to fight. Still there is something different about Mark. All three entered the shack, but he is the only one that exits with this fascination and attachment.

Is there something truly unique in him? Is it his anger? His frustration in not understanding his own actions? His predilection for violent confrontations? There is no clear answer, and that feeling of chance only heightens the book’s ties to reality.

The thing that really gets under this reader’s skin is that even Mark isn’t sure why he does some things. He smarts off and says callous things without even remembering what he said or did. He acts without thinking and is stunned by the consequences. After a while, it becomes second nature to tense whenever he makes the inevitable bad choice.

I wanted him to do better. I wanted him to be better. I wanted him to resist the shack’s influence, and the tension created in that desire was palpable as the book rushed to its inevitably ambiguous conclusion.

For those who think that all of this sounds boring , let me reassure you that Thorn does all of this character work while still telling a compelling, gore-drenched, terrifying story, especially toward the end when he tiptoes over the line into something more cosmic than I was first expecting.

Now, while I thoroughly loved this book, there were things that I thought could have used just a little more polish. I love an ambiguous ending, but I would have liked to know just a bit more about the shack’s origins. It reminded me of reading Lovecraft. There is an evil that is evil because it is evil. There is merit in this, but I would have preferred a little more fleshed-out explanation. You don’t have to tell me everything, but give me just a little more.

It also takes a little while for the full action of the story to begin. However, to this second point, once the story is underway, it does not slow down.Ā  Think of it like a slingshot. Thorn takes his time, taking precise aim, ensuring there is just enough tension, then sends the reader hurtling toward his target.

Shelter of the Damned is published by Journalstone. You can pick up a copy by CLICKING HERE!

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‘Alien’ is Being Made Into a Children’s ABC Book

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Alien Book

That Disney buyout of Fox is making for strange crossovers. Just look at this new children’s book that teaches children the alphabet via the 1979 Alien movie.

From the library of Penguin House’s classic Little Golden Books comes A is for Alien: An ABC Book.

Pre-Order Here

The next few years are going to be big for the space monster. First, just in time for the film’s 45th anniversary, we are getting a new franchise film called Alien: Romulus. Then Hulu, also owned by Disney is creating a television series, although they say that might not be ready until 2025.

The book is currently available for pre-order here, and is set to release on July 9, 2024. It might be fun to guess which letter will represent which part of the movie. Such as “J is for Jonesy” or “M is for Mother.”

Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16, 2024. Not since 2017 have we revisited the Alien cinematic universe in Covenant. Apparently, this next entry follows, “Young people from a distant world facing the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Until then “A is for Anticipation” and “F is for Facehugger.”

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Holland House Ent. Announces New Book ā€œOh Mother, What Have You Done?ā€

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Screenwriter and Director Tom Holland is delighting fans with books containing scripts, visual memoirs, continuation of stories, and now behind-the-scenes books on his iconic films. These books offer a fascinating glimpse into the creative process, script revisions, continued stories and the challenges faced during production. Holland’s accounts and personal anecdotes provide a treasure trove of insights for movie enthusiasts, shedding new light on the magic of filmmaking! Check out the press release below on Hollan’s newest fascinating story of the making of his critically acclaimed horror sequel Psycho II in a brand new book!

Horror icon and filmmaker Tom Holland returns to the world he envisioned in 1983ā€™s critically acclaimed feature film Psycho II in the all-new 176-page book Oh Mother, What Have You Done? now available from Holland House Entertainment.

‘Psycho II’ House. ā€œOh Mother, What Have You Done?ā€

Authored by Tom Holland and containing unpublished memoirs by late Psycho II director Richard Franklin and conversations with the filmā€™s editor Andrew London, Oh Mother, What Have You Done? offers fans a unique glimpse into the continuation of the beloved Psycho film franchise, which created nightmares for millions of people showering worldwide.

Created using never-before-seen production materials and photos – many from Hollandā€™s own personal archive ā€“ Oh Mother, What Have You Done? abounds with rare hand-written development and production notes, early budgets, personal Polaroids and more, all set against fascinating conversations with the filmā€™s writer, director and editor which document the development, filming, and reception of the much-celebrated Psycho II.  

‘Oh Mother, What Have you Done? – The Making of Psycho II

Says author Holland of writing Oh Mother, What Have You Done? (which contains an afterward by Bates Motel producer Anthony Cipriano), ā€œI wrote Psycho II, the first sequel that began the Psycho legacy, forty years ago this past summer, and the film was a huge success in the year 1983, but who remembers? To my surprise, apparently, they do, because on the filmā€™s fortieth anniversary love from fans began to pour in, much to my amazement and pleasure. And then (Psycho II director) Richard Franklinā€™s unpublished memoirs arrived unexpectedly. Iā€™d had no idea heā€™d written them before he passed in 2007.ā€

ā€œReading them,ā€ continues Holland, ā€œwas like being transported back in time, and I had to share them, along with my memories and personal archives with the fans of Psycho, the sequels, and the excellent Bates Motel. I hope they enjoy reading the book as much as I did in putting it together. My thanks to Andrew London, who edited, and to Mr. Hitchcock, without whom none of this would have existed.ā€

ā€œSo, step back with me forty years and letā€™s see how it happened.ā€

Anthony Perkins – Norman Bates

Oh Mother, What Have You Done? is available now in both hardback and paperback through Amazon and at Terror Time (for copies autographed by Tom Holland)

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Sequel to ‘Cujo’ Just One Offering in New Stephen King Anthology

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It’s been a minute since Stephen King put out a short story anthology. But in 2024 a new one containing some original works is getting published just in time for summer. Even the book title “You Like It Darker,” suggests the author is giving readers something more.

The anthology will also contain a sequel to King’s 1981 novel “Cujo,” about a rabid Saint Bernard that wreaks havoc on a young mother and her child trapped inside a Ford Pinto. Called “Rattlesnakes,” you can read an excerpt from that story on Ew.com.

The website also gives a synopsis of some of the other shorts in the book: “The other tales include ‘Two Talented Bastids,’ which explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills, and ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,’ about a brief and unprecedented psychic flash that upends dozens of lives. In ‘The Dreamers,’ a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored while ‘The Answer Man’ asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.”

Here’s the table of contents from “You Like It Darker,”:

  • “Two Talented Bastids”
  • “The Fifth Step”
  • “Willie the Weirdo”
  • “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”
  • “Finn”
  • “On Slide Inn Road”
  • “Red Screen”
  • “The Turbulence Expert”
  • “Laurie”
  • “Rattlesnakes”
  • “The Dreamers”
  • “The Answer Man”

Except for “The Outsider” (2018) King has been releasing crime novels and adventure books instead of true horror in the past few years. Known mostly for his terrifying early supernatural novels such as “Pet Sematary,” “It,” “The Shining” and “Christine,” the 76-year-old author has diversified from what made him famous starting with “Carrie” in 1974.

A 1986 article from Time Magazine explained that King planned on quitting horror after he wrote “It.” At the time he said there was too much competition, citing Clive Barker as ā€œbetter than I am nowā€ and ā€œa lot more energetic.ā€ But that was almost four decades ago. Since then he’s written some horror classics such as “The Dark Half, “Needful Things,” “Gerald’s Game,” and “Bag of Bones.”

Maybe the King of Horror is waxing nostalgic with this latest anthology by revisiting the “Cujo” universe in this latest book. We will have to find out when “You Like It Darker” hits bookshelves and digital platforms starting May 21, 2024.

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