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the_coycaterpillar_reads's review
4.0
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.
thomwallacern's review
3.0
170 pages of people asking a kid what's wrong with him and him apologizing for acting weird. 16 pages of tepid spooks. *yawn*
spooky_librarian's review
4.0
I was not expecting this coming-of-age cosmic horror to leave me anxious, enthralled and wanting more by the final page, but that’s exactly where my emotions were left and I need others to feel the same!
This is a story about Mark, a troubled teenage boy who--surprise surprise--constantly feels misunderstood and wrongly judged by his parents and his peers. When he and his friends discover an abandoned shack where they can smoke cigarettes in secret, Mark senses something otherworldly within its walls, something that calls to him and makes him feel safe. After this first encounter, Mark starts to develop an obsession and constantly wants to return to the shack, selling it to his friends as a cool hang out where they can always smoke in secret. This idea, however, does not interest his friends who don’t understand his weird fascination. Nevertheless, the shack and whatever calls to him from inside becomes a drug from which Mark starts suffering withdrawals whenever he is distanced from it. As the story progresses, our protagonist starts to become restless, angry, paranoid, violent, and isolated--wishing to eradicate his dependence on the shack while simultaneously needing it desperately.
After a few pages, I sensed the themes of male adolescence and addiction pretty quickly and appreciated these subjects being portrayed in such a terrifying but comprehensible way. This story was almost impossible for me to put down. From the first chapter I was intrigued by this mysterious, supernatural force that had a strong hold on this young boy. As the reader, I genuinely felt sympathy for Mark as his warring emotions, his fear, and his insecurities were being used and manipulated by an evil entity. His steady decline into paranoia was frightening but also heartbreaking as he felt he had no one to turn to. Everyone feared him or feared for him. How incredibly sad and lonely is that?! Bravo, Mike Thorn! You’ve succeeded in pulling at my empathetic heartstrings while simultaneously delivering a very dark, surreal story that will occupy my mind for ages.
This is a story about Mark, a troubled teenage boy who--surprise surprise--constantly feels misunderstood and wrongly judged by his parents and his peers. When he and his friends discover an abandoned shack where they can smoke cigarettes in secret, Mark senses something otherworldly within its walls, something that calls to him and makes him feel safe. After this first encounter, Mark starts to develop an obsession and constantly wants to return to the shack, selling it to his friends as a cool hang out where they can always smoke in secret. This idea, however, does not interest his friends who don’t understand his weird fascination. Nevertheless, the shack and whatever calls to him from inside becomes a drug from which Mark starts suffering withdrawals whenever he is distanced from it. As the story progresses, our protagonist starts to become restless, angry, paranoid, violent, and isolated--wishing to eradicate his dependence on the shack while simultaneously needing it desperately.
After a few pages, I sensed the themes of male adolescence and addiction pretty quickly and appreciated these subjects being portrayed in such a terrifying but comprehensible way. This story was almost impossible for me to put down. From the first chapter I was intrigued by this mysterious, supernatural force that had a strong hold on this young boy. As the reader, I genuinely felt sympathy for Mark as his warring emotions, his fear, and his insecurities were being used and manipulated by an evil entity. His steady decline into paranoia was frightening but also heartbreaking as he felt he had no one to turn to. Everyone feared him or feared for him. How incredibly sad and lonely is that?! Bravo, Mike Thorn! You’ve succeeded in pulling at my empathetic heartstrings while simultaneously delivering a very dark, surreal story that will occupy my mind for ages.
squishies's review
2.0
2.5 stars
Well! That was something. Not sure what I was expecting; I'm quite sure I bought this from a Thriller ebook bundle, so I was thinking along the lines of zombies or ghosts.... I guess?
Except for Madeline, Scott (poor guy), and the mum, every other character was kind of an ass. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel sorry for Mark, he made his damn best to be so gawd damn unlikeable to me, but things really escalated as the book neared its end and besides me feeling what-the-fuck-ery, I was mostly ambivalent.
Well! That was something. Not sure what I was expecting; I'm quite sure I bought this from a Thriller ebook bundle, so I was thinking along the lines of zombies or ghosts.... I guess?
Except for Madeline, Scott (poor guy), and the mum, every other character was kind of an ass. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel sorry for Mark, he made his damn best to be so gawd damn unlikeable to me, but things really escalated as the book neared its end and besides me feeling what-the-fuck-ery, I was mostly ambivalent.
mgarr95's review
5.0
May contain spoilers:
“Suburban somewhere, 2003”: a world suffused with dread and waking nightmares. For Mark and his friends, a landscape of bubbling brutality amidst quotidian displays of violence. Monsters in the closet both figurative and literal, none of which is as crushing as the macerating authority figures in their lives, prompting moonlit nights spent probing for a place to smoke a fucking cigarette, and maybe even to feel something “right”…
Cast like a malefic spell by Mike Thorn in his tremendous debut novel Shelter for the Damned, the urge to seek sanctuary amidst turmoil propels an estimable work of Lovecraftian Horror, where obsession leads to eradication.
At the center of the narrative, a formless Shack. It becomes Mark’s sick, totalizing obsession, a manifestation of subconscious ennui and learned violence which lures him within its colorless, formless walls.
In Thorn’s cinematic depictions, this obsession is figured as an act of sheer desperation, a confused stumble from darkness, seeking escape from a mean reality. But in this feverous page-turner, even the act of seeking shelter can open us to exploitation.
Thorn likens teenage angst to cosmic horror, where the central evil announces itself as a sentient consciousness, but is also manifested as a reflective doppelgänger. A golem heaped with all the rot of society. A kind of spectral unconscious bursting forth as an arachnoid monster from the depths of hell—the tip of the iceberg.
Thorn brilliantly traces the psychology of his adolescents through the trappings of teenage suburbia. Though the characters seem influenced by everyone from Wes Craven to Stephen King, the explosive scenes of violence recall the scenes of dismemberment in John Carpenter or Lucio Fulci films. These scenes illustrate Thorn’s ability to tap into Horror’s capacity to turn scenes of abjection into the stuff of drama and revelation: when Macduff re-enters with Macbeth’s severed head, it should alert us that Horror has always been the exclamatory punctuation at the end of tragedies.
“Suburban somewhere, 2003”: a world suffused with dread and waking nightmares. For Mark and his friends, a landscape of bubbling brutality amidst quotidian displays of violence. Monsters in the closet both figurative and literal, none of which is as crushing as the macerating authority figures in their lives, prompting moonlit nights spent probing for a place to smoke a fucking cigarette, and maybe even to feel something “right”…
Cast like a malefic spell by Mike Thorn in his tremendous debut novel Shelter for the Damned, the urge to seek sanctuary amidst turmoil propels an estimable work of Lovecraftian Horror, where obsession leads to eradication.
At the center of the narrative, a formless Shack. It becomes Mark’s sick, totalizing obsession, a manifestation of subconscious ennui and learned violence which lures him within its colorless, formless walls.
In Thorn’s cinematic depictions, this obsession is figured as an act of sheer desperation, a confused stumble from darkness, seeking escape from a mean reality. But in this feverous page-turner, even the act of seeking shelter can open us to exploitation.
Thorn likens teenage angst to cosmic horror, where the central evil announces itself as a sentient consciousness, but is also manifested as a reflective doppelgänger. A golem heaped with all the rot of society. A kind of spectral unconscious bursting forth as an arachnoid monster from the depths of hell—the tip of the iceberg.
Thorn brilliantly traces the psychology of his adolescents through the trappings of teenage suburbia. Though the characters seem influenced by everyone from Wes Craven to Stephen King, the explosive scenes of violence recall the scenes of dismemberment in John Carpenter or Lucio Fulci films. These scenes illustrate Thorn’s ability to tap into Horror’s capacity to turn scenes of abjection into the stuff of drama and revelation: when Macduff re-enters with Macbeth’s severed head, it should alert us that Horror has always been the exclamatory punctuation at the end of tragedies.
ladilira's review
4.0
Thorn creates a bloody ghostly experience that will leave you with more questions than answers. But at the same time will take you down a dark and winding rabbit hole of vivid imagination and troubled minds.
The tale was wild with gory illustration and schizophrenic mirrored rooms. I found myself being drawn in to the ever growing void of what felt like a mental breakdown.
For me, this read like a psychological thriller and trapped me in its web. But for another, it may reveal a very different experience.
The tale was wild with gory illustration and schizophrenic mirrored rooms. I found myself being drawn in to the ever growing void of what felt like a mental breakdown.
For me, this read like a psychological thriller and trapped me in its web. But for another, it may reveal a very different experience.
mford722's review
2.0
I really don’t like leaving bad reviews on a book - simply because I know the author spent time and dedication to get their story published. And, it seems like most reviews are in favor of the book. However, I struggled to finish this story. The last half of the book did pick up, but by the time I got there, I wasn’t really invested in the story anymore.
karamelka_kar19's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The book left me overall feeling meh. I didn't find any of the characters interesting, their parents were pretty much caricatures. Phrases and dialogue half of the time were just swears and accusations of each other, conflicts were rising up seemingly out of nowhere. The last pages had lost me completely. I feel like this book was confused by what it needs to be: a haunted house story, a lesson about teenage rage or even possession story? The book always wanted to be something bigger, more grand and impressive. Too many things in a story made it impossible to create space and time for deeper exploration of its themes.
I like some of the parts with the house, but they were far enough in inbetween to have lost it momentum.
the_bookubus's review
4.0
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.
latham9's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism