In her debut collection, Theresa Braun explores the inner workings of the human heart and what it is we most desire—forgiveness, acceptance, love, fame, or merely to escape who we really are. Whether we are battling ghosts, demons, mythical monsters, the past, or other dimensions, we are really facing the deepest parts of ourselves. These thirteen tales of horror and dark fantasy may appear to be a matter of good versus evil, but they are all a reflection of the hidden corners of the soul that are often shades of broken darkness. The characters in these stories must face their inner and outer terrors, or else suffer the consequences.
I seem to be reading and reviewing mostly horror lately, but this collection stood out and did not disappoint. I always enjoy horror that focuses on the inner demons of its characters rather than simply external monsters and gore. Each of these thirteen stories comes at these inner demons slightly differently and in unique settings. I love how many of the stories include some myth or ancient-feeling lore with a twist, and many of the locales naturally lend themselves to deepen the impact of these myths – I’m thinking of “Dying for an Invitation” and “Homecoming” in particular.
It was also great that the “voice” of the writing changed for many of the stories so that it didn’t feel like I was reading the same tone and style over and over. Some main characters are male, some are female – that alone is a nice changeup from a lot of horror I read. Some stories feel older, some feel newer. The stories are set all over the place. Many of the stories seem to be predictable and then there’s a nice twist – something you expect in short stories, I think, but I liked these twists.
My personal favorite was probably “The Celestial Assignment.” It’s a unique perspective on guardian angels that drew me in right away, and I liked the story more and more as the main character learned and grew.
All in all, this was a great collection. It’s a quick read that draws you in. There were occasional missed edits in the writing, but nothing major that was a distraction. The characters are good, the settings are good, the plots are interesting and diverse, different subgenres change things up, and there’s a nice cohesive feel to the whole collection because each story focuses so well on the characters’ inner demons being just as problematic as the external monsters.
Inside, the red raged. Its true intentions had united with near-surface primal instincts. It wanted to hunt, kill, and devour…
A short story.
I loved this quick and suspenseful story. It was great to see a unique deviation from typical zombie storytelling in that this story is from the monster’s perspective – not something you often see with these “mindless” walking corpses. Everything in the beginning was vague, but you very quickly get what’s going on simply because of how the author describes their movements. We’ve all seen zombie movies – we know how they move. This description alone lets you understand whose head you’re inside, and I loved the rare opportunity to have this much sympathy for a zombie. The more you learn about the “red,” the more you want our meat-eating friend to fight, but cruel fate seems to have a hand here too.
Here’s yet another story from this author that made me want to read an entire novel about the main character. In just a few short pages, Demmer tells the story of a man with a far more interesting past than anyone suspects, a man both cursed and blessed by the choices he has made – and specifically, the deal he has made. I love that this story picks up without exposition but rather sucks you in with intrigue and then far later you discover the big reveal. The disturbing mystery keeps you reading and eager to learn more with every hint of Brock’s secret.
I really loved how you got the feel of what Brock’s post-deal-with-the-devil life has been like, even though he only shares a few details. Each stop, each victim, each encounter with devilish messengers keeps him moving forward, and you understand that this has been a very long, weary, tense, dark journey. For this part of his story, you see only a few brief hours (maybe less) of what that life is like, but it’s clearly a moment he has lived through again and again.
Demmer’s stories always have some twist or play on a familiar horror trope or monster, and I liked the addition of the crystal that Brock’s used to prolong his life. The devil maybe didn’t see that coming. But like Brock is told by the possessed women fated to be his next victim, everyone loses in the end. All Brock can do is move forward, move faster, and hope to last as long as he can. It sounds like a horrible life, but as Brock points out, once you know the devil is real, nothing is as bad as where you know you’re going next.
I cannot say enough about this book. I can’t pick a favorite story from this collection. I can’t wait for more from this author. He and these stories are just that good.
“Peel Back and See” is a perfect title to encapsulate these 16 stories. In each one, the characters go deeper and deeper into whatever they’ve discovered, uncovered, or searched for. The complex horror of each takes time to come to light. The reader is taken further and further into the inner world of each character’s particular depression, self-destruction, or struggle for answers. The sheer weirdness grows and grows as you read – I’m looking at you, “Vomitus Bacchanalius.”
I also realized as I read that, for each story’s main character, the horror comes only because they went looking. This isn’t a monster-and-slasher kind of horror collection. Nobody’s car breaks down and they’re randomly attacked by some terror from the woods. No masked figure attacks strangers with a chainsaw. These characters go looking for trouble, in one way or another, and find their own doom. Some regret it immediately. Others embrace the darkness.
The horror is also, like the author’s “Shelter for the Damned,” very psychologically driven. While there are indeed gruesome monsters, they are often so terrifying because of how they relate to whatever the characters are personally afraid of. And in the era of COVID, when so many of us have been trapped in our own heads more than usual with only the internet as an escape, stories like “Havoc” and “@GorgoYama2013” as well as “Fade to White” feel a bit closer to home than they might have in the world before. These characters feel isolated from society in a way we might not have understood so well pre-pandemic.
In fact, that was a main thought which I, Lit nerd that I am, kept coming back to – these stories are like a collection Poe might have written if he lived today, like Poe in the era of COVID. The terrors are often spawned by the characters’ own doings. The monster is inside the house, so to speak. Everything happens because of whatever demons these people are already fighting, whether poverty, academic pressure, depression, grief, greed, etc. Because of their internal struggles, they “Peel Back and See” something horrible.
The author’s unique and seemingly effortless mastery of language is a joy to read. Many of the stories will leave you thinking. Many may give you the creeps. One left me forever unable to look at my daughter’s dollhouse the same again. Overall, I’m just in awe of this collection and can’t wait to be horrified by more.
Today I’d like to welcome Mike Thorn, author of the horror novel, Shelter for the Damned, which I recently had the privilege of reviewing.
Can you give us your quickest description of your book?
Shelter for the Damned is a coming-of-age narrative wrapped up in a pessimistic, suburban horror plot. The novel is set in a deliberately ambiguated suburban environment in the year 2003.
Any particular reason you chose 2003?
Initially, I didn’t specify the time period at all (and I still don’t, within the actual body of the narrative). However, close to publication, I had a discussion with JournalStone’s managing editor, Scarlett R. Algee, in which we noted the book’s absence of contemporary details like cellphones and social media. I was undoubtedly writing about a horror-infected version of the suburbs I remember from my own teens. So, we decided to include a page at the beginning of the book stating Suburban Somewhere, 2003 to help situate the reader.
Makes sense. I noted the lack of cellphones. What are you working on currently?
I’m currently reworking a nonfiction, academic book proposal for a project focused on two horror filmmakers. I can’t share any details about that just yet. Wish me luck!
Sounds interesting! Do you like taking a break from fiction to change things up?
Thank you! I do enjoy slipping into nonfiction/critical mode every now and then (although not as often as I used to). I think writing essays requires a very different cognitive process from writing fiction.
Certainly. What is your favorite scene you’ve written?Â
I’m pleased with the third act of Shelter for the Damned, which descends into hallucinatory and semi-cosmic territory. I can’t say too much without giving anything away, but I drew a lot on the kind of imagery that draws me to writers like H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.
I know exactly the portions you mean. It gets almost trippy but works perfectly for how the horror of the Shack has unfolded. I can see the Lovecraft influence for sure. What are some of your favorite classic stories that bend towards horror?
I appreciate that! In terms of Poe, my favorite story is “The Black Cat,” and my favorite Lovecraft story is probably “The Dreams in the Witch House.” I love so many classic books in the Gothic/horror realm… among my favorites are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Matthew Gregory Lewis’s The Monk, Charles Robert Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer, Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows, Daphne du Maurier’s The Breaking Point, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho. Macbeth has always been my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, and I would argue that it leans hard into horror, too.
I’d worry about anyone who didn’t find MacBeth horrific. LOL. What is one bit of advice you’d like to share with writers?
Read, read, read. Avoid limiting yourself to one genre. Read the classics, but also try to keep up with new releases. Read fiction. Read theory, philosophy, autobiographies, and poetry. Push against your genre biases: distinctions between “high” and “low” art are generally just elitist fabrications. You can learn from the stuff you don’t like as much as you can learn from the stuff you do like.
I agree 100% (as an English Lit nerd myself who loves bending genres). How do you go about discovering new releases and keeping up with the thousands of books released these days?
I try to stay tapped into the small press horror world, and social media is helpful on that front. In pre-pandemic times, I liked browsing the library and local bookstores, too. You’re right, though, there are so many new releases that it can be difficult to keep afloat.
Who inspires you to write?
I take inspiration from relationships, friendships, and banal daily encounters. I’m often very stimulated by conversations with other writers.
Weirdest thing that’s inspired you?
One of my darkest horror stories, “Long Man,” was partially inspired by a prank my older brother played on me when we were kids.
Ha! Whatever works! In a perfect world where you could cast your book for a movie, who would you pick for your main characters?
It’s hard to say, since my main characters are so young! I’ll just imagine that this imaginary production budget can cover the cost of a time machine with anachronistic era-crossing capabilities. A 13 to 15-year-old Nick Stahl would be fantastic for the protagonist, Mark. A 13 to 15-year-old Katharine Isabelle would be terrific for Madeline. I really love both of those actors.
Time machines are often essential for author answers to this question. LOL. It’s funny that Madeline in my head looked exactly like your actress pick! Which is interesting because you don’t give a lot of physical description for many of your characters at all. Is that on purpose? I thought it was very effective how you describe Mark really only as he sees himself.
That’s great to hear! Thank you.
Yes, I deliberately minimize physical descriptions for my characters, because I draw liberally on the power of familiarity and memory. In Shelter for the Damned, especially, I wanted my readers to flesh out this space of “Suburban Somewhere” with their own recollections and points of reference.
Mark’s self-image is key to his psychological state, though, so it was important that I apply some description in that case.
Yes! His self-image was definitely important to the story. When you get stuck in your writing, how do you make yourself keep going?
I usually just charge ahead and remind myself that first drafts are almost always messy and imperfect.
Forcing yourself, nice. Do you work with an editor?
Once my work is accepted for publication, I work with press/magazine/anthology/podcast editors. I have a few trusted readers who I consult for my early drafts.
Do you use your personal experiences in your writing?
All my fiction is personal, but I usually write about my personal experiences in abstracted ways. The horror genre offers unique possibilities for expression through excess and metaphor.
Getting into real life issues, I was impressed by how your book deals with the topic of “masculine conditioning” in particular. The use of the 2 main fathers in particular was subtle but underscored everything happening with the boys.  Was that societal issue something that was important for you to touch on?
Thanks again, Sunshine. I don’t usually set out to write with specific messages or thematic concerns in mind, but there’s no doubt that I was grappling with problems around masculine conditioning here. As I was reviewing later drafts of Shelter for the Damned, it became clear to me that the novel was saying things about addiction, suburban violence, domestic abuse, and certainly masculine conditioning. I tried my best to attribute these issues with as much gravitas and realism as possible.
Sunshine Somerville 