Haunting, haunting, haunting, and good God, I don't know why this trauma belongs to me.

There's something that many lovers of horror literature have come to accept, which is the fact that a lot of horror authors aren't looking to promote any sort of deeper message or morals—they're simply putting out a spooky story and hoping it sticks, and there's nothing wrong with that. Every now and then, though, you find a horror author who can disarm and unsettle you while telling these incredibly meaningful, important stories, and those are the ones that tend to stick with me. Mike Thorn? He's one of those authors.

Darkest Hours is a deeply disturbing collection that shifts between shocking moments of outright terror and examining the worst parts of the human psyche, reminding us that we're often surrounded by the scariest monsters of all. He doesn't pull any punches, but his writing doesn't rely on only scares and chills—Mike's got such a witty and fluid style that I would happily reach for again and again.

I didn't give any story in the collection less than 3 stars, but most of them were far better than that, with these as my favorites:

→ Hair: This is one of the most disgusting and AMAZING short stories I've ever read. What a way to kick off a collection!
→ Long Man: The descriptions in some of these scenes were downright nauseating (in the best way), and that ending? Perfect.
→ Sabbatical: This story was the perfect example of the way Mike has this way of setting the stage and then spinning the whole thing on its head and taking you completely off-guard.
→ Lucio Schluter: I had a slight, sinking suspicion about the ending on this one, and it was exactly as gruesome and incredible as I thought it would be. Talk about terrifying.

Altogether, I'm so glad I got the chance to read Darkest Hours and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future releases from Mike Thorn. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of this one as soon as you can!

Thank you so much to Mike Thorn for sending me a review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!