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Read The Latest News From Isaac Thorne
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Check out information about Isaac Thorne's latest appearances, news, and releases.
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Horror author Isaac Thorne is giving away Kindle copies of his forthcoming novel Hell Spring to 100 lucky winners. The Goodreads giveaway has already launched. The deadline to request a copy is Aug. 30, 2022. The novel itself will be released on Sept. 21, 2022.
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To enter, you need to have a Goodreads account. Then follow the instructions at the Goodreads Giveaway page. You can also enter by using the widget below:
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Giveaway ends August 30, 2022.
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"I'm thrilled to be giving away this many copies of the ebook," Isaac says. "When I released The Gordon Place back in 2019, I gave away only five signed physical copies. This is an opportunity to get my new novel in the hands of more readers who otherwise might not even know who I am."
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In addition to the Goodreads Giveaway, Isaac has been hard at work for the past couple of weeks getting advance reader copies (ARCs) into the hands of reviewers in both the physical world and on social media. The ARC is currently available at NetGalley, BookSprout, and Edelweiss, for those who wish to review the novel on Amazon, Goodreads, their blogs, their social media accounts, or wherever they typically review books.
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"I'm fascinated by the reactions so far," Isaac says. "I'm looking forward to seeing more."
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Hell Spring is a 374-page horror novel about eight small-town individuals who become trapped in their local general store as they attempt to ride outa 100-year storm with flash flooding. Among them is an alluring predator who feeds on them in ways they cannot see. The novel is available for preorder now in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats on IsaacThorne.com and at retailers everywhere. It will be released on Sept. 21, 2022.
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"Sometimes it's difficult to believe I'm finally at the preorder stage for this novel," Isaac says. "I started writing Hell Spring back during the lockdown days in 2020, but didn't finish up the first draft until very early this year. The pandemic blues plus all of the other cultural, societal, and political ills weighing down on the United States and the world right now made it difficult for me to sit down and concentrate.
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"I know a lot of folks get a creative spark when things get bad in the world," he adds. "As for me, I'm more likely to sit my ass down and work when I'm not terrified that democracy is a thing of the past."
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That said, Isaac points out that much of the plot and story of Hell Spring is ripped from real-world history. "I can't help it. Shit happens and it sticks in my head and I ruminate over it. That's how ideas get set aflame in my head. It might be weeks, months, or years, before I find the energy to sit down and write the relevant passages. Meanwhile, the fire keeps getting fuel."
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Hell Spring is the tale of eight neighbors in the small fictional Tennessee town of Lost Hollow who become trapped in their local general store during a thunderstorm with flash flooding. One of them is a stranger, an alluring predator with a taste for humanity's flaws. While the neighbors struggle with their own secrets and sins, they must also combat the stranger's appetite for their demise.
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The story was at least partially inspired by one of Isaac's own experiences. An extreme flooding event in May of 2010 took property and lives all across Middle Tennessee. Isaac's own property damage was frustrating, but minimal compared to some of his neighbors. Nevertheless, the event left something of a scar.
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"I don't care if I ever see extreme weather again," he says. "Unfortunately, that's not the timeline we live in. I watch the news. I see it every night. There's no season that isn't a hell season sometime, somewhere these days."
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Hell Spring is available in hardback, paperback, and ebook formats with an audiobook edition on the way. Although the ARCs have only been out for a week as of this writing, reviews so far have been positive. Print and ebook editions ship on Sept. 21, 2022.
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On May 3, 2010, Isaac Thorne scanned the ruins of what had been his driveway, wondering whether he’d ever be able to use it again. The torrential rains that pounded Middle Tennessee the previous two days washed the hilly path into a network of deep gulleys.
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“I had no way into or out of my garage from the road,” he explains. “I was trapped. It was a bad time for my community, but also for much of the midstate.”
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Fortunately for Thorne, the problem was short-lived.
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Although the household and property damage faded over time, the flooding event that had closed or severely damaged a number of historic Nashville landmarks, such as the Grand Ole Opry House, left a deeper scar in Thorne’s memory.
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“It was one hell of a spring,” he says. “I knew I would end up writing about it eventually. A little more than a decade later, I did.”
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Inspired by the real-life flood, Thorne set about weaving a tale of trapped small-towners who rescue a stranger from rising waters, although they might have been better off to allow her to wash away. Hell Spring, the new 374-page horror novel that Thorne began crafting in 2020, chronicles the story. Set in 1955, the novel reports on eight friends and neighbors who become stranded in their local general store by flooding similar to that of 2010.
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“None of the eight people who take shelter in Beard’s General Store that night are everything they claim to be,” Thorne says. “They all have secrets that haunt them: shame and guilt and other psychological traumas.”
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The problem with rescuing the stranger from the flood waters is that she seems to feed on the very secrets that the small town residents hope to keep buried.
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“In other words, these folks each have a choice to make. They can make amends and accept themselves for who they really are, or they can die.”
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And, of course, there’s the matter of the flood.
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When asked why the novel is set in 1955 instead of the modern era, Thorne says that he wanted to eliminate any possibility of a quick rescue by emergency personnel.
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“These days, we have smartphones, the Internet, 911, and more,” he explains. “All the connectivity doesn’t always guarantee that a disaster gets mitigated, but they are a safety net that folks back in 1955 didn’t have access to.”
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Thorne is also the author of the 2019 novel The Gordon Place, which takes place in the same fictional Tennessee small town as Hell Spring. That novel was a finalist in the Horror cateogry for the 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards. The audiobook edition, which was narrated by Sean Duregger, won the Horror category in the 2020 Independent Audiobook Awards. Similar to The Gordon Place, the tale in Thorne’s new novel is mixed with a few political and cultural observations.
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“The Gordon Place was a story about generational racism,” he says. “So culture and politics was going to be more front-and-center there. When you think about politics and culture in 1955, there are a number of things that immediately come to mind: The Cold War, a booming economy, the encroachment of religion, and, of course, the civil rights movement.
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“Those issues are obviously present in the context of the story,” Thorne continues. “I don’t think you can write realistically about a period of history in any region without including some of the everyday opinions and concerns one might have encountered. That said, I’m not looking to hit anyone over the head with anything there. All I’ll say is that the old adage about the more things change rings true.”
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A 2019 review of The Gordon Place in Publishers Weekly magazine called Thorne “a gifted storyteller.” For his part, Thorne says he just writes what he sees.
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“Every story springs from an imagination that has been influenced by its culture and environment: good, bad, or indifferent,” he says. “The Gordon Place cooked in my head for years before I wrote it down, and so did the new one.”
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Hell Spring is currently available for pre-order on IsaacThorne.com as well as other retail outlets. It ships on Sept. 21, 2022.
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Book Details
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-938271-53-3
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-938271-54-0
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EBook ISBN: 978-1-938271-55-7
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Physical Dimensions: 8.5"x5.5"x1"
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Shipping Weight: Maximum 23oz.
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