Tamara Thorne

American writer, born 1957
Tamara Thorne
Born (1957-11-20) November 20, 1957 (age 66)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Pen nameChris Curry
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityUnited States
CitizenshipUSA
Period1991 to present
GenreHorror
Notable awardsBram Stoker Award (nominated, 1991)
Website
tamarathorne.com

Tamara Thorne (born 20 November 1957 in Los Angeles, California), who also writes under the pen name Chris Curry, is a well-known,[1] bestselling[2] American horror writer.[3] Her novel Winter Scream, co-authored with L. Dean James, was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.[4][5] She has authored nearly 20 novels, including two novel series, multiple anthologies and several stand-alone works. They tend to be set in the Los Angeles area, where she has lived since she was born.[6]

Biography

Tamara Thorne was born in August 1957 in Los Angeles, California. She published her first novel, Winter Scream, in February 1991 under her pen name Chris Curry. The book was coauthored with L. Dean James. Since then, Thorne has authored nearly 20 novels, both standalone and in series. She authored two other series under her own name: the Sorority in 2003, and The Ghosts of Ravencrest series, coauthored with Alistair Cross (Jared S. Anderson), in 2014 and 2015.

Many of her books have sold strongly[2] and she is well known in her chosen genre of horror.[1]

Writing

According to the Los Angeles Times, Thorne's novels are set in "made-up burgs" on the edge of Los Angeles, but Californians see the town in Bad Things as sounding a lot like Redlands, California, where Hollywood stars used to live. Moonfall resembles Oak Glen, and the "scary high desert retreat" in Thunder Road is drawn from Calico Ghost Town.[6] Thorn responds that "My natural mind-set is bound to Los Angeles and the Inland Empire,...and in my books I like to use history and folklore from the real places."[6]

Reception

Thorne was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.[4][5] The Horror Zine describes Thorne as being "a bestselling author between 1991 and 2002."[7] The Los Angeles Times describes her as a "successful practitioner [of] terror."[6]

The British horror writer Graham Masterton named a character in his Forest Ghost novel for Thorne.[8]

Bibliography

Novels

  • Haunted (1991, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1684-1) (reviews:[9][10][11])
  • Moonfall (1996, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1600-0)
  • Body House (1999, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-8217-4467-4)
  • Candle Bay (2001, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1311-7)
  • Eternity (2001, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1310-9) (listed in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror[12])
  • Bad Things (2002, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1477-6)
  • The Forgotten (2002, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1475-X) (review:[13])
  • The Cliffhouse Haunting (2015, Glass Apple Press (ebook), coauthored with Alistair Cross)[2]

Sorority series

  • Eve (2003, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7860-1539-X)
  • Merilynn (2003, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7394-3709-7 (hardcover), ISBN 0-7860-1540-3 (paperback))
  • Samantha (2003, Pinnacle, ISBN 0-7394-3764-X (hardcover), ISBN 0-7860-1541-1 (paperback))
  • The Sorority (2013, Kensington ISBN 0758285515; trilogy reissue of all three "sorority" novels)[14]

The Ghosts of Ravencrest series

These titles were coauthored with Alistair Cross.

  • Darker Shadows (2014, Glass Apple Press (ebook))
  • Christmas Spirits (2014, Glass Apple Press (ebook))
  • Night Moves (2015, Glass Apple Press (ebook))
  • Dead Girls (2015, Glass Apple Press (ebook))

As Chris Curry

  • Winter Scream (1991, Pocket, ISBN 0-671-68433-7, coauthored with L. Dean James)
  • Trickster (1992, Pocket, ISBN 0-671-68434-5, coauthored with Lisa Dean)
  • Panic (1993, Pocket, ISBN 0-671-74947-1)
  • Thunder Road (1995, Pocket, ISBN 0-671-89737-3, was inspired by Calico Ghost Town.[15] Reissued by Pinnacle in 2004. (review:[16])

Anthologies

These anthologies contain works by Thorne.

Nonfiction

  • Ghosthunting Southern California: America's Haunted Road Trip with John B. Kachuba (2010, Clerisy, ISBN 1578604567)[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Thorne, Tamara; San Bernardino Sun Staff (30 October 2013). "Southern California ghost stories from horror novelist Tamara Thorne". San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Native son writes hair-raising tale". Daily Herald (Utah). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  3. ^ Weeks, John (August 2010). "Inland Empire has the Write Stuff". Inland Living magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Tamara Thorne". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  5. ^ a b "Biography". Tamara Thorne - The Official Web Site. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  6. ^ a b c d Masello, Robert (28 October 2004). "The Skeleton Crew". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  7. ^ "An interview with Tamara and Alistair". The Horror Zine. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  8. ^ Masterton, Graham (2014). Forest Ghost - A novel of horror and suicide in America and Poland. Seven House Publishers, Ltd. p. 256. ISBN 978-1780104850.
  9. ^ Dobbs, Georges T. (2005). "Review of Haunted". SF Site. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  10. ^ The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Carroll & Graf. 1995. p. 5.
  11. ^ Conan, Tigard. "Haunted by Tamara Thorne". Reading Review. Reading Review. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  12. ^ Windling, Terri (2002). The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifteenth Annual Collection. St. Martin's Press. p. li.
  13. ^ Dobbs, Georges T. (2005). "Review of The Forgotten". SF Site. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  14. ^ Fox, Rose (22 June 2013). "Fall 2013 Announcements: Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror - Growth Spurts". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  15. ^ a b Weeks, John (21 August 2009). "The news out of Calico Ghost Town is dispiriting". San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  16. ^ Dobbs, Georges T. (2005). "Review of Thunder Road". SF Site. Retrieved 20 April 2015.

External links

  • Interview about Ghosts of Ravencrest series on Haunted Nights LIVE"
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