Tamara Thorne
Tamara Thorne (born 20 November 1957 in Los Angeles, California), who also writes under the pen name Chris Curry, is a well-known, bestselling American horror writer. Her novel Winter Scream, co-authored with L. Dean James, was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. She has authored nearly 20 novels, including two novel series, multiple anthologies and several stand-alone works.
Also recorded as Chris Curry
Tamara Thorne
- Name
- Tamara Thorne
- Born
- 20 November 1957
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Writer
- Awards
- Bram Stoker Award (nominated, 1991)
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q7680839 · wikipedia · Tamara Thorne
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Tamara Thorne • Pen Name — Chris Curry • Born — 20 November 1957 • Birthplace — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Occupation — Writer • Language — English • Period — 1991 to present • Genre — Horror • Awards — Bram Stoker Award (nominated, 1991) • Website — tamarathorne.com
Biography
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, in 2014 and 2015. Many of her books have sold strongly and she is well known in her chosen genre of horror.
Writing
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. 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."
Novels
Novels
• Haunted (1991, Pinnacle) (reviews) • Moonfall (1996, Pinnacle) • Body House (1999, Pinnacle) • Candle Bay (2001, Pinnacle) • Eternity (2001, Pinnacle) (listed in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror) • Bad Things (2002, Pinnacle) • The Forgotten (2002, Pinnacle) (review) • The Cliffhouse Haunting (2015, Glass Apple Press (ebook), coauthored with Alistair Cross)
Sorority series
Sorority series
• Eve (2003, Pinnacle) • Merilynn (2003, Pinnacle, (hardcover), (paperback)) • Samantha (2003, Pinnacle, (hardcover), (paperback)) • The Sorority (2013, Kensington; trilogy reissue of all three "sorority" novels)
The Ghosts of Ravencrest series
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
As Chris Curry
• Winter Scream (1991, Pocket, coauthored with L. Dean James) • Trickster (1992, Pocket, coauthored with Lisa Dean) • Panic (1993, Pocket) • Thunder Road (1995, Pocket, was inspired by Calico Ghost Town. Reissued by Pinnacle in 2004. (review)
Anthologies
Anthologies
These anthologies contain works by Thorne. • Dark Seductions (1993, Zebra) • The Devil's Wine (2004, Cemetery Dance Publications, collection of poetry)
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
• Ghosthunting Southern California: America's Haunted Road Trip with John B. Kachuba (2010, Clerisy)
Reception
Thorne was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. The Horror Zine describes Thorne as being "a bestselling author between 1991 and 2002." The Los Angeles Times describes her as a "successful practitioner [of] terror." The British horror writer Graham Masterton named a character in his Forest Ghost novel for Thorne.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Tamara Thorne, revision 1371700060 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Weeks, John. Inland Empire has the Write Stuff. Inland Living magazine. August 2010.
- 2.Daily Herald (Utah). Native son writes hair-raising tale. 26 March 2015.
- 3.Thorne, Tamara. Southern California ghost stories from horror novelist Tamara Thorne. San Bernardino Sun. 30 October 2013.
- 4.Masello, Robert. The Skeleton Crew. Los Angeles Times. 28 October 2004.
- 5.Fantastic Fiction. Tamara Thorne.
- 6.Tamara Thorne - The Official Web Site. Biography.
- 7.The Horror Zine. An interview with Tamara and Alistair.
- 8.Masterton, Graham. Forest Ghost - A novel of horror and suicide in America and Poland. Seven House Publishers, Ltd. 256. 2014. 978-1780104850.
- 9.Dobbs, Georges T. Review of Haunted. SF Site. 2005.
- 10.Carroll & Graf. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. 5. 1995.
- 11.Conan, Tigard. Haunted by Tamara Thorne. Reading Review.
- 12.Windling, Terri. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifteenth Annual Collection. St. Martin's Press. li. 2002.
- 13.Dobbs, Georges T. Review of The Forgotten. SF Site. 2005.
- 14.Fox, Rose. Fall 2013 Announcements: Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror - Growth Spurts. Publishers Weekly. 22 June 2013.
- 15.Weeks, John. The news out of Calico Ghost Town is dispiriting. San Bernardino Sun. 21 August 2009.
- 16.Dobbs, Georges T. Review of Thunder Road. SF Site. 2005.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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