This is definitely the best of the LaRocca I've read- I think the short story form works much better for him than novellas. The stories were diverse but with interesting thematic throughlines and generally tight and effective.

I am honestly impressed with the degree that LaRocca is willing to lean into the fucked upness of various relationships here, whether it be between family members or lovers. The title story is going to stick with me a while, honestly, as will most of these. Double props for deliberately leaning into things that cause a disgust reflex. You want some viscerally uncomfortable horror short stories, this is your collection.

A well-crafted collection of horror stories from the very talented breakout horror author, Eric LaRocca. In the past few years that we've been gifted with his work, I have experienced LaRocca developing and evolving as a writer. I am thrilled whenever I hear that he's publishing a new book.

Spectacular!

This is a collection that fans of the short story must add to their reading list.

Eric LaRocca delivered a collection of dark horror that had me cringing and uncomfortable yet totally enthralled throughout. Like all collections there are some stories that are more intense and impactful but overall this collection of eight well written tales truly delivered. There are two stories that resonated with me, "You're Not Supposed to Be Here" and "Please Leave or I'm Going to Hurt You". These are partly unsettling to read, somewhat disturbing and yet enjoyable to the point of going back for a second read.

If there was a superstar at short stories, Eric LaRocca would be that star. I became a fan instantly after I read "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" and he did not disappoint with The Trees Grew Because I Bled There.

This is another fantastic collection of short stories. This collection includes the following stories:

You Follow Wherever They Go.
Bodies Are for Burning.
The Strange Thing We Become.
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There.
You’re Not Supposed to Be Here.
Where Flames Burned Emerald as Grass.
I’ll Be Gone by Then.
Please Leave or I’m Going to Hurt You.

Each story delves into the dark and intellectual depths of human emotion from all facets. LaRocca has a unique way to pulling his readers into his stories. He changes his tone with each story. This gives the reader the allusion that what they are diving into isn't as bad as it really is. This creates a different experience for each story.

Such beautiful but also disturbing and creepy writing. I love a short story collection and this gave me what I needed,

Disturbing and beautifully written, despite the subject material in these stories. Gory as always - very good.

As always the dark mind of Mr LaRocca never fails to blow me away. This collection like many of his other works proves that fiction can never be too dark...sometimes that's exactly what it needs to be.

TW: cancer, death of parent, bullying, suicide, language, divorce, homophobia, gore, cheating, torture, incest, dementia

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution…
Release Date: March 7th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 202
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The pages in this book are so nice and soft
2. Reads fast
3. The cover is nice
4. I like the bold writing at the beginning of the chapters

What I Didn't Like:
1. 20 uses of the word animal
2. 39 uses of rain
3. Why is every story about cancer
4. Every story feels the same

Overall Thoughts:
Has anyone else ever noticed the authors fetish for bugs? There are so many references to bugs or animals;
centipedes
Beetles
carpenter ant
snakes
maggots
Monkeys
Earthworm
Cattle
Honeybees
Deer
Fish
Robin
Sparrow
Elephants
Locust
Salamander
Mouse
Leopard
Bumblebee
Tarantula
Hyenas
Mosquito (at this point I was only 100 pages in)
Cobra
Turtles

I just think the author needs to learn how to pose words in a different way. I feel like every story at the base was the same story told over and over again & again. Characters are gay, trying to have a baby, and so much cancer! It's all just cancer in this book. Every story feels so redundant and like I've already read these characters. I also have this nagging feeling when I read each story that wasn't this already a story that existed - written by someone else?

Where do you go when you're Icarus and you've flown to close to the sun? Perhaps that's my issue with Eric LaRocca. He's pulled the M. Night Shyamalan move and lost sight of what drew people in. I know he's still getting good reviews (Eric) but I'm still holding onto that person that wrote Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. In some sense though even that book felt a little bit on the edge of Dennis Cooper's The Sluts. I read these stories/books and I finish wanting more. Is that all he has to give. I'm being unfair. Writings hard I know but picking the book out of millions and then reading it for 2 hours to days is just as difficult if you ask me. An author doesn't want to write a book that sucks just like a reader doesn't want to read one that sucks either.

You Follow Wherever They Go - the first story very bland. I blinked and it was over. I understood it too easily that I started doubting that it was right and it had to be deeper - I mean we are talking Eric LaRocca here, but no just a kid who's parent dies and go off into the rain. In the rain with a paper lantern.... Hmm okay. ⭐

Bodies Are For Burning - another story where someone has cancer. Author doesn't know what baby formula is because mentions her feeding the baby a jar of baby formula that's blended carrots. This story had no mystery in it. You know where it's going pretty much from the beginning. The ending remind me of the ending of Saint Maud. ⭐⭐


The Strange Thing We Become - Cancer again again... Sokushinbuts take a minimum of 3 years to get to. I watched a whole documentary on it. It's so difficult to achieve that in the last 1000+ years only 30 monks have made it all the way. This makes so little sense. She's the one who read up on self mummification and yet she has no idea what Evie is doing. It makes no sense. Also her being able to exercise when she's so sick she can't even hold food down and she's terminal. And then this character brings her take out but isn't her stomach bothering her so how would she even eat that? So much just left in the air with zero answers. Why does every story of his never have an ending that makes sense. At this point I'm questioning ifthe author knows how to end stories. This book with it's weird fake pregnancy and an odd item being the baby plus the mixed media style just reminded me too much his other book. ⭐

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There - I'd love to come back as a tree but you can't just hack off branches and grow back like normal. Trees risk getting an infection in it and killing the tree. This story reminded me of Geek Love when the one character has this cult where people remove body parts to show how much they owe him ⭐⭐

You’re Not Supposed to Be Here - rip off of The Chain. ⭐

Where Flames Burned Emerald As Grass - random dude tells Norval that his daughter is going to be bitten by a snake and die and Norval will lose his arm but that he'll also kill that dude - and Norval starts considering sending his daughter with him. Norval starts thinking he can't take care of this 12 year old - 12 year old, not a baby or young child but teen. Dude I bet Norval was the kind of man that made his wife who had cancer wash dishes because despite living in the same house for 10 years - he just can't figure out where bowls go. He's been taking care if his daughter for 3 years alone already and now he's like "yeah she needs a mother but just any mother - a mother we don't even know who's 72 years old!" Plus they are in another country and some random dude who's by himself on a vacation without his wife but happens to have a blurry photo of her and Norval thinks this checks out. While I think this story was one of the better ones. It doesn't make any sense. Dude warns against a snake biting him and his daughter but he's the one that releases it. So if he didn't release the snake none of that would happen. Why would he still release the snake if he knew it was going to kill him too? So if he can't have this guy's daughter then there is no point of living and he's going to put Norval through the same torture of losing a daughter - if he even lost a child. I think this story would have been more interesting if he was actually Ali and that's how he knew things. He scams single father's and steals their kids. ⭐⭐

I’ll Be Gone by Then - this woman doesn't want her mother anymore (the whole 3 hours she's spent with her) so she decides to get rid of her - first trying to kill her and then abandon her. She talks about leaving her in the park and no one will know who she is because she only speaks Italian but the daughter hands her her pills, which I imagine have her name on them, so doesn't that make the job easier in knowing who she is? I don't understand why the daughter was traveling with her mother's purse - why she hadn't already went through her purse to see the fruit - also how could she not feel it in there? This one was okay. It's ends in a cliffhanger, which I feel like added to the story and made it interesting to not know. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Please Leave or I’m Going To Hurt You - this story was the best one. It was sad and heartbreaking. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Final Thoughts:
This is the last Eric LaRocca book I will read - at least now. His writing style is just not for me. This book is the 5th one I've read him and I've only liked one so far.

I feel like every story is redundant. Every character sounds like the last character there is no different sound to them.

Recommend For:
• Queer stories
• Complex characters
• Stories with loose

I had unusually high hopes for this one, and it disappointed me. Some of the stories had their creep factor, but for the most part, I was underwhelmed.

This was such a weird and twisty story! I love how unique it felt and kept me turning the pages. Would recommend to my friends!

I'm not usually a shot story fan but I think I can only take these stories in small shots, they are so full of dread and real horror. Beautifully written, they're little terrible gems. They suck you right in, bleed you out, and spit you back, needing a break before another. Wonderful.

This author is the reason I enjoy short story collections so much. This author created something so dark and macabre out of pure ether. I loved the command that the author had over the writing and how there was so much diversity in the writing. The stories are definitely the fuel of nightmares and get down to the essence of what is dark and what is feared. I will remember these stories for a long time and immediately want more. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

I absolutely adore Eric LaRocca.
I cannot even put into words how talented he is. And this book was no exception.
This collection of stories were raw, disturbing and mind-blowing. Everything great in a book, haha.

If you've never read work by him, please read the triggers. His work is more than just the typical horror.

Once again Eric has filled each story with raw emotion. It’s like he places you in the characters shoes without an ounce of effort. It’s clear why I’ve attached myself to his writing and can’t wait for the many more to come.

I loved “things have gotten worse since we last spoke”, so I was really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this collection. What a treat.

8 more gruesome and dark horror stories. The writing is amazing, I would love more from this author.

Thank you for my arc NetGalley & publisher!

I don't say this lightly: This is my new favorite Eric LaRocca book. I read this in a single day; I literally could not stop thinking about it until I had finished the whole thing. These are all independent stories, but there's a consistent through-line between them—even down to some of the phrases and metaphors used—that makes their world feel connected in a queasy, unsettling way.

I will admit that there were stories I felt were stronger and stories I felt were weaker (The Strange Thing We Become and Bodies Are for Burning were the best of the best, in my opinion), but I'm still going to give this five stars overall because having these stories presented as a cohesive set is integral to the themes around grief that the collection explores.

LaRocca has a powerful way with words and I found myself highlighting a lot of turns of phrase but the stories are a major mixed bag here. Often predictable and just not engaging. Would be willing to try another of their works that's stand alone but just ended up feeling a bit disappointed by it. Felt like it had lots of potential it just never quite achieved.

Utterly creepy and disturbing. I enjoyed the vivid details in this writing and the unsettling feeling. A couple of the short stories weren’t the most original ideas but I found myself pulled in and wary almost immediately. This author has a unique sense of horror and appreciated it was not limited to body horror alone.

I find hard to classify this book: it's an anthology of short stories and it made me think about the philosophical stories, each story deals with a different side of life: love, grief, fear.
The author is an excellent storyteller that is able to write short stories which stay with you and make you think about what happened, the meaning and the characters.
All the story are at high level and all of them are disturbing like they were showing you a mirror and asking you if you see something of your own soul.
A twisty, dark, and riveting reading experience.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine