Sadly this really did not work for me. I was quite confused with both storylines and couldn't see any connections and didn't really know what was happening. I do think the writing was good and there is a great diverse cast of characters but that was the only positive for me sadly.

I don't know...

Everything the Darkness Eats was labelled as a supernatural thriller, which it was drew me in. But there should be a trigger warning that it also contains hate crimes, sexual assault, and homophobic characters.

Now that we have that out of the way. The author did make the characters diverse: a gay couple with a Muslim character, a blind child and her single mother, and a bisexual protagonist. There were two storylines that we follow, one involves a series of people disappearing from a small Connecticut town, and the other is about a gay couple experiencing severe and disgusting homophobia who have moved to the town.

I just don't know with this book, I don't understand the concept, I don't understand the connecting storylines, I just don't know.

This is the first time I've ever read something by LaRocca and although Everything the Darkness Eats was not to my taste I am more than happy to explore his other works.

Thank You to Eric LaRocca and Dreamscape Media, for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was dark, disturbing, and full of hate crimes, sexual assault, homophobic characters, and an overall ickiness I cannot articulate. I struggled getting through it due to the violence and disquieting scenes, and it ended in such a lightning-fast resolution that was possible all along, so it boggled my mind. I wanted this to be a gem. A gay couple with a Muslim character, a blind child and her single mother, a bisexual protagonist - and yet it was just icky. A good example of strong ingredients and nothing worthy holding them together. I could not wait for this book to be over.

Everything the Darkness Eats is a supernatural thriller with strong horror elements that follows two story arcs: one involving a series of people mysteriously disappearing from a small town and the other involving a gay couple being victim of violent homophobia. There is a lot of darkness around these characters, and sadly most of it is caused by monsters who are human.

Every time I finish reading something by Eric LaRocca, my immediate reaction is asking myself: "WTF did I just read?" and I am always amused, disturbed, shocked, intrigued by the author's mind and unique creativity. Unfortunately and first the first time, this didn't happen with Everything the Darkness Eats. And after giving it some thoughts, I realized that it's because I loved the characters but hated the story.
Brett and Malik deserved better, way better, and what they went through was too painful to read and added absolutely nothing to the story. I liked Ghost, he is an interesting character (though he often made questionable choices) and I liked the magic that seemed to accompany him after his recent loss. But there are other parts in this book that really annoyed me: the incompetent / ignorant police, the random abandonment and kidnapping of a blind girl, a charming but suspicious old guy that everyone trusts (Mr. Gaunt anyone??). It was all a bit, for lack of better terms, too convenient.
LaRocca's hypnotic prose is also somehow "diluted" here: I almost didn't recognize the author's voice in the first half of the book, while it's stronger and charming as usual in the second half.
For all these reasons, and for my personal taste, Everything the Darkness Eats is not as good as LaRocca's other works and I give 3 stars.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator André Santana did a fantastic job, I really loved their interpretation, especially during emotional chapters.

* I'd like to thank Eric LaRocca, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing this ALC in exchange for my honest review. * Everything the Darkness Eats is out on June 6th, 2023.

This book was heavy, and I'll trigger warning right now it has some extreme homophobia and sexual assault.

The book primarily consists of two separate plotlines, one involving a series of people disappearing from a small Connecticut town, and the other involving the intense homophobia experienced by a gay couple who have moved to the town. The stories weave together in the last fifteen minutes of the book, but they felt shoved together and it did not feel like a natural cohesion.

The homophobia and sexual violence were extreme and brutal and I struggled through major portions of it. I don't think the level of violence contributed to the book or the story.

Overall, this book just wasn't for me.

OOF, Trigger Warnings: Instances of Homophobia, Hate Speech, Sexual Assault.

I'm a big Eric LaRocca fan, and his horror collections have always kept me hooked. Don't take that introduction for a sour taste because this was still an excellent story, I just hate that there were gruesome assault scenarios, but that's why I've announced the TW alerts -- proceed with caution.

People have started to go missing in small-town Connecticut with seemingly no explanation. These disappearances happen randomly after the visit from the shriveled old man, Mr. Heart Crowley. Mr. Crowley is hiding something within the depths of his cellar. As he lures his unsuspecting victims to its cavernous regions, they come across a being so spectrally vile and out of this world that it shocks them into paralysis.

Mr. Crowley stumbles upon a disabled widower named Ghost, requesting his help completing his ultimate plan in exchange for his lost lover. Sounding like a deal made with the devil, Ghost is weary but eager to save the lost souls bound to this haunting manor before it's too late.

Everything the Darkness Eats is set to publish on June 6, 2023, and I'm so thankful to Eric LaRocca and Clash Books for sending me an advanced reader copy of this horrific tale!

It's like a mesmerizing dream where you've just barely been immersed in the macabre depths when you're abruptly brought back to the waking world. I wish it had been longer because he spins a fascinating world of characters that we barely get to meet. MAJOR trigger warning for homophobia, related rape and abuse. This definitely makes it a very difficult read.

Oh dear

I think this will be the last time I read one of this writers books. The blurbs always sound good and I get excited, then the actual story is nothing like one expects.

I am not going to do a rant review as others have spelled it out better than I could, but I will say that my one memory of this book will be the homophobia. I think it was supposed to hit different than it did, but like its 2023 and maybe we can move beyond this sort of stuff?

The one good thing was the narration. The narrator did a great job even with the story not being great. I will most definitely read more by them.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the free ALC in exchange for honest review. I dont know what to say about this book definitely didn't get horror as the genre maybe mysterynor fiction. I had no interest in the characters and their story. Should have DNF IT.

After finishing this book I sat back and wondered what exactly did I just read? The story felt disjointed and was on the boring side. It also tackled some big topics and hard life issues but it just came off a little insensitive at points.

There were two story arcs, one following a man named Ghost and another story following a couple Brett and Malik. Both stories showed a lot of promise and I was disappointed with how it all needed up.

Brett is a widower and his story never had me fully feel for his loss or his pain. In his story we also meet a young girl who is blind which initially made me feel for the young girl. There ended up being too many inconsistencies around her blindness that stopped me from feeling bad and just got me annoyed at the writing.

Bret and Malik’s story was written better in the sense that I really felt bad for them. They are a couple who are dealing with a town that suffers from homophobia. I really did feel bad for their struggles. The metaphors used to describe some of the events that happened to Malik did have me questioning the writing again.

This was my first book by the author. Personally, I did not like their writing but I would love to try another book by them and be proven wrong. As it stands now I have a hard time recommending this book.

LaRocca has knocked it out of the park with another fantastically done horror novel that gets deep under your skin and stays there long after you’ve finished reading it. The creeping foreboding is a constant companion throughout the novel and the narration of the audiobook lends it an additional quality of tension. There are moments in the book, while it is being narrated, that evoke a visceral response to what is unfolding. The realistic aspects of some of the horror that the characters are subject to is particularly heart wrenching. If you’re looking for a gripping new horror audiobook that explores the monsters in your neighborhood both familiar and otherworldly this is without a doubt an excellent choice.

The many stories were dark and creepy. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out really surprising.

It’s a good story. I liked it. I think this author is very talented. I would like to pick up something else written by him.
I don’t think it’s a horror story, but it’s very dark, and a lot of blood in it. Some parts were truly terrifying.
A bit slow at the beginning. This story kind of is split in two different stories which were connected only at the very end. And the story about Malik and his husband I liked the most here.
Great characters. Except Crowley, this one did not work for me, because of his name. I didn’t like that the author used Alister Crowley name to depict the character for his story. Because of the refetences to the dark magical rituals, evil magician?
To mention that other characters names also have linkages.
Overall I liked the story and definitely want to read more from this author.
Thanks to NetGalley , publisher for providing the audio book and giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts.

I want to love LaRocca so bad but I think he just isn't for me. I'm all for dark horror but this was not it. A lot of this didn't make sense and I felt pretty bored for most of it. I didn't care for the characters either as well as found the 3 different story lines unnecessary. I personally don't want to be bored if I'm reading a horror book. There is also a lot of violence and trauma (rape scene) so just a warning there.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

Ghost is a Widow Anona recent trip to the emergency room he met a single mom named Gemma and although he hasn’t opened his self up to anyone since he lost his wife Haley in the round born baby when Gemma says she would like to go with him when he walks in the morning he eventually invites her. unfortunately people are going missing and soon she will be one of them Malik is the detective tasked with the recent missing people but he also have problems of his own. He and his husband have been in Love since they were in college and or enjoying their quiet life in this little town but when they start getting harassed and then Brett gets beaten up Malik feels like if he can’t even protect his husband why is he even a cop but Brett sees right through him and tells him he must go back to work what he eventually does when a neighbor comes over to tell Malik what he knows about the recent hatred they been receiving he isn’t sensed but what does all this have to do with the dark magic in the missing people in heart Crowley? Eric LaRocca is one of those authors who all you have to do is say their name and you don’t even have to read the summary you just know you’re going to want to read the book and you’ll love it and I love this one. Oh I at first didn’t know where he was going with these two Basley different stories but OMG leave it to him as he is the genius. This was a great book with great narration A solid read for any horror fan I highly recommend it and totally loved it. I received this book from NetGalley and dreamscape media but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Eric LaRocca, a master of short horror brings us a thoughtfully crafted, read-in-a-day book. I loved the inclusion of the type of horror that is derived from grief and loneliness, the focus on homophobia in a small town, magic and tension.

Eric LaRocca gives us tremendous characters, with room to feel true empathy. I find him to be such an expert at conveying whole-personhood, despite how short the book is. And the writing is rich, poetically-inclined, and unexpectedly beautiful -- which was a delight for me. I love the POVs, and the decision to focus, specifically, here. We have a good balance of real-life horrors and atrocity perpetuated against the queer community, or the vulnerable, while also having layers of supernatural force. Because of this it can be hard to read, but it feels very important and timely.

There is nothing scarier than a bigoted, "religious", small town... in life or in literature. And Eric LaRocca, well -- they've nailed it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for access to this title, via audiobook, early. I don't often read horror but Eric LaRocca is doing such special things and I'm always excited to spread the word. The Narrator, Andre Santana, does a masterful job of telling the story and does such justice to the book and emotional ride. Loved this and would definitely recommend.

DNF

The prose in this is not for me. There's a very big emphasis on metaphors and talking in circles. Add in that this has extremely slow pacing for a thriller. I realized 42% in nothing was happening, and really did not like any of the three separate stories happening in the book. The three POV stories are supposedly connected, there's ableism, hateful homophobia, violence, ACAB, and apparently an upcoming gratuitous rape scene.

I had to bow out, this is not working for me. Queer trauma is not an interesting form of thriller for me.

I loved the premise of this book. The character choices were great, the storyline was spooky, and I was excited to read it. The part that fell short for me was just the confusing nature of the book. The author used similes throughout the pages and I would find myself lost in what was going on. On many occasions I was forced to reread/re-listen just to understand which character was speaking.

Eeeeekkk. I was not a fan of this book. As a horror reader, I need believability to get immersed in a story. I need to really think that, if this were happening to me that is EXACTLY how I would react to that horrifying situation. The reactions of characters were hard to believe, or incongruent to the character or the story line.

There are three story lines in novel. A grief-stricken young man named Ghost (the why behind that name is glossed over, but he sadly and repeatedly introduces himself as “Ghost, like Halloween.” Just call yourself Gary, man)

A detective investigating a series of disappearances but then he and his husband become victims of horrifying crimes themselves.

Heart Crowley, a salesman and sorcerer, gathering bodies for his conjured god.

The story lines come together awkwardly. An unbelievable debt collector home visit leads Ghost to accept Heart’s insane offer. And a doorbell.

SPOILER ALERTS/TRIGGER WARNINGS

1. If a strange sad sack of a man starts talking to your blind daughter about how his “magic stick can make wishes come true,” would you give him your number?
2. A character is brutally beaten and gang raped and dropped in a tub because he is bleeding too much. He then notices his rapists hair is feathered and black as a crow’s wing and is sexually attractive and starts to feel sorry for him.
3. If you are in the process of sacrificing a body in the basement of your mansion to a god that is already there and the doorbell rings, do you say, stay right there levitating body, let me twist off your feet, I need to go answer the door?
4. If someone twists off your feet do you sit there, observe all goings ons, smile, make decisions and then decide to cure a complete stranger INSTEAD OF ADDRESSING THE AGONY OF TWISTED FEET?
5. The blind little girl has a balloon trailing behind her. I just think, of all things to give a blind child as a toy, a balloon is the most ridiculous.

Gosh there’s more, including the over abundance of similes and metaphors but I don’t want to be be mean. There was some good. Ghost’s backstory was heartbreaking and I was intrigued by his misty haunting little spirit twisting about his head and tormenting him. LaRocca painfully and deftly explains the difficulties gay couples, especially men, must endure to “fit in” and the homophobic violence that can be around any corner.

There were flashes of brilliance and the potential for a horrifying NOS4A2- like bad-man and story. It just didn’t come together for me.

Everything The Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca is an extremely graphic depiction of the worst fears of LGBTQIA+ people in society today. Part of the horror of this novel is that it could have been ripped out of the headlines of yesterday, today and tomorrow. I gay gasped and I screamed throughout listening to this audiobook. The narrator, Andrè Santana, does an excellent job. There’s a lot of potentially distressing material in this novel. You won’t know what will be embedded in your subconscious until after completion of this story. From this point forward, they are your nightmares now. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC. Everything The Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca is out on June 6, 2023.