The Trees Grew because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca is a collection of short stories that I tore through in a single day, unable to put it down, desperately needing to know what was coming next.
Filled with dread and love and the unimaginable, LaRocca is a masterful story telling and I can't wait to see what comes next.
Please find attached my spoiler free youtube review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eddkNmLwx-g&t=538s

ERIC. LAROCCA. DOES. NOT. MISS.

Can I give this 6 stars? These stories are what I can only best describe as "horrifically human" It is honestly difficult to share the best parts of these stories without ruining the messaging behind them. -- The two stories that really stuck with me were "You're Not Supposed To Be Here" and the title story "The Tree's Grew Because I Bled There"

Please mark this collection of stories on your "must reads of 2023" !!!

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Titan books for this ARC! I adore Eric’s writing and when I saw The Trees Grew Because I Bled There on NetGalley, I had to request right away!

As always these stories all have Eric’s signature prose. It’s somehow ominously beautiful to me. My favorite stories were The Strange Thing We Become, You’re Not Supposed To Be Here and I’ll Be Gone By Then.

I will say that I enjoyed every story in this collection! They each were unique and written so incredibly well. At this point, I’ll read anything Eric LaRocca writes!!

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There was another excellent addition to Eric LaaRocca's diverse collection of horror masterpieces!

“anything worth doing always hurts.”

I love Eric LaRocca’s writing style very much! It keeps you immersed in the story. One particular one had me on the edge of my seat and I was like “is he gonna go there?!” Totally loved the experience!

As usual his collections follow a theme and in this case it was loss.

Mr LaRocca remains one of my favourites!!!

This is probably one of my favorite Eric short story collections. These stories were sad, disturbing, and heart breaking.

I noticed that the theme with these stories were children and parents. There is also the shared theme of grief and how it affects us in different and monstrous ways. Eric’s stories never fail to make my jaw drop and heart sink at the same time.

I’d say the most impactful stories for me were: Bodies are for burning, You’re not supposed to be here, Where flames burned emerald as grass, & I’ll be gone by then. We all have complicated relationships with ourselves as well as our families, and this collection did an amazing job at exploring that. I think this is the one collection of his there wasn’t a story I was bored with or hated. Everything was off the walls as usual, but with a message underneath that I understood and was sympathetic to. I’m slowly becoming a fan here and I’m so excited that Eric’s voice in queer horror is getting such a wide audience. This collection debuts March 7th so be sure to order it!

So weird! I love Eric LaRocca writing and the way he presents his stories. Might not be for everyone, but if you like weird stuff and beautiful prose, jump right in!

You can never go wrong with some very messy, sometimes gross and aways twisted short stories from Eric LaRocca.
All of these stories from this collection were brilliant, almost as if they were plucked straight from my worst nightmares. There’s a certain way LaRocca uses language to unsettle the reader, that really lingers, that sticks in ur psyche and clings on for dear life.
My favourite story is was the one the collection is named after, I found it to be particularly disturbing in the best way.

I can not get enough of these short stories from Eric LeRocca! They mess with your head.. make you feel dread, anticipation, anxious, and sometimes utterly disgusted. This is my favorite kind of Horror writing and I will recommend this to all of my friends for sure. Thank you for the opportunity to read this NetGalley!