Why You Have to Read Eric LaRocca’s Work
If you haven’t read the work of Eric LaRocca, then why not? My first taste of his work was Starving Ghosts in Every Thread. This story was independently published and his debut and it left me with an incredible amount of feelings. The writing lept from the page and left me aching for more. LaRocca’s insane and unique narrative crawls into your brain and takes up residence rent-free. His published works are the type of novels that will constantly crow for attention and demand to be heard. They are loud, highly articulated, and were made to be triumphant.
Starving Ghosts in Every Thread. It’s one of the most impactful novella’s in the horror genre today. You can’t compare LarRocca’s work to anything that came before or anything likely to come in the future. He is no Stoker, oh no, he is something else. He is Eric LaRocca, he is himself, and something so much more. His darkness spills inky blood from the pages and seeps into his reader’s veins. I dare any reader not to have massive feelings after consuming any of his acclaimed works. I wish I had had one iota of his skill, he waxes lyrical and has a kind of poetic resonance to his monologues. It comes from the heart and leaves you questioning just how his imagination works some different plane from the rest of us mere mortals. There is something inter-dimensional, somewhere between horror and symbolism. It’s just something that you need to experience for yourself.
There is nothing simple about his work. What you see isn’t necessarily what you get. It isn’t that simple when you pick up an Eric LaRocca novel. Each story has a disturbing amount of layers to pull back. It’s like staring at an Iceberg, what you see above the water is nothing compared to the mammoth monstrosity underneath. Ghosts in Every Thread is exactly that. What you might suspect is a regular horror story soon turns out to be something darker than your worst nightmare. He takes the trauma and gives it an edge, a voice, a demand to be heard. If you are anything like me your mind will start to unravel with all the threads coming together, the aha moments that LaRocca hasn’t left to chance, he knew all along the payoff would be epic.
Although dark it feels so undeniably right and you know that no matter the trajectory of the plot, the author has your back. I think it’s a special thing to trust a new author so implicitly, especially within a few chapters. Let’s face it – we are flooded with so many amazing horror novels that it is extremely hard to stand out, but Starving Ghosts in Every Thread has done it, tenfold.
Other Titles by Eric LaRocca
A dark and deeply wounding portrait of a young queer man on the verge of splintering apart, ‘Fanged Dandelion’ is a nightmarish odyssey that delves into the bowels of the human mind – a frightening exploration of the caskets we build inside our heads…
Released: December 31 2020
Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death.
A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s—a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires.
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
Released: June 1st 2021
The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales collects eight stories of literary dark fiction. Tense and terrifying, these masterful stories by Eric LaRocca explore the shadow side of love.
Contents:
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.
Release Date: September 1st 2021
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2 Comments
Arina
Great post! Starving Ghosts was fantastic and so damn creative. I need to grab his other books.
coycaterpillar
Thanks! Yeah I just love his writing. Things Have Gotten Worse Since we Last Spoke is my next read, and I’m really looking forward to that!