A review by scnyeondans
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

This Skin Was Once Mine. ✩✩ ½ 
— psychological horror. interesting twist on an old concept. however, this had way too many plotholes and the author never gives even a hint of an explanation for the main characters behavior. i do have to admit though that the ending was quite scary bc i imagined myself in the mc's situation and... yeah, no thank you.
— tw:
csa, claustrophobia


Seedling. ✩ ½
— body horror. i get that it is supposed to be a metaphor for grief, but the overall execution was kinda meh. 
— tw:
self-harm


All the Parts of You That Won't Easily Burn. ✩✩ 
— body horror. again, interesting idea but the execution fell pretty flat. sometimes it works to not give too much background information but in this case i would have loved some kind of explanation to why these people were doing what they were doing. i think the more realistic horror is, the more horrifying it feels. and this was so unrealistic that it wasnt. also, what was that ending? its like the author mixed two different stories.
— tw:
abuse


Prickle. ✩✩✩
— see, this one was actually quite good. the idea behind it was interesting enough that it could have been made into a novella or even a full-length novel if it would have been done well. reminded me a bit of stephen king. the ending was
quite shocking simply bc the rest of the story was quite light-hearted
. but it was more humorous than horrifying.
— tw:
cruelty, especially against babys


the cover is amazing. most of the premises were interesting. executions fell pretty flat. however, i think if you enjoy larocca's other work, you will likely appreciate this as well.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings