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A review by ioannap_author
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I received an ARC of this collection through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
"This skin was once mine, and other disturbances by Eric LaRocca is a wonderfully creepy collection of tales, most revolving around elements of body horror. This was my second LaRocca read, and, although, I don't think it topped "It's been a while since we talked," it was an incredible collection, and I enjoyed all the stories.
LaRocca's writing is effective, through its surface level simplicity, to make you gasp at all the unexpected turns and horrible (but in a good way) ways the story progresses. His careful avoidance of using elaborate prose acts as an exemplification of how gory what happens in the story is. I didn’t have a monent to appreciate a beautifully placed word, and it would feel out of place for me to do that while reading the stories and being shocked at everything that happened.
There were 4 stories in this collection, and all of them were exceptional as horror tales. The two that stood out for me were "All the Parts of You That Won't Burn Easily" and "This Skin Was Once Mine.""
In "All the Parts of You That Won't Burn Easily," I really enjoyed the depiction of pain as a cure. Some parts of it are true as I can think of situations in which the cure is more painful than the illness, and you do it because you hope that once it's all over, it will all feel better. It also really made me think of a variety of practices that I heard older relatives say about how you can only remove one kind of pain but going through a painful treatment and hope, at the end, the original pain you feel will be gone. After reading this, I believe what they meant is that your tolerance for pain increases, and the previous issue appears smaller. Enoch's delving into massochism as a form of pleasurable pain was a self administered medicine from his incomplete life, which led him to more danger, in the face of an arsonist kidnapper (I think).
"This Skin Was Once Mine" (probably my favourite story) is about Jillian, a woman who returns home after her father's death and reunites with her mother. I was really intrigued by the family breakdown and was so surprised by the secrets that were revealed. For me, this was the most fast-paced story in the collection.
If you enjoy horror, nearly surreal, creepy stories, don't miss out on LaRocca's writing!
"This skin was once mine, and other disturbances by Eric LaRocca is a wonderfully creepy collection of tales, most revolving around elements of body horror. This was my second LaRocca read, and, although, I don't think it topped "It's been a while since we talked," it was an incredible collection, and I enjoyed all the stories.
LaRocca's writing is effective, through its surface level simplicity, to make you gasp at all the unexpected turns and horrible (but in a good way) ways the story progresses. His careful avoidance of using elaborate prose acts as an exemplification of how gory what happens in the story is. I didn’t have a monent to appreciate a beautifully placed word, and it would feel out of place for me to do that while reading the stories and being shocked at everything that happened.
There were 4 stories in this collection, and all of them were exceptional as horror tales. The two that stood out for me were "All the Parts of You That Won't Burn Easily" and "This Skin Was Once Mine.""
In "All the Parts of You That Won't Burn Easily," I really enjoyed the depiction of pain as a cure. Some parts of it are true as I can think of situations in which the cure is more painful than the illness, and you do it because you hope that once it's all over, it will all feel better. It also really made me think of a variety of practices that I heard older relatives say about how you can only remove one kind of pain but going through a painful treatment and hope, at the end, the original pain you feel will be gone. After reading this, I believe what they meant is that your tolerance for pain increases, and the previous issue appears smaller. Enoch's delving into massochism as a form of pleasurable pain was a self administered medicine from his incomplete life, which led him to more danger, in the face of an arsonist kidnapper (I think).
"This Skin Was Once Mine" (probably my favourite story) is about Jillian, a woman who returns home after her father's death and reunites with her mother. I was really intrigued by the family breakdown and was so surprised by the secrets that were revealed. For me, this was the most fast-paced story in the collection.
If you enjoy horror, nearly surreal, creepy stories, don't miss out on LaRocca's writing!