Huge thanks to Eric Larocca and NetGalley for the ALC!

This was EXCEPTIONAL. Eric Larocca writes horror like no other. I’ve used the comparison to “Exquisite Corpse,” with Larocca’s writing before, solely because they share a similar prose of grotesque beauty. Eric’s writing is like a Michelangelo sculpture of a bashed in skull. The care and tenderness with which Larocca describes scenes of horror is simply unmatched. This was my first time listening to one to of their books and the narrators did an exceptional job of capturing the spirit of the writing. I want to own everything Larocca writes and I’ll certainly be adding this one
to my collection of favorites.

This is how you do short stories ! everything was so well written and genuinely gave me the creeps .
Thank you for the arc .

“Scream if you need me. I’ll be back to haunt you later”

There's something about Eric LaRocca’s writing that really resonates with me. His writing is powerfully unique. When you’re reading a LaRocca work, you know you’re reading LaRocca. Maybe it’s the tone, or the pacing, or the prose or the underlying and sometimes graphic darkness that oozes off the page. You can feel Eric’s words vibrating in your bones.

Unsettling tales of dark secrets, family bonds, body-mods and a friendly game between old friends. Proceed with caution.

An easy 4+ Stars

Eric LaRocca has such a distinct voice as an author that can (apparently) be very polarizing, I really enjoy it. They write very poetically, I feel the best way to enjoy the stories is to give yourself at least a few minutes after each to analyze and reflect before moving on. I felt the same way when I read You've Lost a Lot of Blood. So far those are the only two books of his that I have read and I prefer this one just a little more. The title story was very powerful and had my emotions all over the place, and there were two other stories that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I read them.

I listened to the audiobook which was read by a few different narrators and I loved it, all the performers did a wonderful job and the book translated very well to audio.

the audiobook narrators all did a fantastic job, i appreciate each story having a different narrator so it was clear to me when the story came to an end and a new one began. with that said, listening to short stories as audiobooks, especially this year, don't seem to be working as well for me. i find myself missing the big picture metaphor while listening and the disturbances don't hit the same.

this skin was once mine - ☆☆☆ this story dragged a bit for me and maybe it was just getting introduced to this audiobook and shifting the gear in my mind, i felt a tad more and disinterested but still enjoyed it enough

seedling - ☆☆☆.5 this was pretty short and again i feel i'm missing the bigger picture but overall i enjoyed this newly found connection before father and child after a death

all the parts of you that won't easily burn - ☆☆☆ ummm wild, all this for a knife is right

prickle - ☆☆☆.5 maybe 4 genuinely i know it's cruel but also this story is pretty iconic..maybe not to this degree but also could be me in my elder years who knows YEET

for my very first Eric LaRocca, i'm not sure this was the best place to start but was entertained enough and will certainly check out this author's backlist

I think I might be becoming a short story girly. This collection contained four really disturbing, twisted, unsettling and sometimes gruesome stories, all containing queer characters.

Each story felt amazingly well crafted, not too long or short and each gave an insight into interpersonal relationships. I suppose I did occasionally lack more of an emotional connection with the characters that I think I'd need for a 5* collection, but all in all I really enjoyed this book as a whole and I'll certainly be interested in reading more of Eric's short stories very soon.

I was granted access to the audio by the publisher via Netgalley. Each story had it's own narrator and each was perfectly picked to suit the main character from each. I was even excited that my favourite narrator, Michael Crouch, narrated one of them. So all in all, a very enjoyable experience!

Just as always, LaRocca manages to create the most horrifying and intense feelings while reading (listening to) his writing. I discovered him years ago with "Things have gotten worse sonce we last spoke" and ever since then, I've been following his new releases only because I craved more insane, gruesome stories similar to this one. I know this wasn’t recieved well and some people could say his writing is superficial and shallow, but to me, pure terror is what brings the beauty to literature, and maybe this is the reason why we all crave tragedy, pain, horror and such other similar feelings when it comes to literature.

He will become one of the best horror writers we'll have, mark my words. Definitely 5/5 all the time when it comes to his books, and I will definitely be looking forward to reading all of his stuff as fast as possible

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting and odd collection of short tales. I was not sure what to think of most of them. I really enjoyed the first tale and would have loved more on that one because it was very interesting and gripping. This was a quick read.

Short collections always have ups and downs, and there were definitely stories I enjoyed more than others, with some have less tense vibes than others. But overall this was as great as all his other work. Thank you Titan and NetGalley for the ARC

4 Stars ~

Finally an Eric LaRocca short story collection that I liked! I have read a couple by LaRocca in the past, but just haven't vibed with them at all, but I just keep coming back because I know so many people love his work.

This collection was gruesome and weird, but so enjoyable!. If you want to squirm in your seat while reading, this one is for you.

Thank you NetGalley for the AudioARC of this novel, in return for an honest review.

There's something about body horror that has always fascinated me. It's the tying of the strange and other to the very human, the monster to the not, the grotesque to the not, until one cannot be separated from the other and you realize that rather than opposing concepts, they were one in the same all along. Yet despite the fact that I am drawn to it over and over within art and movies, I'm largely unfamiliar with the concept through the lens of modern books. With its provocative cover and title, this collection drew me in with the promise of finding something within it that I wanted on that front, and by and large I'd say it delivered. It has a rawness and jaggedness that I find refreshing; There is no reluctance whatsoever to explore the shunned and darker parts of human emotion.

Four short stories exist in "This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances" by Eric LaRocca, and each brings with it something new to consider. Tying the stories together are repeated themes of familial trauma, messy love, masochism, destruction of the self, destruction of the body, and pain. Each stands alone well, but taken together they create a glimpse into a patchwork of all the emotions most people try very hard to keep hidden. For anyone with a spare evening and an interest in the macabre and unusual, it's worth a look, even if just as a novel experience.

The standout of the collection is the titular "This Skin Was Once Mine" for its fascinating family dynamic that pulls you in as it twists and writhes around the main character. Also of note is "All The Parts of You That Won't Easily Burn", which involves a man on a quest to buy a knife for his husband's dinner party but who finds himself more enamored with the quest and where it leads him than he (or the reader) would expect.

LaRocca's strength is in how quickly their writing can draw you in to a new mental state and link you to the emotions of a character. A vital skill for character-focused, emotionally-driven short stories such as these. I listened to this collection on audiobook, and perhaps that was a factor, but I bought into each narrator’s tale within minutes and gladly stayed the duration.

Perhaps avoid the book if you do not wish to see disturbing content. But then again, why else pick up a horror book?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity to listen to an audiobook ARC of "This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances" by Eric LaRocca in exchange for an honest review.

This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances was the first collection I’ve read by Eric LaRocca and it definitely won’t be my last. I deeply enjoyed this collection, especially as I’ve sat with the stories. Even if I didn’t fully understand them, they were compelling and made me *feel* something, which is all I want out of horror stories. The horror here is visceral and deeply uncomfortable, especially in All The Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn and This Skin Was Once Mine - those were easily my favorite in this collection. LaRocca has a distinct style and tone that is instantly captivating and lures you in - even though you’re horrified, you don’t want to leave.

The Skin Was Once Mine was definitely my favorite of the 4 and a clear standout - both execution wise and thematically. I feel like this one was more complexly crafted and defined than the others. It was also the most horrifying. Every moment made my skin crawl and I found some of the language exceptionally profound. This is one that I’m going to think about for a long time, especially with the snake iconography.

Seedling was fascinating and shocking. The whole concept of the evergrowing blackness and the tethering void that’s created as a a result of grief was powerful and I enjoyed how it was approached here. I don’t think I fully understood this story, but I liked it a lot.

All the Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn - Good GOD this one was horrifying. Imagine simply going to a knife shop to buy a nice gift and then ending up with a self-mutilation kink. This one made me viscerally uncomfortable and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I drove.

Prickle was a lot of fun….until the end when my face screwed up in absolute horror. This is how you end a collection.

I really enjoyed this collection and I can’t wait to explore more of LaRocca’s work. I thought the narration was effective, especially in having the 4 different voices for each story - it really allowed you to differentiate between the tone and pieces. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Titan Books for the advanced copy!

This short story collection features four tales that explore the theme of skin in various ways, including slivers, snake skin, glass cuts, burns, and pricks. The audiobook version, with its unique narrators for each story, was a great way to experience the tales. Eric LaRocca's writing style shines, and the characters' distinct voices come alive when heard aloud. It's captivating to see how each character's unusual mind works. As an added bonus, almost every story features queer characters, making this a great choice for Pride Month reading. I highly recommend giving this book a try!

Similar vibes: Under the Skin (2013), Piercing by Ryū Murakami

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

*Note* This is technically a review of the audiobook, but I did re-read some sections in the eBook after listening, for reasons listed below. As far as the audiobook itself goes, it is well produced and has four different narrators, one for each story. I thought all of the narrators did great. The stories all have a combination of dialogue, internal thoughts, and straight-forward narration, and each narrator did a good job of distinguishing the various literary techniques/characters without being distracting. A lot of the narration was somewhat monotone, but this fits perfectly with LaRocca’s writing style, the way they deliver devastating, disturbing imagery without any sort of judgement or fanfare, a brutal normalizing of the abnormal and obscene. Across the board I enjoyed the narration and found it fit the tone, and I enjoyed all four narrators. With that said, I realized that this is not the best format for me to engage with LaRocca’s work. Sometimes his imagery and delivery are so simultaneously blunt and twisted that I want to linger, re-read passages and just think about what ideas he is playing with and what kind of symbolism or metaphors are bound up in his words. Audiobook is not the best format for that kind of rumination, which is why I re-read some of the stories afterward in eBook format before coming to this review. The audiobook is really well-produced and definitely parallels the style of the writing, but it didn’t work for me as the primary way to read these stories. Depending on your reading habits and styles it may or may not be better for you, this is more a recognition of my relationship with LaRocca’s writing style than it is a critique of the quality of the audiobook.

As for the collection as a whole, I found it somewhat part and parcel with LaRocca’s other work. Incredibly disturbing imagery, broken and traumatic relationships, and black mirror representations of self-worth suffocate the page, but quietly, more like carbon monoxide asphyxiation than hands around your throat. The first story, which lends its title to the collection, takes up more than half the collection’s length, and is maybe the most effective, for me. The first two, actually, I really enjoyed. I felt like they had direction and purpose, and the imagery was serving a very clear purpose, evoking dark emotions and ideations while giving me a personalized experience. The latter two stories were less effective for me, feeling more like experiments and feverish explorations away from reality, but they both still explored heavy ideas in interesting ways. This collection feels heavy on exploring relationships, between parents and children, between partners, and with oneself. This kind of exploration of the bondage of relationships, and the way we push and pull against our own emotions and experiences within that bondage, is a loose theme that serves as connective tissue across these stories, and they do feel like a coherent collection in that regard.

That said, I ran up against some of my previous consternations with LaRocca’s work. Firstly, the bleak, almost destructive narration of the obscene and horrible feels the same across each story. While they explore different parts of the (traumatized) human psyche, the stories all have a similar, nihilistic feeling, one that pervades most of his writing. With a short collection like this it does not get too oppressive, but I really just wanted to experience a few different flavors, instead of what feels like continual variation on the theme of dark, self-destruction. Secondly, I felt a disconnect from all of the characters in this collection. Not simply because they have different lives than I do, and are broken in different ways, but because they feel almost intentionally to be written as ciphers. We never get real depth, we get to know the horrible histories and distorted desires and subjectivities of these characters, but none feel especially real. They always feel like impressionist watercolors instead of naturalist and realist oils, if that makes sense. This does allow the reader the chance to read a lot of themselves into the characters, to project their own experiences onto the sharp, jagged edges of the stories, but it feels unmooring when repeated story after story. It is hard to explain how we can know so many dark secrets about a character without them feeling like an actual individual, but that is the case, there is always a gauzy filter, and I genuinely feel like a little more clarity could root these stories even deeper in my subconscious. Character is a really important part of storytelling for me, and I feel like I am missing something in a lot of these stories in that regard.

All that said, as always LaRocca gives the reader a lot to contend with. They navigate disturbing content and ideas, the dark and violent secrets that we hide from ourselves, with graphic and bloody imagery that is somehow gentle, insofar as there is neither judgment nor damnation, and it never feels gratuitous. I am always appreciative of the ways LaRocca forces me to appraise my most destructive and damaging impulses, and feel like their stories, if you have the stomach for them, are always a meal that takes its time, digesting slowly and being felt long after you put the book down.

(Rounded up from 3.5)

I want to thank the author, the audio book publisher Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary audiobook for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"The worst thing a person can do to you, after they've hurt you, is let you live. That's how you truly and unmistakingly destroy another human being."

Eric LaRocca returns with another mixed collection of body horror, gore, and gloomy prose. I received a free audiobook version from the publisher, which will not alter my review. This novel is narrated by: Natalie Naudus, André Santana, Michael Crouch, Steven Crossley. A star-studded voice cast for another book that I can confirm with most certainty, will divide readers as LaRocca tends to do.

Listening to all 4 stories, the obvious standout is its namesake "This Skin Was Once Mine" narrated by the incredulous Natalie Naudus. I am fine with body horror as long as there is something giving the story structure and I found this was a delightfully terrifying listen. Protagonist Jillian must return home after the death of her beloved father to the estate that her mother banned her from over 20 years ago. Having felt like a monster since being sent away, she plans to confront her mother and find out what truly happened to her father once and for all. Her father's monthly letters however, fail to mention the true state of her childhood home and the going ons of the past two decades.

The psychological thriller components are strong in both "This Skin Was Once Mine" and "All the Parts of You That Won't Easily Burn." I find LaRocca's writing more enjoyable via audiobooks as it adds a certain layer to the horror elements when you find a strong of cast as they have for this novel. I may be burned for saying this but I enjoyed the audiobook and would continue to request LaRocca's novels for future review. "This Skin Was Once Mine" receives 4.5/5 stars, the full novel 3/5, and the audiobook narration 4.5/5 stars.

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
I've been having a bad time with ARCs lately. They'll sound amazing, and then they're just… Not. The potential was there, but it wasn't lived up to.
This Skin Was Once Mine was fine up until you realize the MC is a horrible person, too, and there's no shock in her getting what she gets because it's what she deserved.
Seedling was definitely my favorite. It was giving The Dark And The Wicked vibes in the best possible way!
All the Parts of You That Won't Easily Burn, meh. Also the audio quality took a serious step down in this story, for some reason.
Prickle, also meh.
The writing style is nice, but it's clear the author has a few phrases and visual metaphors he likes more than others. The constant talk of wounds having lips was super gross, which is probably the point, but it was used so often that it lost its power.
2.5 stars for This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances.

The writing is captivating but it is not for the faint of heart. Make sure you read the trigger warnings before diving in. I usually so not do short stories but because of the author I requested. The narrator was wonderful and it was a quick listen.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for a copy of the ARC.
4/5

My thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the voice talent, and the phenomenal Eric LaRocca for this audio book ARC for consideration. These opinions are mine.

The title novella grabbed me and didn't let go until the end. It's an intense, hard-hitting nightmare of a tale. This was my first experience of Erik LaRocca's writing and it got me where I live. I felt peeled.

The atmosphere of loss, difficult personal history, estrangement, and a complex family legacy permeates the grim setting.  The shocks and twists rip away the layers of separation to reveal a horrible underlying truth.  

This is an outstanding work of horror. The audiobook suits it well. The extraordinary vocal performance expresses all the characters and emotional shifts.

Seedling
Painfully raw, grisly, obsessive, and twisted: This one tore through me like a knife. A young man is in bed with his husband when he gets a call from his father that his mother has died. It's not unexpected news.
From there the narrative takes us to his parents' home. With a provocative yet repellent intimacy, we experience his falling into a horrific vision of exploring wounds within the family.
It's a disturbing, tender, and creative rite of healing and destruction.

All the Parts of You That Won't Easily Burn
Brimming with guilty pleasure and secret associations, this one crept up on me. In common with the magnetic shopkeeper at the web’s heart, it's seductive and insinuating. I found most of it more…spicy than horrific–until it landed with its full weight.
It left me with grues0me images that are likely to last.

Prickle makes effective use of a lulling opening. A reunion of two old friends at a park feels deceptively quiet, until their wicked game begins.
This went in an unexpected direction. I’m still exploring the stitches holding the subtext to the outcome. The mismatched intimacy between the men and the gulf between their expectations creates tension. It's a startling, unsettling story.

I find the psycho-sexual underpinnings of this collection fascinating. It's part of LaRocca's mastery that the bones and nerves don't call too much attention to themselves as the tales unfurl. It's after the lash lands that reflections ripple out with the intensity of sunlight on water.

Based on what I'd heard about LaRocca, the depth and intensity of his writing didn't surprise me as much as its literary quality. He's a rare talent. I look forward to more of his work. Dreamscape Media is new to me as well. The voice actors, Natalie Naudus, André Santana, Michael Crouch, and Steven Crossley, are talented, and the production values are excellent. I highly recommend this captivating audiobook.
I'll add links to my posts.

While I don't often seek out short stories, This Skin Was Once Mine reminded me why I should look for them more often. Eric Larocca has written for spooky, interesting stories with compelling creativity and challenging protagonists.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ALC copy.
All the short stories in here are grotesque and creepy. I love how they are all built on human emotion.
The narrators were fantastic, and I enjoyed the different voices they did for all the characters.
I am normally not a huge fan of short stories, but these did not disappoint.