The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories

Some of the stories in this collection are what I would call family horror, and they are the genre at its finest, approach with caution if you have trauma on that side.

With LaRocca's signature highly stylized writing the horror takes on a deeply evocative nature rather than a graphic one, although the stories are often also graphic.
Here horror is both from the outside and from deep inside in a blend that could have only been achieved by LaRocca. Hell is not always others, sometimes hell is what swirls behind our eyes and it takes guts the write that side of horror in such an unflinching way. Because of the themes a certain discomfort is guaranteed while reading. LaRocca also captures the horror of cancer and perhaps of sickness in general on a deep level, a theme that seems to be recurrent for them.

I received a digital copy of this book from Titan Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.