This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is a 3x Bram Stoker Award (R) finalist and Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the "Writers Shaping Horror's Next Golden Age" and praised by Locus as "one of the strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction." LaRocca's notable works include Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Everything the Darkness Eats, At Dark, I Become Loathsome and Burnt Sparrow: We Are Always Tender with Our Dead. He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his partner.

Praise for This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances:"Dreamy and gut-churning...Readers searching for visceral horrors need look no further." -Publishers Weekly"LaRocca (Everything the Darkness Eats) is a viral sensation for all the right reasons, showcasing why extreme horror is so resonant, thought-provoking, and necessary. Suggest to fans of Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica and We Are Here To Hurt Each Other by Paula D. Ashe."-Library Journal (starred review)"Readers will be mesmerized by these stories and their engaging narration, experiencing the full gamut of emotions, from disgust to wonder, held rapt as the illicit lure of the shadowy side of humanity is tantalizingly revealed."-Library Journal (starred review)"Listeners seeking classically told horror with the bite of visceral splatterpunk need look no further. A mesmerizing and unputdownable collection that shocks, provokes, and appalls." - Library Journal starred review (Audio Edition)"Eric LaRocca's distinctive literary voice is a welcome addition to queer horror. I look forward to seeing his legacy grow."Poppy Z. Brite, author of Exquisite Corpse"Eric LaRocca keeps getting better. Grotesque, heartbreaking, and deeply unsettling, this is the kind of transgressive horror that exposes the vulnerable human heart, that reminds us of our shared pain. Just the byline on his work-'by Eric LaRocca'-should be considered a trigger warning. You know going in that it's going to hurt. Caveat lector."Christopher Golden, author of The House of Last Resort and Road of Bones"Eric LaRocca distorts spaces, both internal and external, creating new cavities within our bodies, fresh chasms in our minds, and flooding them with nothing but absolute terror. This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances makes for exquisite suffering and confirms LaRocca's mantle as the heir apparent to Clive Barker and Poppy Z. Brite. Glory be to the new king of Horror."Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters"Eric LaRocca is a singular talent, who writes ruthlessly, beautifully, bravely about brutality, who challenges readers to find their humanity, and ultimately hope, in the face of such horrors."Rachel Harrison, author of Black Sheep"A twisty, intricate gathering of bleak fates. Beneath the skin of delicate prose lies indelicate menace. Eric LaRocca has penned a book that's obsessively captivating, wherein even hope hurts like a shard of glass."Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth"An intense collection that stalks its way around the kinship between pleasure and pain. LaRocca's tremendous empathy allows him to look unblinkingly at the dark corners that others turn away from, in a way that makes his horror not only devastating but heartbreaking."Brian Evenson, author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell"These raw and brilliant stories lure you in and then slice you to the core. Their terrors and scars will persist. Cutting, insightful horror from a new master."Tim Lebbon, author of The Silence and Among the Living