June Wrap-Up and TBR

This month has been a pretty mixed one for reading. I began the month quite slow, and in the last week and a half I finished two books. So it's going to be a very brief wrap-up (I want to post proper in-depth book reviews at a later point). Hope you enjoy it anyway!

This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances by Eric LaRocca (★★★★.5)

I first heard of Eric LaRocca from social media, and after I read his story Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, I knew I had to read more. This Skin Was Once Mine is a collection of short stories, and I was a fan of all of them! There were some that I wasn't too sure on initially, just because they weren't 'scary' enough, but I think they all worked quite well together. My favourite story was definitely All the Parts of You That Won't Burn Easily, but Prickle is a close second. The other two stories This Skin Was Once Mine and Seedling were pretty cool too, I just didn't find them as grotesque. Although the former was pretty macabre, and I loved the ending. I gave this book a 4.5 on Storygraph, but that's an average from each story rating (I think anyway, I'm not a mathematician.)

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite (★★★★.5)

I really enjoyed Exquisite Corpse. At first, there was a lot I had to get used to. Its quite graphic and it start right from the get go, but at least it doesn't take forever to get into the action. It follows a serial killer from England, who escapes from prison (I won't tell you how, but it's pretty cool), and he then heads to the US where himself and another serial killer target a young man. This book has a lot to say about queerness (so does LaRocca) and it was a really interesting and intense read. I felt that I bonded to all of the characters, grotesque or not, and I was left feeling empty when it was over. I gave this book a 4, although I definitely could have given it higher. Nevermind, it's a 4.5.

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca (★★★★.5)

Again, The Trees Grew Because I Bled There is another collection of short stories. I feel like I enjoyed this one a lot more than the last one. It could just be that this one was more 'scary' to me, but I'm not sure. I thought the stories were all really cool. Bodies Are For Burning, The Trees Grew Because I Bled There, The Strange Thing We Become and You're Not Supposed to Be Here were all pretty scary. I enjoyed them all equally as much, but I would say that the titular story was my favourite (if I had to pick). Where Flames Burned Emerald as Grass (and You're Not Supposed to Be Here as well I guess) are both thrillers, but I still enjoyed them immensely.

I'll Be Gone by Then, Please Leave or I'm Going To Hurt You and You Follow Wherever They Go were just... sad. It made me really upset, but it was a beautiful story. And it was the first one, it really set the tone well. That's the reason it wasn't five stars... I'm not good with sad stories. Either way, LaRocca writes really well and I highly recommend all horror fans to read his work. He weaves in queer narratives so effortlessly as well, which is a plus.

So, what's next?

I have a few books on my immediate TBR, but I doubt I'll get through them all within the next month. The first is Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, which is a collection of short stories that I've been wanting to read for a long time now and I found myself a copy in a charity shop the other day. The next is A Darker Shade which is a short story anthology of body horror from women writers edited together by Joyce Carol Oates. I also really want to read Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix, which is a non-fiction book about horror books. The final book on my list is The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore, which was recommended to me by my tutor. Those are currently the ones I have my eyes set on, but I'll have to see how the month plays out.

Happy reading! All the best,

Talia