LaRocca is selling his small press titles in larger press numbers, and this might be his best and most accessible work yet. It is a superior example of extreme horror, in the vein of the thought-provoking depravity of Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender Is the Flesh and Kathe Koja’s The Cipher.
The hype surrounding LaRocca is real. He is quickly emerging as one of the best authors at articulating the emotions of horror: feelings of disgust, unease, but also wonder that physically pulsate through readers’ bodies as they interact with his creations. Similar to the storytelling style and reading experience of the extraordinary work of Helen Oyeyemi and Samanta Schweblin or Naben Ruthnum’s Helpmeet.
A must-read for fans of body horror, epistolary novels, and depravity, this pulse-pounding novella is one that readers will surely devour in one sitting.