The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories [Reprint]

by Eric LaRocca

Titan Books

Reprinted in 2023

208 pages.

Originally published under the title The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales, this short story collection deals with human relationships and the dark, intrusive thoughts that permeate them. Most of the tales here depict violent thought that slowly develop until they explode into action; for example, Bodies Are For Burning, and I’ll Be Gone By Then: in the first one, an aunt tries to ask for help to her psychologist because she keeps thinking about burning things and people. But when she has to babysit her niece, she has to do something about those impulses, or she might hurt a loved one; the second story is about a selfish woman who wants to get rid of her elderly mother. She plans on how to do it, and goes about it too casually, but she realizes soon afterward that it could’ve been a mistake since her resentment toward her mother was uncalled-for. You are not supposed to be here and Where Flames Burned Emerald As Grass are more genre inclined, but nevertheless, they are very strong in the way the narrative flows: in the first one, a gay couple is approached by a man and woman who apparently mistake them for others. They soon start to chat until the conversation turns for the worse and then dark secrets and hot blood start leaking; In the second one, a father and daughter are vacationing in a resort, and they meet a strange but respectful man. But then this mysterious man tells the father of an impending doom that will befall her daughter, and the only way of rescuing her will cause the father to make a very hard choice. The rest of the stories are all very subtle, the twist so nonchalantly presented, and the prose so inconspicuous that before you realize it, you can’t but feel sorry and terror for these characters. LaRocca will be a very interesting horror writer to follow in the coming years. ~