Review – Everything The Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
Like many a horror fan, I’ve heard of Eric LaRocca but I hadn’t had the opportunity to read his work until now. As the authors first long form work, Everything The Darkness Eats is a dark tale about an insidious evil consuming a small town. Jagged, violent and unremitting, it’s an interesting introduction to a writer with a lot of hype.
After an impressive prologue, the book breaks into three distinct perspectives. Ghost, a damaged widower; Malik, a police officer and the enigmatic Mr Crowley. The latter seems to be abducting people about town though for what purpose doesn’t become clear until much later on. Malik, ostensibly investigating the disappearances is, however, more concerned with the prejudice he and his husband are experiencing from their neighbours. Ghost, caught up by the death of his wife and daughter, and still recovering from his crash injuries, has a different cross to bear; a bizarre spirit that lives on his misery and despair.
Each character arc evolves separately though each revolves around emotional pain in some form. At the heart of it is the nightmarish desire of Mr Crowley as he seeks to transform himself into something powerful through the death and destruction of others. It’s here that the title comes back into play. Ghost, Malik and Me Crowley are all consumed by the dark thoughts preoccupying them in one way or another. How these perspectives tie together is violently concluded. Despite a somewhat disjointed feeling to proceedings, the storylines of the characters are engaging and, in some instances, extremely violent.
Short at just two hundred pages, there were some impressive moments within the story though there were some caveats. Ultimately, it was a book that still leaves me intrigued enough to want to read more by LaRocca. A decent novel, Everything The Darkness Eats feels like a modern take on the old school horror novels I remember; lurid, gory and sometimes challenging.
Review copy
Published by Titan Books
