nittiotvaan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Homophobia, Dementia, Child death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit and Excrement
emwgrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Vomit
kawooreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, and Murder
mirnda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Gore, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Dementia, Homophobia, Suicide, and Vomit
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Torture
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this was an event of a novella. a collection of short stories with a similar theme, this is gross & amazing. you get mostly stories from the viewpoint of animals & insects, with a couple human povs at the end. any content warnings you find, take seriously. LaRocca is a pro at descriptive horror and this is a very visceral experience.
a lot of ew, gross moments. but also some sweetness in a few spots. definitely not recommended for anyone new to horror or more extreme genres. but I really enjoyed this one.
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, and Miscarriage
Minor: Terminal illness, Excrement, Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Sexual content
uchihas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Now that I’ve had time to process: I was not a fan of the first story mostly because I’m not super into the
Spoiler
anthropomorphism of insectsSpoiler
gay men as zoophilesSpoiler
queer folk being sexual predatorsSpoiler
cosmic horrorGraphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Self harm, Blood, Gore, and Animal death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Car accident, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
Mentions of bestiality/zoophilia.stephanieluxton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.25
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Death, Mental illness, Gore, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Body horror
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Death of parent, Car accident, and Excrement
edgaranjapoe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Minor: Violence, Homophobia, Child death, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Cursing, Dementia, Death, Self harm, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Vomit
jjulesf20's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Dementia, Gore, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Car accident, and Self harm
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Confinement, and Ableism
howlinglibraries's review against another edition
5.0
Perhaps "love" wasn't exactly the right word.
In fact, perhaps "love" was far too benign of a word given the intensity of my feelings for her.
Yet again, Eric LaRocca has delivered a piece of horror art that is equal parts disgusting and gorgeous, all wrapped up in a surreal, shocking package. This "novella in pieces" reads similarly to a collection of short stories with an overarching theme, each of them featuring how toxic love gone wrong can be.
We start off with a beetle in love with a corpse, and I knew immediately that They Were Here Before Us was going to offer the same unpredictable, wild ride that Eric's other works have—in the very best way, of course. I love Eric's writing and am forever singing their praises, so it's no surprise that I was totally enraptured with this new release and devoured it all in one quick go.
If you enjoy bizarre, beautiful, quietly (but, at times, extremely) violent horror unlike anything you've ever read before, you can't go wrong with Eric LaRocca's writing, and They Were Here Before Us is no exception. Much like many of my other favorite pieces of surreal horror media, this is the sort of story I plan to revisit time and time again, and I'm sure I'll find something new to love every single time.
✨ Representation: multiple queer characters
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Dementia