One thing that I will forever give LaRocca is their ability to write excellent prose. However, I think that while I have enjoyed some of his works before, I don’t think I am the target audience for this particular series. The writing is good, but that is about the only thing it has going for it. I think it is impossible to even begin to describe the details of this story, and I will say that there are so many trigger warnings and everyone should be aware of them before you pick this one up. There is a lot of darkness in this book. I like my books dark, but the story did not come together in the way I was hoping it would. LaRocca spent a lot of time telling us how the characters felt and there was surprisingly little plot for the length of the book. I am a reader who likes to be shown versus told, so again, while the writing is well done, this just didn’t work for me as a whole. I have to assume that things did not come together because this is the first in what is to be a trilogy, but I have so many questions and not a strong enough desire to continue on. There is an audience for this book, and I think fans of extreme horror in general will be a fan of this, but I was not the target audience, so take this review with a grain of salt. 3 stars for the writing alone.

This is an absolutely wild series opener about a small town in New England, the reactions of its town members to a brutal murder, and the even darker punishments that it decides to inflict on the wrong doers. I'll be up front that I have absolutely no idea where this is going for the rest of the series, but from the small individual horrors that the characters witness and experience to the wider horrors that the town tries to enact on the perpetrators, LaRocca is clearly willing to go hard. He also ups his weaving together of short stories with interstitials in the overall narrative here. Well worth your time this fall.

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is a new horror novel from Eric LaRocca, centred around a cursed town, Burnt Sparrow, and what happens when three faceless creatures massacre a number of residents. Seventeen-year-old Rupert Cromwell is drawn into events by his father, and soon finds himself far too close to the dark cruelties that follow. It's hard to say much more without giving too much away.

Having read most of LaRocca's previous stories (liking some more than others as to be expected) and having a lukewarm reaction to his previous novel, I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, especially as it is the start of a trilogy. However, I feel like this novel better showcases LaRocca's skills in telling transgressive queer horror stories that explore human cruelty and trauma, whilst building up a sense of lore around Burnt Sparrow that I'm assuming will be continued in the later books in the series. The narrative is told from two characters' perspectives, including a few horror stories told by those characters, plus some separate articles about Burnt Sparrow, and the narrative itself is episodic despite the overarching 'plot' of the three faceless murderers. By doing this, the book is able to delve deeper into some characters than you can in a shorter story, whilst still giving LaRocca space to weave shorter extreme horror stories and moments into the novel.

I'll be fascinated to see what comes next in the series, as this one did feel like you were missing just that bit more about Burnt Sparrow, and the ending is quite sudden, with a lot of wider things left unanswered. The more extreme horror or splatterpunk moments in the book are quite brief, so whilst people should always take heed of trigger warnings at the start, I'd say that it isn't as unrelenting as some other books I've read, and a lot of the horror comes from LaRocca's trademark exploration of people's choices and cruelty and the thresholds they are willing to cross. For me, this was one of my favourite LaRocca books, combining unnerving supernatural elements with the horrors of humans themselves, and using the novel length to weave in related stories.

This one is hardcore! I hesitate to say I enjoyed it or that it was a fun time but I definitely was compelled to finish it and I wanted to know how it ended. I love Eric’s style of writing and their short fiction, so reading a full length novel from them was a real treat - maybe treat is the wrong word given the subject matter, but I’m looking forward to reading whatever they put out next!

Eric LaRocca continues to solidify his place as one of horror’s most daring and evocative voices with We Are Always Tender With Our Dead. Fresh off the acclaim of At Dark, I Become Loathsome, LaRocca delivers yet another unsettling masterpiece—one that both disturbs and mesmerizes in equal measure.

Set against the haunting backdrop of the town of Burnt Sparrow, the novel plunges readers into a chilling tragedy that leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions and emotional wreckage. At the heart of the story is Rupert, a teenager burdened with trauma and forced to confront horrors both internal and external. Through Rupert’s eyes, we navigate a reality twisted by grief, loss, and something far more sinister.

LaRocca’s prose is lyrical yet merciless. The grotesque imagery and emotional rawness evoke the visceral terror of Duncan Ralston’s Woom, while the imaginative scope and dark beauty harken back to the legendary Clive Barker. It's a rare feat for horror fiction to strike such a delicate balance between revulsion and poignancy, but LaRocca handles it with masterful precision.

This is not a comfortable read—and it shouldn’t be. We Are Always Tender With Our Dead forces readers to sit with their discomfort, to peer into the abyss and recognize something human staring back. It is grotesque. It is tender. It is unforgettable. The only thing I am disappointed in is the fact that I have to wait for the second book.

I give this novel a well-deserved 5-star rating. For fans of literary horror that pushes boundaries and lingers long after the final page, this is an absolute must-read.

Thank you Eric and thank you Titan Books for gifting me an ARC.

Creepy as always, I am such a fan of the LaRocca collections. What I really want is a feature length plot!

I've read quite a bit of Eric LaRocca's writing and I'm always blown away by how beautifully they're able to write some of the most grotesque scenes you've ever encountered. "We Are Always Tender with Our Dead," takes that prose and unsettling atmosphere but adds on top of it a level of character development we haven't yet seen from LaRocca.

This first installment in the "Burnt Sparrow" trilogy uses multiple view points to tell a story with time jumps that gradually reveal more about the titular town and the characters in it. I don't want to give anything away plot wise, but I will say that the character work is so good that LaRocca could've put them into just about any situation and I would've been in.

If you're familiar with Eric LaRocca's work, you know he pushes boundaries and excels at making the reader uncomfortable. This is no exception. If anything "Burnt Sparrow," hurts even worse because we know so much about our characters lives and back stories. If you're interested in reading this or any other of LaRocca's books, make sure you check trigger warning.

This is a great book that I'll recommend to very few people, due to what it asks of its audience, but if you can stomach it at its darkest, you'll be awarded with a story that will literally leave you wanting more. Can't wait to the next two installments in this series

Although I finished this in a single afternoon, I took my sweet time finding the right mental space to finally write a proper review. This is the kind of book that either makes you utter generalities, banalities, trivialities ("watch out for them triggers," "the author is the new god of horror," "the book is so dark I couldn't find my way to the bathroom," and so on), or tempts you to spoil the fun for everyone, and go for, well..., spoilers. There's no doubt this is not your typical horror book; it's also too good to just stick a label to it ("literary transgressive horror"), and move to the next book in your TBR.

There's horror, and then, there's Eric LaRocca. Sure, the author's a genius (there, I couldn't avoid a banality of my own!); sure, he knows how to take a common horror trope (namely, small-town horror), and transform it into a claustrophobic paean to the unmasking of love as pain; and he sure aims for that "WTF?" moment, so precious and so rare at the best of times, even with an unpredictable tyrant currently in power. LaRocca has already proven he can do all that and more; so what's new with the first book of the Burnt Sparrow trilogy?

In a sense, everything. This felt like Poppy Z. Brite (now Billy Martin), Jeff VanDerMeer, and Thomas Ligotti had a brainstorming session hosted by Barker, and came up with a deceptively simple premise: let's show them readers how a small town, haunted by the event of a mass shooting, deals with its collective trauma. Then let's invite them to witness how, bit by bit, the story subtly deconstructs the event, revealing the town itself to be the true horror (and there's my spoiler!). And, my stars, that's just the premise!

The deconstruction is a slow, torturous hell full of the weird and the uncanny, the horrific and the disturbing, the shocking and the perverse. From birds with human faces, born out of teenage spunk, to corpses left rotting in the street, protected by the townies in daily shifts, the journey has a lot, and I mean A LOT of distressing, nay even alarming, imagery.

Perhaps the Burnt Sparrow trilogy will reinvent the literature of the transgressive; perhaps not. With the first volume, an audacious and insightful foray into the savage world of screams and dreams, it's already shaking up small town horror metafictional tropes, in my humble opinion. I can't recommend it highly enough.

LaRocca has done it again. This book is their signature from cover to cover, the blunt emotion, the unwavering gore, the truth hidden within it all. But on a far larger scale. Truly a modern master of horror.

🧡🔪💀Let it be dark💀🔪🧡

I'm going to start off by pleading you, if you want to read this book, do not take lightly the trigger warnings, this is an extremely explicit work of fiction that might not be for everyone.

"It's easier to find fault in someone else than in your own reflection"

Horror books are meant to scare you, make you think about the possibilities of monsters under your bed or that sound coming from outside could be a werewolf or a vampire.

A fictional character.

An impossible villain.

But what if the monsters are not a creature, but a person? What if that monster is the one person that is supposed to be your protector, your guardian, your safety blanket?

LaRocca does an outstanding job on highlighting that monsters are real, they sometimes wear the skin of our parents, neighbors or friends. People we trust. They disguise their intentions and extend their claws into our bodies and psyche.

This book was that.

An outstanding book that takes a magnifying glass into a community, a family, and explores the depravity of the extent of the morbid mind.

I'm not going to sugar coat it. It was overwhelmingly disturbing at times, but you can see the message it conveys in the background of it. This was for sure one of the most disturbing yet gripping works of horror I've read all year and I cannot wait to read book two.

I would love to thank NetGalley and Eric LaRocca for allowing me to read and review this masterpiece of grief horror.

ⓇⒺⓋⒾⒺⓌ

Burnt Sparrow: We are always tender with our dead - Eric La Rocca


Eric LaRocca’s We Are Always Tender with Our Dead is book 1 in the Burnt Sparrow trilogy, a transgressive queer horror series published by Titan Books.


Three faceless entities arrive in the secluded town of Burnt Sparrow inflicting a harrowing, brutal act of violence, murdering many of the townsfolk.
Following the heinous event, the Burnt Sparrows community are in turmoil and unsure of what to do with the captured featureless assailants.

Rupert Cromwell is one of the main characters we follow, a teenager who must navigate the complexities of his family dynamic amidst the chaos.

In true La Rocca fashion, the writing is intense, and visceral delving into themes of grief, violence and the human psyche.

Can I just have book 2 & 3 now please Eric?!!




We are always tender with our dead is scheduled for release on September 9, 2025

Thank you to Eric, Titan Books & Netgalley

I still am not sure how I fully feel about this book. I don't think it is something that you can immediately come up with a solid opinion of right after finishing. You need time to digest it and fully breakdown what exactly you read. Eric LaRocca has a way with words and writing some of the most challenging and disturbing material I've ever read. He takes horror to new heights and digs down deep into people's darkest moments and memories to put on paper. It is hard to look and read what actually happens to people outside those pages.
It is not "fun" it is not "light", the page that discusses triggers should be taken very seriously.
However, as much of it was I can't say I "enjoyed" the read but the way he writes and captivates you into the story makes it a little easier to get through the rough bits, there is a purpose for them to help dig deep into the character's why and how.
Trauma and grief are tough to put onto paper and even tougher to discuss explicit trauma and grief. You can't have an honest conversation about these topics without talking about the grit and nasty of them as well.
This book is not going to be for everyone. It goes through the motions of a town hit by a traumatic event on Christmas Day and deep dives into the depravity of human beings.
I'm very curious about the next steps since it is a trilogy. We will see how LaRocca continues the story of Burnt Swallow.

Thank you NetGalley & Titan Books for this eArc

It’s often said that some of the nicest writers of horror write the most challenging and disturbing material - if that’s the case then Eric LaRocca must be one of the nicest and most chilled people in horror fiction as this book is bleakly depraved. I won’t say I enjoyed it as such, but it’s a fascinating journey into a small town with some very disturbing town rules, and a series of increasingly transgressive actions that builds somewhat unrelentingly to a grimly horrific ending.

I don’t mean this negatively, but it can be a tough read. The quality of the writing elevates it above horror for horror’s sake - there is poetic quality to the depravity that makes this absolutely worthwhile. Book two should be unmissable

5 stars

LaRocca has never written a light or fun story. I love that he tackles the deep and dirty. He does it in only a way that he can though…gentle with care and an open mind and heart. They are never a delight to read, but they are always my favorite books.
This one is no different, it is heavy, and quite unputdownable. The characters are portrayed with all of their flaws and yet we can still recognize and sympathize/empathize with them. I will kit speak on the story, I honestly think it’s important to go blind into a LaRocca book. He uses everyday words but strings them so poetically together.
It’s hard to say enjoy to a book like this, but please read it with an open heart and mind.

Oh my god. There are some books that, no matter what you say, it won’t be enough. You can review it and you won’t be able to give it the proper words. Burnt Sparrow: We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is such a book. Its my latest review book from Net Galley and I will try to review it, but…dear reader…it won’t be enough.

Burnt Sparrow is a haunted town. Its haunted by its past and its present and likely its future too. Rupert Cromwell is growing up in this town and after a devastating event happens, Rupert must comfort the things he hides. He and the town will never the same.

I’m trying to be vague about the plot for this book because, honestly, the less you know about the book, the better it is. Though, a bit of warning: We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is the most disturbing, disgusting book I’ve read. There are some things in here that will make you want to stop reading. This book is vile.

And this book is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Thats saying a lot in a year with The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, The Night Birds and so many other fantastic books. We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is heart-breaking. Its raw and powerful. Its so well written. You’ll want to look away and maybe you can but I wasn’t able to.

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead has complex characters, some you’ll hate, others you’ll feel sorry for and others you’ll hate and feel sorry for. And the town’s mythology, revealed through side stories and “online articles” is breathtaking. Hell the whole book is breathtaking.

This isn’t the kind of book that I’d talk about to anyone. I wouldn’t tell family about this book or a friend. I couldn’t. How do you explain something that seems so wrong and yet is so well done and so powerful? We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is a book I will likely never forget.

The last line of the book will haunt me.

Eric LaRocca is such a great writer. I need to read more of their books. But, you know, I need to go read something a bit lighter for now. whew. Wow.

We Are Always Tender With Our Dead comes out on September 9th, 2025. Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and Eric LaRocca for the early digital copy of this book.

Nope definitely not for me. Horror and sexual violence. DNF. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

A shaky three stars, only because I’m hoping the sequels are better.

On Christmas morning in the godforsaken town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire three faceless people lay waste to a number of the town’s citizens (nothing says “happy birthday Jesus” like a good, old-fashioned massacre!) The three are captured and seventeen year old Rupert Cromwell and his father are two of the people charged with guarding the scene of the disaster where the corpses just lie where they fell. Rupert and his father have had a strained relationship since the death of Rupert’s mother.

Then the richest man in town petitions the town aldermen to have the three brought to his home for punishment. And things are about to get a whole lot worse for Rupert. Much, much worse.

This is the first in a proposed Burnt Sparrow trilogy and while I really enjoyed (if that’s the right word for a LaRocca book) the author’s last book, AT DARK I BECOME LOATHSOME and thought it was a great leap forward for LaRocca as both a plotter and a writer, this felt like a little bit of a regression. Some of the material here seemed to be for shock value only, and while lots of splatterpunk fans may enjoy that, I need a little more non-gratuitousness (a word? Probably not.) to my violence. Plus, in general, I wasn’t really sure of the point of the whole story, and I’m still not. Maybe more will become clear which future installments (which I would definitely read,) but even with a trilogy the books have to be able to stand on their own to some degree. So, I wasn’t disappointed, but, like I said, I’ll go on with the series to see what happens next. Probably recommended if you know you like LaRocca, see what you think. If this is to be your first from the author, don’t start here.

I wholeheartedly have to agree with another review of this book that said that this is an incredibly difficult book for me to review or even give a rating. On the one hand, the writing, prose, themes, and overall plot were incredible, but on the other hand I've definitely discovered that the splatterpunk genre is definitely not for me. I've been really enjoying horror recently, this cover and description intrigued me, and I've heard good things about this author, but I honestly don't know if I'm glad I read this book or not.

First of all, the plot and themes were really interesting. I love stories that center around a small town dealing with something horrific, especially when it seems like it's completely normal in that town. It immediately creates a sense of panic and dread for the reader that is just compounded with everything else we learn about these people. I also really liked that this was all just basically a metaphor for the fear of the unknown and how that fear can corrupt us. I don't want to spoil anything, but the perpetrators of the massacre and what we know of them and how the powers at be react, perfectly encapsulates that. Unfortunately, it is a great reflection on modern society.

However, I don't think the explicit gore and explicit SA was necessary to tell this story at all. I understand that this is what this genre is about, but honestly, why does it exist. Yes, I know these things happen and we shouldn't pretend that they don't, but why do we need to see it happen in explicit detail? I don't think it would take away from the story at all if the author didn't explicitly show the incest, but I don't know, that's just me.

I will say that the author has a great list of trigger warnings in the beginning of the book, and if anything like gore or SA could mentally harm you, don't pick up this book.

This was a NetGalley read for me, so thank you for that!

Another great, dark, emotional read, as always, and I was super excited, because this had the added horror of small town crazy, which is one of my top picks when it comes to horror.

This one is not for the faint of heart, so please check triggers because, this isn’t an easy one, but it is good and this will stick with you after finishing, a haunting in the back of your mind you just cannot shake. It’s shocking and dark and absolutely brutal and it left a mark.

The faceless horrors in this book were enough to creep in, just like the dread you feel as you turn the pages in this, We Are Always Tender With Our Dead is something I need more of and I am glad this is just the first, I need more of Burnt Sparrow, because how??

Nothing makes sense here, and that’s something I am obsessed with, if this is just the first of the mysteries and horrors, I can’t imagine what is to come.

This is a town of relationships, and not everything dark is due to faceless supernatural evil, sometimes people can be just as dark, and even more horrifying then the dark faceless shadows that lurk in the darkness. Everything weaves together, not to give you a full picture, because sometimes, that’s part of the horror, the unknown, just like the characters are facing, and that makes the atmosphere in this book absolutely electric.

I expected to come out of this a little broken and a lot horrified, but this book unsettled me, and made me think, tied up with some splattery horror that ties this up in one big horrifying bow.

This wont be for everyone, but reader, this one was for me.

Absolutely haunting. Eric LaRocca has a way of writing that crawls under your skin and stays there, and We Are Always Tender with Our Dead might be his most brutal, emotionally charged work yet. This isn’t just horror—it’s horror with purpose. The violence is shocking, but never gratuitous. The grief feels real, heavy, and suffocating in the best literary way.

Rupert’s perspective is devastating—watching him navigate personal trauma against the backdrop of this surreal, communal nightmare was gut-wrenching. The faceless figures are terrifying not just because of what they do, but because of what they represent. LaRocca doesn’t hand you answers, and that ambiguity makes the story even more disturbing.

There’s a slow, creeping dread to this book. It’s literary horror that pulls no punches and refuses to look away. Unflinching, deeply human, and genuinely upsetting—in all the ways I want from a story like this. Absolutely incredible.