Thank you for the ARC netgalley!

Not one of my favorites, though a few stories had better narrative structure than others, it was a little bit too meandering for my tastes. I hope to read it again and maybe glean more from the individual stories. ( )

In general, i like my horror with a tinge of the supernatural; I am unenthused to bored when horror is about people being horrible (mostly). This is not my kind of horror, but I still loved several of the stories. I did find the collection somewhat uneven, with four of the stories being fabulous, and two not really working for me. I could see the skill in the writing, but those stories were boring -- not least because the characterisation in them was wooden and distracted from the story.

The quote on the front called this body horror; as a general rule I don't think that these are body horror. Cancer, dementia, old age should not be called 'body horror' - they are the lived experience of large portions of the population. There is deliberate mutilation (of self, of others) that I would count as body horror, but they aren't the majority of the stories.

Bodies are for burning is the best story of this collection. Person with intrusive thoughts who is struggling, but whose concerns are belittled. Absolutely creeping dread.

The other three stories I really liked are You Follow wherever they go which does have the weird hints of supernatural that I like; The Strange Thing We Become where the story comes through in forum posts, which emphasises the unreliability of the narrator; and Please leave or I'm going to hurt you which reflects on family relationships. ( )

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There is a collection of horror stories with each story exploring the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of everyday life. The stories are all different, but they share a sense of unease and an exploration of the darker side of human nature. One of the things that I appreciated about these stories is that they are all well-written and thought-provoking. Each story is a fully-realized world with unique characters and situations. The horror is often subtle and psychological, and the author is adept at building tension and a sense of dread.

Definitely, 5 stars for the book. Thanks to Edelweiss and Titan Books for providing me with an opportunity to read and review the book. ( )