Authors on Tap: Eric LaRocca and Daniel Kraus

Fri Sep 12 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm UTC-05:00

Exile in Bookville | Chicago

Exile in Bookville
Publisher/HostExile in Bookville
Authors on Tap: Eric LaRocca and Daniel Kraus
Advertisement
Authors on Tap: Eric LaRocca and Daniel Kraus
About this Event

Please join us in store on Friday, September 12th to help celebrate Eric LaRocca's new novel, We Are Always Tender with Our Dead. Eric will be in conversation with Daniel Kraus!

About We Are Always Tender with Our Dead:

Michael McDowell’s Blackwater meets Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show in the disturbing first installment of a new trilogy of intense, visceral, beautifully written queer horror set in a small New England town.

A chilling supernatural tale of transgressive literary horror from the Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.

The lives of those residing in the isolated town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire, are forever altered after three faceless entities arrive on Christmas morning to perform a brutal act of violence—a senseless tragedy that can never be undone. While the townspeople grieve their losses and grapple with the aftermath of the attack, a young teenage boy named Rupert Cromwell is forced to confront the painful realities of his family situation. Once relationships become intertwined and more carnage ensues as a result of the massacre, the town residents quickly learn that true retribution is futile, cruelty is earned, and certain thresholds must never be crossed no matter what.

Engrossing, atmospheric, and unsettling, this is a devastating story of a small New England community rocked by an unforgivable act of violence. Writing with visceral intensity and profound eloquence, LaRocca journeys deep into the dark heart of Burnt Sparrow, leaving you chilled to the bone and wanting more.

About the authors:

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is a 3x Bram Stoker Award® finalist, a Shirley Jackson Award nominee, and a Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the “Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” and praised by Locus as “one of the strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction.” LaRocca’s notable works include Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Everything the Darkness Eats, and At Dark, I Become Loathsome. He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his partner.

Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His latest novel, Whalefall, received a front-cover review in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more. With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. He cowrote The Living Dead and Pay the Piper with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. Kraus’s The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both Rotters and Scowler), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more. Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. He lives with his wife in Chicago. Visit him at danielkraus.com.

About this event:

This is a free, in person event and registration is required. Please click on the link below to register for free! Eric and Daniel will be happy to sign/personalize copies of their books after the event! Can't make it to the event? Signed copies will be available in store and online with national shipping.


Event Photos
Advertisement

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Exile in Bookville, 410 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, United States

Tickets

USD 0.00

Sharing is Caring:

More Events in Chicago

Celebration of Life Gala
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:00 pm Celebration of Life Gala

Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant

Joy Oladokun
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:00 pm Joy Oladokun

Mt. Joy
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:00 pm Mt. Joy

United Center

Mt. Joy
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:00 pm Mt. Joy

United Center

Parking Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago Cubs
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:20 pm Parking Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago Cubs

Wrigley Field

Seminar with Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan (8th dan, Boulder Aikikai)
Fri, 12 Sep at 06:30 pm Seminar with Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan (8th dan, Boulder Aikikai)

Chicago Aikikai

Mirador at Metro Chicago
Fri, 12 Sep at 07:30 pm Mirador at Metro Chicago

Metro Chicago

Michelle Buteau at Chicago Theatre
Fri, 12 Sep at 07:30 pm Michelle Buteau at Chicago Theatre

Chicago Theatre

Waylon Wyatt at Joes on W**d Street
Fri, 12 Sep Waylon Wyatt at Joes on W**d Street

Joes on Weed Street

Elevation Rhythm at Vic Theatre
Fri, 12 Sep at 07:30 pm Elevation Rhythm at Vic Theatre

Vic Theatre

Raga Boyz: Sufi Rock Concert (Friday)
Fri, 12 Sep at 07:30 pm Raga Boyz: Sufi Rock Concert (Friday)

South Asia Institute

God Street Wine at Garcias Chicago
Fri, 12 Sep at 08:00 pm God Street Wine at Garcias Chicago

Garcias Chicago

Chicago is Happening!

Never miss your favorite happenings again!

Explore Chicago Events