Title: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other MisfortunesAuthor: Eric LaRocca
First Published: September 6, 2022
Publisher: Titan Books
Pages: 257
Genre: Horror, Short Stories
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:
Synopsis:
A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s—a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires.
A couple isolate themselves on a remote island in an attempt to recover from their teenage son’s death, when a mysterious young man knocks on their door during a storm…
And a man confronts his neighbour when he discovers a strange object in his back yard, only to be drawn into an ever-more dangerous game.
Three devastating, beautifully written horror stories from one of the genre’s most cutting-edge voices.
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
I’ve struggled to gather my thoughts on this book, because I am quite a big fan of Eric LaRocca, he’s easily one of the best emerging authors writing horror fiction today. I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few of his books and fallen head over heels in love with his stories. I had been celebrating his recent successes as Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke went viral and LaRocca was picked up by a major publisher. With all the buzz about the story I was excited to finally read what seemed to be his most popular work. That excitement was quickly dashed as I found myself a little frustrated with this collection.
It’s not bad by any means, I can see why the titular story is popular, and I very much liked the themes about human connection that is explored throughout each of these stories. I don’t always read forwards or afterwards in books, but the afterword provided in this novel I found to be essential to help me appreciate what LaRocca was going for, and this really should have been at the front of the book, not the back. I think my major criticism in each is that I found certain aspects to be a little too unbelievable, and I’m not even talking about the supernatural, but I felt that they really pushed my suspension of belief.
Even though this collection was a swing and a miss for me, I still adore LaRocca’s writing and I’ll gladly read anything and everything that he chooses to publish. Although the standalone novella and then later this ARC were the first of his works that I had picked up, I’m glad that I ended up reading a few of LaRocca’s other books before coming back around to this one. I might have missed out on how absolutely spectacular LaRocca’s writing is if this had been my first experience reading his books. I like how his short story collections have a certain feel to them that ties all of the stories together that make for a good overall reading experience, even if the individual stories are not fantastic. I think that collecting these three stories together was a smart move, as the three stories together I think strengths each one’s faults.
Individual Story Notes:
♥ Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: I wrote about this more extensively in my review of the novella, but the short of it is that I just found this story to be too unbelievable and needlessly gruesome at some points.
♥ The Enchantment: This story was wild and it was my least favorite story of the trio. The story centers on an aging married couple on the brink of divorce and their devoutly religious son. The plot deals with themes of grief, bad faith, and the afterlife, it was a surprisingly Christian horror story. I didn’t care for how back and forth the parents were, and I feel that the message about struggling with faith to be muddled by how obnoxious both of these two characters were.
♥ You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over: This was easily the best story of the entire collection. Equal parts nerve-wrecking and viciously funny, this story ended things on a relative high note for me. I liked the way that the central theme of the collection is handled in this story.
Rating Breakdown
| Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: ★★★☆☆ | The Enchantment: ★★☆☆☆ | You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over: ★★★★☆ |
Quote
“You know how people are. So eager to disguise their pain. So willing to maintain social graces and remain polite even in the face of discomfort.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Eric LaRocca
Eric LaRocca holds an MFA in Writing for Film and Television from Emerson College. His fiction has appeared in various literary journals and anthologies published in the US and abroad such as Stiff Things and Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, Volume 2. He is also the author of several plays that have been developed and produced at theaters across the country including, Gadfly Theater Productions, Hartford Stage, La Petite Morgue, and Love Creek Productions. He currently resides in Cambridge, MA.
Discover more from Radical Dreamer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
