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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
53 reviews
xalrynne's review against another edition
3.75
“Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke”—4/5 stars
So this was the most disturbing story I’ve ever read. I’ve heard about this book a lot without ever hearing what this book was about. I’m trying to find my niche horror genre so I’ve been reading different types of horror stories lately, and this was definitely the most disturbing of the bunch.
“Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke” is an epistolary novel that chronicles the correspondences between two people. It dives deep into manipulation in a master/slave type of relationship. That’s all I’m going to say though because I think it’s best to go in knowing little.
I don’t really know what to rate this story as I couldn’t look away and was completely engaged as I flew through the narrative, but I also don’t know if I really enjoyed it or not. The story will stick with me as it’s definitely unforgettable, but it’s also just so disturbing. I know I’ve already used that word in this review but it really is the best way to describe this novella. It’s disturbing and gross and, at times, baffling. It’s almost like the author deliberately included scenes that were intended to have the biggest shock value with the reader.
Even saying all that, I would recommend this to fans of horror—maybe specifically those of body horror?—and fans of fast-paced epistolary stories.
“The Enchantment”—3.5/5 stars
Once again, this was disturbing, but not as much as “Things Have Gotten Worse.” Maybe that’s just Eric LaRocca’s style.
It’s about a couple who goes to live on an island all alone when weird things start happening to them.
I thought this story started out strong and had a good middle, but I didn’t love how it ended, mostly due to the fact that the story isn’t speculative but then adds in speculative elements at the end. I think I have found that I prefer non-speculative horror, while I prefer speculative elements solely in fantasy and sci-fi instead.
I am curious after reading the first two stories what the author’s fixation is with crucifixion as it comes up in both stories.
“You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over”—3/5 stars
This was the weakest story in the collection for me. Still interesting, but not as memorable and disturbing as the first two.
A man finds a shard of bone in his backyard with his neighbor’s initials carved into it and begins to investigate it. This story is about how far one will go to maintain appearances to continue being a “good neighbor.”
As stated in the author’s afterward, all three stories in this collection focus on the human desire to connect with someone or something else, and to what extent someone will go to find or maintain that connection. I appreciated that they all had a connecting theme to tie them together. I would recommend this collection to fans of macabre horror stories that shock you and make you think.
So this was the most disturbing story I’ve ever read. I’ve heard about this book a lot without ever hearing what this book was about. I’m trying to find my niche horror genre so I’ve been reading different types of horror stories lately, and this was definitely the most disturbing of the bunch.
“Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke” is an epistolary novel that chronicles the correspondences between two people. It dives deep into manipulation in a master/slave type of relationship. That’s all I’m going to say though because I think it’s best to go in knowing little.
I don’t really know what to rate this story as I couldn’t look away and was completely engaged as I flew through the narrative, but I also don’t know if I really enjoyed it or not. The story will stick with me as it’s definitely unforgettable, but it’s also just so disturbing. I know I’ve already used that word in this review but it really is the best way to describe this novella. It’s disturbing and gross and, at times, baffling. It’s almost like the author deliberately included scenes that were intended to have the biggest shock value with the reader.
Even saying all that, I would recommend this to fans of horror—maybe specifically those of body horror?—and fans of fast-paced epistolary stories.
“The Enchantment”—3.5/5 stars
Once again, this was disturbing, but not as much as “Things Have Gotten Worse.” Maybe that’s just Eric LaRocca’s style.
It’s about a couple who goes to live on an island all alone when weird things start happening to them.
I thought this story started out strong and had a good middle, but I didn’t love how it ended, mostly due to the fact that the story isn’t speculative but then adds in speculative elements at the end. I think I have found that I prefer non-speculative horror, while I prefer speculative elements solely in fantasy and sci-fi instead.
I am curious after reading the first two stories what the author’s fixation is with crucifixion as it comes up in both stories.
“You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over”—3/5 stars
This was the weakest story in the collection for me. Still interesting, but not as memorable and disturbing as the first two.
A man finds a shard of bone in his backyard with his neighbor’s initials carved into it and begins to investigate it. This story is about how far one will go to maintain appearances to continue being a “good neighbor.”
As stated in the author’s afterward, all three stories in this collection focus on the human desire to connect with someone or something else, and to what extent someone will go to find or maintain that connection. I appreciated that they all had a connecting theme to tie them together. I would recommend this collection to fans of macabre horror stories that shock you and make you think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Grief
zuuizai's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
2.5
I was extremely excited to read this book due to all of the wonderful things I have heard about it. I ended up disappointed. There was a couple of things I did enjoy though. I loved the formatting of the book, and the ideas were interesting enough to keep me reading until the end.
The first story was the best of the three. I really understood and thought that both Agnes and Zoe were well fleshed out characters. I also enjoyed both the theme of religion and the need for human connection in all of the stories.
I felt like the other stories were missing something. The enchantment especially. It felt like a lot was left out. For example, why did Olive and her son have black circles on their hands. It just felt slightly pointless and like the author wasn't sure where the story was going.
I think this book highly lacks in the horror department. It just seemed like the author was trying to throw in as many disturbing things as he could for shock value. I understand that horror does that a lot as a genre, but it was still highly ineffective. Most of the scenes which were meant to be 'scary' just made me think "ew, thats gross".
The first story was the best of the three. I really understood and thought that both Agnes and Zoe were well fleshed out characters. I also enjoyed both the theme of religion and the need for human connection in all of the stories.
I felt like the other stories were missing something. The enchantment especially. It felt like a lot was left out. For example, why did Olive and her son have black circles on their hands. It just felt slightly pointless and like the author wasn't sure where the story was going.
I think this book highly lacks in the horror department. It just seemed like the author was trying to throw in as many disturbing things as he could for shock value. I understand that horror does that a lot as a genre, but it was still highly ineffective. Most of the scenes which were meant to be 'scary' just made me think "ew, thats gross".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
mfrisk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really enjoyed the titular story in this book, found the second story to be a bit all over the place and perplexing in tone/character motivation/meaning, and the third story didn’t pack enough of a punch for me. I like the style of this writer overall and will check out future works for sure though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I picked this collection up to complete a reading challenge prompt and given the harsh reviews I've read, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this collection as much as I did. Overall I rate this collection a 4.25 stars.
The first of the anthology, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, was disgusting to say the least. It touched upon toxic relationships, cyber dating and complete domination over another. I was expecting murder, physical abuse etc. but it went in a different direction entirely. It also played on a specific fear of mine very well. This story was a 4.5 stars.
The second story, The Enchantment, was a bit of a miss for me personally. In this story, the afterlife has been scientifically disproven and masses of people commit suicide as a result of this. The religious fanaticism was interesting to read as ive never personally experienced this or seen this first hand. But I hated every single character and I felt a little confused about the message it was trying to convey. This story was 4 stars.
The final story titled, "You'll Find It's Like That All Over" centers a middle-aged man living in the middle of a neighbourhood with his racist husband who hates a foreign neighbour. This one felt like a short story from Shirley Jackson and I quite enjoyed it for that reason. Themes included social niceties, courtesy, and humiliation. I really enjoyed reaching the end of the short story and realising the cyclical narrative structure of this piece, I think this effect really rounds out the story and highlights just how severe this burden is. I rated this a 4.5 stars.
The first of the anthology, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, was disgusting to say the least. It touched upon toxic relationships, cyber dating and complete domination over another. I was expecting murder, physical abuse etc. but it went in a different direction entirely. It also played on a specific fear of mine very well. This story was a 4.5 stars.
The second story, The Enchantment, was a bit of a miss for me personally. In this story, the afterlife has been scientifically disproven and masses of people commit suicide as a result of this. The religious fanaticism was interesting to read as ive never personally experienced this or seen this first hand. But I hated every single character and I felt a little confused about the message it was trying to convey. This story was 4 stars.
The final story titled, "You'll Find It's Like That All Over" centers a middle-aged man living in the middle of a neighbourhood with his racist husband who hates a foreign neighbour. This one felt like a short story from Shirley Jackson and I quite enjoyed it for that reason. Themes included social niceties, courtesy, and humiliation. I really enjoyed reaching the end of the short story and realising the cyclical narrative structure of this piece, I think this effect really rounds out the story and highlights just how severe this burden is. I rated this a 4.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
melliedm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A slick collection of variably disturbing short stories that will consume a few hours of your time without you noticing.
1. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a gruesome epistolary story connecting two women through email and text message where their quickly dread-inducing kink relationship becomes a nausea-inducing horror-show on the desperation people have to love and be loved. Truly disgusting and I could never bring myself to read it again, but it was the best story in the collection.
2. The Enchantment follows an estranged couple as they act as caretakers for an island hotel the winter after their son’s suicide. Heavy religious themes might resonate more with other readers, but they didn’t with me. The beats in this one read more like the author wanted very much for this to be a screenplay and not a short story. It felt a little like other familiar stories in the horror canon put into a blender? My least favourite of the bunch.
3. It’s Like This All Over was mildly interesting. A man finds something strange in his yard and politely confronts his aloof neighbour about it, and then finds himself unable to refuse the neighbour’s invitations. The way the author presented the protagonist’s perspective seemed to have the opposite effect as was intended. By the end I got the sense we were supposed to very much view him as an insert that any of us could very well be, but there was a strange depersonalizations of him that made it difficult. Perhaps it was that he never has a first name, and is only “Mr. (Surname)”, which in my mind has a way of othering someone. I also would have liked to spend more time with the protagonist actually engaging with the neighbour, the escalation seemed far too sudden.
Overall an enjoyable collection of disturbing tales, and quick to read in a single dark evening alone.
1. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a gruesome epistolary story connecting two women through email and text message where their quickly dread-inducing kink relationship becomes a nausea-inducing horror-show on the desperation people have to love and be loved. Truly disgusting and I could never bring myself to read it again, but it was the best story in the collection.
2. The Enchantment follows an estranged couple as they act as caretakers for an island hotel the winter after their son’s suicide. Heavy religious themes might resonate more with other readers, but they didn’t with me. The beats in this one read more like the author wanted very much for this to be a screenplay and not a short story. It felt a little like other familiar stories in the horror canon put into a blender? My least favourite of the bunch.
3. It’s Like This All Over was mildly interesting. A man finds something strange in his yard and politely confronts his aloof neighbour about it, and then finds himself unable to refuse the neighbour’s invitations. The way the author presented the protagonist’s perspective seemed to have the opposite effect as was intended. By the end I got the sense we were supposed to very much view him as an insert that any of us could very well be, but there was a strange depersonalizations of him that made it difficult. Perhaps it was that he never has a first name, and is only “Mr. (Surname)”, which in my mind has a way of othering someone. I also would have liked to spend more time with the protagonist actually engaging with the neighbour, the escalation seemed far too sudden.
Overall an enjoyable collection of disturbing tales, and quick to read in a single dark evening alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
morganpearcy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
4.5
This is a collection of 3 shorts by LaRocca: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke; The Enchantment; You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over. LaRocca is brilliant with shorts. They have been added to my list of authors that I’d like to read the entire bibliography of, just from these three. I would have given it 5⭐️, but the descriptions of two fat characters bothered me. Those descriptions were not atrocious as some, but had an undercurrent of fatphobia that I could not ignore. I only took 0.5⭐️ off for it because both are just a few words, not the focus, and it’s not full of vitriol - just using unnecessary words that really need to be removed from our language.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
At first, I was surprisingly aroused. Who doesn’t love an intense queer love story!? Then, I was shocked. Then, I was utterly disgusted and fascinated. This one was a fucking trip. 😳 I relished the grotesqueness of it very, very much. Even though I wanted to vomit at times, I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t look away. That’s how you know it’s a damned good horror short.
The Enchantment
This was a dark and emotional read for me. I did NOT see the end coming. I felt the sadness, anger, frustration, and arousal of these characters. Could not stop reading until I was done with the short. This was really perfection on so many levels. Be prepared with tissues at the very end.
You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over
More queer characters. I flew through this story, although it was my least favorite of the three, by far. I definitely felt the tension of this one building in my chest until the very end. I love it when authors don’t wrap the ending up in a nice little bow - letting the reader fill in their own ideas. This did that really well.
Definitely check the CW before reading to ensure that you can stomach the content.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
At first, I was surprisingly aroused. Who doesn’t love an intense queer love story!? Then, I was shocked. Then, I was utterly disgusted and fascinated. This one was a fucking trip. 😳 I relished the grotesqueness of it very, very much. Even though I wanted to vomit at times, I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t look away. That’s how you know it’s a damned good horror short.
The Enchantment
This was a dark and emotional read for me. I did NOT see the end coming. I felt the sadness, anger, frustration, and arousal of these characters. Could not stop reading until I was done with the short. This was really perfection on so many levels. Be prepared with tissues at the very end.
You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over
More queer characters. I flew through this story, although it was my least favorite of the three, by far. I definitely felt the tension of this one building in my chest until the very end. I love it when authors don’t wrap the ending up in a nice little bow - letting the reader fill in their own ideas. This did that really well.
Definitely check the CW before reading to ensure that you can stomach the content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
gm_vak's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
meecespieces's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Infidelity
amberbjorge's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Homophobia
I had to pause multiple times while reading this book because it gave me the creeps. Great storytelling in an interesting way.