Reviews with content warning for Grief - Las cosas han empeorado desde la última vez que hablamos (y otras desgracias)

“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.

Content Warnings

annalena_1224's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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waverlyloyd's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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elvish_presley's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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mfrisk's review against another edition

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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.

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kyleighwhitsell's review against another edition

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3.0

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melliedm's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

soft_plush's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was way more intense than I thought if I’m honest. Especially the first story but I do recommend reading it if you’re up for some gross detailed parts as well as big twists and turns and stuff that will genuinely make you question what you just read.

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