'Three dark and disturbing horror stories from an astonishing new voice, including the viral-sensation tale of obsession, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. For fans of Kathe Koja, Clive Barker and Stephen Graham Jones.
'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.'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a new collection of three short stories by author Eric LaRocca that brings together three vastly different types of horror story that it at times feels surprising that they came from the same person. As my introduction to LaRocca, it was something of a wild ride. I'm used to reading anthologies from the same author where they tackle different themes and sub-genres of horror, but where they're all recognisably from the same person; but if you'd have told me that the three stories here had come from three different people I'd have believed it; because LaRocca seems to have that broad a range in their writing style.
The first story in this collection, the one the book is named after, is the longest one here, and is more of a novella than a short story. It takes up the first half of the book, and it's the story that readers will be spending the most amount of time with. It's not your average narrative though, and it's written in the form of chat-board messages, emails, and instant messenger transcripts that a reporter is putting together; and kind of reads like the book equivalent of a found footage film as it puts you into the shoes of the people inside the story whilst keeping you somewhat detached from them.
It tells the story of Agnes, a twenty four year old woman who is dead come the start of the story. The unnamed reporter is accessing evidence from the police in order to put this transcript together, and is attempting to chart the course of events that led to her death. It begins when Agnes posts onto a queer website looking to sell a vintage apple peeler. She's soon approached by an older woman named Zoe, who wants to buy it from her. After some back and forth where they talk about the reason why it's being sold (to pay for Agnes' mounting bulls) Zoe tells her to keep it, and sends her a gift of a thousand dollars to help her out.
A friendship forms between the two of them very quickly, with Agnes feeling indebted to Zoe, and it soon starts to turn sexual. I say sexual over romantic, because it soon becomes apparent that it's more intense desire that motivates Agnes over romantic feelings. Unfortunately for Agens, Zoe seems to be very much into control, and manipulates and encourages Agnes into engaging in a master/slave type relationship with her. As she gets Agens to do increasingly more bizarre things you see Zoe getting into her head, making her indispensable to Agnes, twisting her to be willing to do some dark and destructive things.
There are some pretty dark moments in 'Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke' that make this story unsettling; especially for those who are freaked out by body horror.But perhaps some of the more disturbing parts of the story come from the level of control and manipulation that Zoe begins to exert on Agnes. However, this also led to some of my biggest problems with this story. The first is that it includes animal cruelty; which I don't think ever really needs to be in things. It could have simply been alluded to, but when Agnes gives a detailed description of how she killed an innocent animal at Zoe's request it put me off a great deal.
Another thing that I didn't really like was the way the story presents their dom/sub relationship. I don't know if LaRocca is putting this forward as a true BDSM style relationship, if this is what they think happens in them, but it's such a false, twisted version of that kind of lifestyle that is borders on a little bit insulting. I understand that depiction doesn't mean that an author thinks a certain way or believes a certain thing, but it very much reads like an author who doesn't understand that kind of relationship presenting it in a very wrong, and damaging manner. I know that there will be people in the BDSM community who would read this and not enjoy it, because it's yet another example of the community being portrayed in a poor, and incorrect light.
Perhaps this is all done to unsettle, to add to the elements of horror because you're supposed to see straight away that this isn't a normal, healthy relationship and it's supposed to set of alarm bells, but it left me feeling more uncomfortable than anything else. That's not to say the story is bad, it is interesting and does some cool things, and did leave me with some strong feelings; which I guess is a sign that it's at least not forgettable.
The second story, 'The Enchantment' is the second longest here, and follows a separated couple, James and Olive, as they try to throw a small surprise party for their teenage son. Their son, Milo, is something of a loner, withdrawn and loathed to talk to his parents other than to try and encourage them to get back together. Despite best efforts, the birthday gathering kind of fizzles out to nothing. That night, Milo, who's been working on a supposed school project in his room, completes the huge cross he's been building, and crucifies himself. The note he leaves behind asks that his parents get back together and never separate again.
Six months later, James and Oliver, who are trying to give their marriage another try to honour their son, are looking for something of a fresh start. James has managed to find a winter job, acting as the custodians to a remote island hotel whilst it closes for the season. Together, the two of them travel to the remote island and settle into the small cottage that's been put aside for them. However, on their very first night there a strange young man arrives on the island, claiming to have been caught in the storm. But it soon becomes apparent that there's more to him than first appears.
'The Enchantment' is a story about isolation and grief, and it focuses on Olive and James, though Olive in particular, as they deal with the loss of their son. It's clear that the two of them are unsure whether they want to give their marriage another shot, especially on James' side, but they're forcing their way through it because of the guilt they feel over the loss of Milo. As the story progresses and their isolation on the island becomes more extreme than they were led to believe, their bonds and their grip on reality gets pushed to the limit.
There are elements of the story that remind me of The Shining in the sense that the characters are spending the winter as hotel caretakers in a remote location and find their sanity being pushed when strange things start to happen. And unfortunately, this was the aspect of the story that I found least interesting. There were other things going on in the background here that I'd have liked to have seen more of. There's a legend about people vanishing on one of the nearby islands, and this is set in a world where scientists have proven there's no afterlife; those are things I'd have liked to have known more about.
As it is, 'The Enchantment' is a decent enough story about isolation, grief, and a failing marriage that does some interesting thing, although it is often light on the horror elements.
The final story in the trio, the shortest of the three, is 'You'll Find It's Like That All Over' tells the story of a man who digs up a piece of bone in his garden, a bone that he suspects is a human bone, and has the initials of his strange, loner neighbour etched into them. When he goes to visit his neighbour to investigate the situation he ends up getting dragged into a series of escalating bets that begins with him clearing a car of snow, and ends with him risking his life.
This is the story that gave me the most trouble here, mainly because I don't really understand it. I don't get what the point of it is. Why is the neighbour luring people into weird and elaborate betting games, why is he leaving fragments of bone with his initials etched into them buried in people's gardens where they may never be found or might just be thrown out, why would someone willingly climb into a guillotine with just five seconds to un-cuff themselves and get free and think that's doable? There are a lot of questions left over in this story, and we just don't get any really solid answers to them.
There's sometimes a thing in horror, especially short stories, where authors present a series of weird events without any real reason or explanation to them and and expect the strangeness and lack of answers to be the thing to unsettle the reader. And when that's done well it can be great; but it's so often not done well. When it's not it leaves a story feeling disjointed, confusing, and not scary at all. And sadly, for me, this final story in this collection fell into that category.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a book that starts strong and begins to decline. The length of the stories gets shorter, the horror elements begin to drop away, and the entertainment factor decreases. The first story left me feeling grossed out and disturbed, whilst the last one left me bored and confused. The result is a book that feels a bit bland by end, and I can't help but feel that a stronger final story would have helped to leave a better impression of the book. As it is, it's a read that I'd say is fine, that I didn't love or hate, and whilst I found it entertaining at times I wouldn't read it again.
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