I can’t get enough of Eric LaRocca’s work despite not usually being a reader of short stories. I always have a visceral response alongside questioning “no way?!”. They’re very unique and in this collection tend to all cover the topic of to what extent people will do to experience a sense of connection to another person. Other than that, I find his stories are best going into with as little information as possible. I highly recommend picking this up - especially if you haven’t read ‘Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke’.

This is the perfect amount of creepy and "what just happened?" to kick off spooky season reading. LaRocca's stories in this collection each leave the reader enough scope for the imagination to scare oneself even more.

In this queer horror collection, LaRocca binds together three tales that shock while asking about the nature of our relationships with one another.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: 3.5 stars
Through a series of found messages, two women form an immediate bond solely online during the early days of the internet that will leave one of them dead.

I was planning on reading this before hearing about it being bound into this collection. In my opinion, it is by far the strongest in premise, themes, horror, and execution of all three of the stories. I found myself rereading lines and was caught up in the fervor of their relationship with them. The horror element is decidedly disgusting, even if it wasn't the type of horror I was expecting. The themes of queer people finding safe spaces online and being taken advantage of in their relief to be seen resonated strongly. However, I felt that the characters and plot could have been made stronger if it was longer.

The Enchantment: 2.5 stars
A husband and wife become caretakers of an island resort shortly after news breaks of the first scientific proof that there is no afterlife.

This had such a strong start with an awesome premise but ultimately I did not understand what was meant by it. Metaphors were mostly lost on me and I found myself just wanting to skim. I liked how the ending picked up, but will ultimately forget about this one.

You'll Find It's Like That All Over<: 2 stars
A man finds a bone buried in his backyard, which leads him to have a strange encounter with his neighbor.

This unfortunately was a flop for me. It felt like it was a rip-off of the various ironic stories taught to high schoolers but without the surprising payoff. This is a story that has been told before and told better.

Overall, while I'm intrigued to pick up other titles from LaRocca, I do not think that anything was added to Things Have Gotten Worse by pulling it off shelves and binding it to two stories that did not live up to its strength.

What is the fuss about? Why did the story go viral? Maybe it was the original art of the first release..I think it’s the story. Things Have Gotten Worse Since we Last Spoke is the first story in the new book. It is my favorite of all three. It’s a dark portrayal of obsession, the need for companionship and the power it can have over your life. Two characters, who have met online but not in real life, form a relationship that pushes boundaries to uncomfortable limits. The format of the book is through their email and messaging corespondents, adding to the strange awareness that they don’t really know each other beyond cyber space. I loved everything about it, even the gross parts. When you read about the pork, you will know what I mean ( maybe snack on a few jelly beans while reading that part).
Enchantment is a book soaked in religious belief, even though Eric is a nonbeliever. Like the author, I have no religion but couldn’t stop reading the story and wondering where the ideas came from. The author afterword is a huge help if you have questions like me.
Last, You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over is a strange tale of neighbors getting better acquainted. What lengths will people go through to keep up appearances and niceties? Apparently they will go pretty far…
This is a great baby step into horror. The Stories are short and slightly gory, which will appeal to beginners.

Things have gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: 3.75 stars
The Enchantment: 3 stars
You'll Find It's Like That All Over: 2 stars

I read Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke last year and thought it was entriguing. I knew I was going to pick up something else by the author so when I saw this I immediately requested it. The Enchantment was interesting, it did not have the grotesque nature of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke I still enjoyed it. However the last story was lack luster. I found it dull. Overall I'm interested in Eric LaRocca's future works and will pick them up.

“I guess that’s what makes people do horrible things – they think whatever they’re doing isn’t nearly as bad as what somebody else will do.”

I have never read anything by this author, and after reading this book, I purchased his other title, "We Can Never Leave This Place" I didn't know that I enjoyed gruesome, disturbing stories like that. The first story was the most disgusting one. It's like the kind of story you hate reading, but you can't look away. His writing style is addictive somehow.

This book is a three-short stories collection. Each one has a different setting and different characters. The more I kept reading. I questioned how someone could think like that. It astonishes me to realize where our imaginations would go.

The second and third stories were less disturbing. The Afterword made all the sense. All those stories had one thing in common: wanting to be seen and connected by others or by God. The extent to which someone goes to reach this goal could be truly horrifying.

I am excited to read more by LaRocca. Spooky season is coming, so 👻

Thank you @netgalley and @titanbooks for this copy.

If you want to feel uncomfortable, then this is the book for you. The titular novella is the strongest story in the book. Told through emails and instant messages, the story leaves you feeling tense and unsettled. The second story is interesting, but the pacing is inconsistent. I liked the final story because I felt like the brevity helped give the ending an extra punch.

I struggled with how to rate this one, 2 or 3 stars, but I think overall I am left with a disappointed feeling so went down to 2. I had heard of the first novella so many times, seem it recommended places, but didn't realize it was a novella going into it. For me I think novellas are difficult to write and most that I read feel like the author is trying and tell a full-length book worth of story in novella-length pages. Which doesn't work out great.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke had some truly great, horrifying scenes, but my issue was they were added into a story that seemed way too fast to develop. Two women meet on a queer website because one is selling an apple peeler and the story went from hey I want to buy that to horrifying in two seconds. It didn't really work. Those scenes, those emails detailing various things the one lady does, and the ending itself, would be great if I felt these two actually had this relationship and the story worked up to it. As it was as I was reading I kept thinking oh my goodness this is amazing, but this came out of nowhere. As I said above I think this would have been amazing as a longer work. With the characters going from 0-100 over a slightly longer period of time. For us to see them have a real relationship. I absolutely loved bits of this, this made me want to read a full-length novel from this author, but overall it felt way too fast.

The Enchantment was...I kept thinking about what happened at the beginning because it doesn't make sense. There is no way someone could do that by themselves so...how did it happen?? This one really did start off so well and I couldn't wait to see what happened to everyone, but once it time jumped it didn't work for me. Again people kept making decisions or doing things in .2 seconds and it was like wait what? Why do you think x? And then changing their mind 2 pages later and it felt a bit all over the place for me. Again if it were longer it probably would have worked better. It would have been less like getting whiplash from the characters thinking one thing or another is happening then instantly changing their position completely.

You'll Find It's Like that All Over was fine. It...it was nothing special. I read it and just thought okay that was a story...you don't get to know the characters (except to ask yourself why in the world is the one guy still with his husband) so the stakes don't feel that high and you don't really care what happens to anyone. So not great.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this book.

What even was that!

I don't even know! It's stup!d honestly. I think i was only able to make past the first story because i was too curious to stop reading, wanted to see where it was going, and honestly it was horrifying and not in a good way, it's terrible. Like the kind you would read on platforms for amateur writers who are only taking the p!ss out of themselves. O my god! 😅

One can try and add a deeper meaning to these but honestly you'll be reaching! I'm not the one to rate books so low, and be so blatantly rude abt how i felt abt them. You have to know it must have been something ugh to bring out this reaction from me 😅 But yeah full points for the cover! 😍

I'm so sorry! I missed downloading this title before it was archived. Such a pity, I've heard great things about it and this author. Sorry for the missed opportunity.

Not as good as I was hoping. Boring in parts. I had heard a lot of type around this so I was expecting more and was disappointed.

One novella (Things have Gotten Worse Since we Last Spoke) -(what an amazing title)- and two short stories this little gem of a book. The title story is presented as an electronic communication between two women that starts off perfectly normal and then eventually veers to the macabre. The final line is a shocker and I must admit it took me a minute or two to realize the full implications. The author explains in his afterword that all three stories deal with the human need for connection, both stories work for me but it is most certainly the novella that is the star of the show.

The tone of this writing is magnificent. It really made me feel uneasy and creeped. The ability of this author is unmatched--I am still thinking about these stories weeks later. I highly recommend this collection, and I'm really looking forward to diving more into this author's other works. Give this one a shot!

The titular story is still haunting me over a month after reading this. I’m not a big horror reader, but the creeping dread and uncertainty I had during the reading experience made it a definite 5 star. I still shudder when I think about certain lines.

The other two stories weren’t, personally, for me - but I appreciate the craft and symbolism in the writing if I wanted to read them more in-depth. For casual reading, the titular story definitely gripped me a lot more, which is why I settled on a 3.5-4 star review.

Well, that was a page-turner! Even when I really wanted to put this one down, I could not. It was dark, disgusting, and often, ridiculous. I loved the theme of the human need for connection and I felt that each story got progressively better.

The titular piece made me want to throw up a few times and also sent me cackling with the absurdity in a few parts. Definitely gave some vile imagery that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. I'm a bit new to the horror genre so, for me, this was pretty extreme and it seemed simultaneously ridiculous and believable. I enjoyed this one but I felt so <I>icky</I> I almost wanted to stop after finishing this one but I'm so glad I kept going.

<I>The Enchantment</I> was disturbing but decidedly less visceral in it's descriptions. I enjoyed the concept of this one but there were some plot holes that bothered me. It was unsettling, atmospheric, and I loved the existential dread enhanced with the religious aspect. The end left me a bit disappointed because I wanted more answers but still solid, overall.

<I>You'll Find It's Like That All Over</I> was by far the most cohesive story and my personal favorite. It really tied the whole book together nicely and left my wheel's turning. I was on the edge of my seat, uncomfortable, and I enjoyed the reflection on societal norms most of all.

Despite wanting to not like this book at times, it really worked for me. After I finished it (in only a few sittings), I was left feeling disturbed but satisfied. Loved the author's note and getting to learn more about the experiences that led to this unusual collection. I would recommend, but only if you have a strong stomach! I honestly can't wait to read more by LaRocca. A big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

Eric LaRocca has written three sinister and unsettling stories that are almost poetic in their morbidity. There is no hiding: humanity’s ugliness is in the forefront. LaRocca’s use of religious imagery feels like the author is using the characters’ faith as a way to further their need to be a part of something bigger.

This novella is fervently based on a desire to feel like you belong. All three stories are told vastly differently, but their underlying theme remains the same: what would you do to feel connected to others? It will leave you pondering for a while after you finish reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for sending me a copy, I really appreciate it and sorry for rating it so low, but here is my honest review. This book would probably be ok if you want a very easy shock value horror, however l was really disappointed by this as a whole. Each story fell flat for me and I had expected more from the writing. The characters in all three stories felt undeveloped and two dimensional and the plots, though interesting concepts, felt less well executed than I’d hoped.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

First of all, the things I enjoyed were the epistolary format and the overall idea of the story. However, I think the only reason this is popular is because of shock value.

I understand that character development is difficult given the format, but i found that the two characters didn’t even have distinct voices and I often had to double check whose email or message I was reading. This lack of character development means that I struggled to believe their relationship even from Agnes’ side which was meant to appear genuine throughout. This meant that it didn’t make sense that Agnes ever agreed to do anything, even just putting on the red dress. It felt like they barely knew each other and I feel like a lot of the horror could have come from the realisation that someone we had learn to trust and know could ask these things of her but since we didn’t know Zoe well enough this didnt come through at all. I also felt there was no decline which was intended to be the main part of horror aside from shock value. It really went from 0 to 100 in terms of the decline of Agnes’ mental stability and it felt like we didn’t see enough build up or cracks to warrant a breakdown on this scale.

I also had an issue with the way the characters texted. As well as showing no personal information or personality to get to know each other, the way they spoke felt really forced and unconvincing. It felt like the author was trying to show off their writing skills, meaning the characters texted as it they were authors in awkward superfluous language rather than speaking as though they are actually human.

Finally and most importantly was the issue of lesbian trauma being used as a horror trope. I don’t feel good about the fact that this wasn’t written by a sapphic person because it made me feel extremely uncomfortable and unhappy with the way it was handled.

The Enchantment

This was just fine. Again, it had an interesting concept but the execution left something to be desired. Once again, the characters were bland and unbelievable and the story simultaneously felt drawn out and underdeveloped. The first plot point was way too predictable and also logistically impossible, how does someone crucify themselves? I also found the story, though having quite a good atmosphere and being potentially interesting, didn’t really make sense. I guess this was due to them being dead all along but even that wasn’t made clear at the end and the reason for everything that happened wasn’t either. I found it forgettable and undeveloped.

You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over

Once again, it was just ok. I felt that the characters had a bit more personality than the ones in previous stories, but I still felt they lacked discernible motivation for anything that happened. I also don’t realy understand why Mr Fowlers husband was such a violent racist. I didn’t find it added anything to the story and the fact that although he says he disagrees, Fowler doesn’t seem to really care and is not shown to refute it at any point. For me it just felt like the inclusion of violent racism for no reason whatsoever and, while Im not sure this is problematic it was definitely unnecessary and uncomfortable (but not in the way horror should be.)

This is a collection of 3 short creepy stories. I recommend going in blind so each story really has that shocking element. This is what I did and I found it to be much more gripping. These stories will stick with you and you'll be thinking about them long after you've finished the last page. The first two stories were my favourite and really kept me gripped. I recommend this to anyone who likes weird, horror stories. Will definitely read more by Eric LaRocca.

Overall, I just don’t think Eric Larocca is an author for me. I try and try but I always end up feeling like his books are full of plot holes and pretentious writing despite having a meaning to his stories. Don’t get me wrong I understand this is an unpopular opinion and I’m glad a lot of people seem to love his books, just overall not my thing.

Enjoyed this. Queer horror novella. Dark and disturbing, and the format absolutely worked- had a dark nostalgic feel for the early days of the internet except drenched with dread. Can definitely see myself recommending this to horror fans.