Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes

I love a good horror read, and i was lured into this with the premise of "horror short stories written by a queer author" and I thought "on my TBR you go". This one is compiled of three stories, one taking up the majority of the book, but yet you can get through this book fairly quick. And I did enjoy it! I'm a huge fan of LaRocca's writing style and I enjoyed the stories in these, along with them having some really good horror aspects. But it feel a bit flat because most things- especially in the first story and namesake "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke"- relies a lot on the shock factor. That isn't to say that there aren't other horror elements, but it plays a big part and it just isn't my cup of tea, and it ruins an eventual reread for me. The characterization also fell a bit flat, though there's only so much you can do in a short story, especially with one of them being mainly written in emails or text messages. As I said, I did really enjoy this book, but it just wasn't my favourite book ever. It wasn't even my favourite among LaRoccas books- I liked the short stories "The Trees Grew Because I Bled There" a bit better, but I still did enjoy this one. If you want a short, fun horror read that will look great on your shelves, you should look into this!

This book is very much worth the price, as long as you're into gruesome short stories. The first story ("Things have gotten a lot worse since we last spoke") has a very interesting writing style and descents very fast from "two people making a connection" to "everyone involved needs therapy" to something even more twisted. It has a lot of good moments that make you wish it was longer. Sadly, the second story falls short for me. It's a bit all over the place and nothing seems to wrap up or fit together in the end. The third one makes up for that, although it doesn't come close to the first one. But its suspenseful and quick. It's the one of the three that works best as a short story. I recommend going into this book with as little information about the stories as possible, so that the shock factor and the twists will have a bigger impact.

I have to admit I liked the turns and very nastly developing figures in those three shortstories. Even though I hated some figures I enjoyed reading it.

I have to admit I liked the turns and very nastly developing figures in those three shortstories. Even though I hated some figures I enjoyed reading it.

I finished this book in one sitting (which I have not done in a long time). Wow. It has left me quite speechless. In a good way. I just wish the end was not so abrupt as I would have loved to learn more about the demise of Agnes, peel the layers of the Zoe character and get an insight into the police investitgation. But oh well. Need to figure out what I have done today to deserve eyes.