Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death.
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.
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
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Community Reviews
Well, that was gross. And I could have done without the graphic description of a cat death. But overall, I kind of liked itâ¦I think?
I cannot give this one a rating. I do not know one single reader I could in good conscience recommend this to.
This story is presented in email/Instant Messenger format between the two main characters and is set in the 2000s. I didn't have a problem with the format, but where I first experienced a disconnect is the emails were written eloquently and beautiful - which distinguishes it as Eric LaRocca's work because his prose is some of the most beautiful we have out here. The problem is - these emails are written in Eric's gorgeous writing style - completely unrealistic for these characters. Of the millions of emails I've read, those I myself have written - not a single one ever remotely came close to sounding like these emails.
This story is about how one girl lists an antique item for sale in order to pay her rent. Another girl responds and a rapport is struck between the two over commonalities. Very quickly, WAY too quickly, a relationship is agreed to and it leads to one being dominant and controlling over the other and came to a very unbelievable and outlandish ending.
The relationship between the main characters - while I do understand this situations happen, this one happened instantaneously which made it unbelievable. There is no way I will exchange 4-5 emails with a stranger and one I've never met (especially in the 2000s) would I ever do the ridiculous and later disgusting things Agnes did. If the relationship had actually been developed further over time, it could have been achieved better, in my opinion.
For 75 pages, I kept wondering to myself why in the world this was classified as horror. Then we get to a section where Agnes is telling Zoe about a teenager murdering his baby brother, that he had dubbed Little Christ. Okay, that was enough info right there - the graphic description how this scene played out was more than I was comfortable with.
Then we get to the deal with the baby and that was absolutely bonkers. I couldn't get behind anything in this novella - I thought the characters were unbelievable, the relationship would never have happened in this circumstance and time frame, the things the character did and the reasoning - I would never in a million years believe any of it. I mean, I know it's fiction - but to me, good horror is good and scary because it could be REAL.
This story is presented in email/Instant Messenger format between the two main characters and is set in the 2000s. I didn't have a problem with the format, but where I first experienced a disconnect is the emails were written eloquently and beautiful - which distinguishes it as Eric LaRocca's work because his prose is some of the most beautiful we have out here. The problem is - these emails are written in Eric's gorgeous writing style - completely unrealistic for these characters. Of the millions of emails I've read, those I myself have written - not a single one ever remotely came close to sounding like these emails.
This story is about how one girl lists an antique item for sale in order to pay her rent. Another girl responds and a rapport is struck between the two over commonalities. Very quickly, WAY too quickly, a relationship is agreed to and it leads to one being dominant and controlling over the other and came to a very unbelievable and outlandish ending.
The relationship between the main characters - while I do understand this situations happen, this one happened instantaneously which made it unbelievable. There is no way I will exchange 4-5 emails with a stranger and one I've never met (especially in the 2000s) would I ever do the ridiculous and later disgusting things Agnes did. If the relationship had actually been developed further over time, it could have been achieved better, in my opinion.
For 75 pages, I kept wondering to myself why in the world this was classified as horror. Then we get to a section where Agnes is telling Zoe about a teenager murdering his baby brother, that he had dubbed Little Christ. Okay, that was enough info right there - the graphic description how this scene played out was more than I was comfortable with.
Then we get to the deal with the baby and that was absolutely bonkers. I couldn't get behind anything in this novella - I thought the characters were unbelievable, the relationship would never have happened in this circumstance and time frame, the things the character did and the reasoning - I would never in a million years believe any of it. I mean, I know it's fiction - but to me, good horror is good and scary because it could be REAL.
- the first story in the collection is the most interesting & horrifying out of the three
- the other two are not as scary, with the final story being the most boring, IMO
- good overall—would love to read more like the first story!
- the other two are not as scary, with the final story being the most boring, IMO
- good overall—would love to read more like the first story!
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