Things Have Gotten Way Worse Since We Last Spoke

Boston horror author Eric LaRocca devised a clever 100-page novel called Things Have Gotten Way Worse Since We Last Spoke. The story employs a storytelling device organized like a documentary film pieced together by a diligent researcher via Internet postings, emails, and instant messages. It’s an inventive way to tell a horror story.

The story begins with a somewhat rattling Internet posting from a woman named Agnes trying to sell her grandmother’s apple peeler and the response from another woman named Zoe. The two women (both lesbians) develop an online friendship that veers into sexual flirtation.

Once they start confessing their sexual fantasies to one another, things take a dark turn when Zoe reveals her preferences. It’s about total escalating control over another person. No spoilers here. Leave it at that.

And then the payoff comes and it’s…disgusting. The author is a fine writer but went for the revolting gross-out when something more subtle and menacing would have been more effective. I genuinely think he’s a great writer, so I look forward to checking out his other works. This one failed by going extreme without the requisite build-up.

Also: Gratuitous animal cruelty. You’ve been warned. Get the book HERE.