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From Bram Stoker Award finalist Eric LaRocca, this is devastating, beautifully written horror from one of the genre’s most cutting-edge voices. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke basically carries the star rating for this short stories collection, which remains powerful (and grotesque) upon re-read. The remainder is inoffensive at best, forgettable at worst — if you're expecting a consistent caliber as THGWSWLS, you may find the overall experience a slight letdown . I liked the Prince Lindworm element a lot but I feel uncomfortable with how desperate these lesbians were to have a baby and the angst of not being able to give it to one another. But beyond that—and those are all things I can say about any of the authors I've worked with and titles I've published—I just think it hit that wind that every author and publisher hopes to hit.”
And the destination of the title story is so vague as to be a frustrating nothingness. I literally cannot imagine what this woman is going to do with an apple peeler and a defecated tapeworm. Not because I don't have a capably gross mind, but because nothing makes sense. Is she going to peel the worm? Peel her skin somehow in a helical shape, only to see she's unable to reinsert the tapeworm? Is she going to bake an apple pie in her bathroom? I thought an apropos ending using Chekhov's apple peeler may be Agnes piercing her eyes because she does not deserve them (the repeated motif). But it's an extremely gratuitous stretch to reach that ending. How much of yourself do you give away when you find the one that makes you whole, how much do you surrender, how much do you bend and fall in line, how much heartache, despair, pain and suffering do we suffer to make another whole - how much do we love the ones that destroy us. This ones a hard hitting piece that breaks your heart whilst mashing your face into broken shards of glass… brutal and brilliant! Where Flames Burned Emerald As Grass - A father and his teenage daughter are vacationing at a tropical jungle resort. His daughter has an accident and an elderly Frenchman comes to their aid. He has much more to offer than just his medical expertise if only the father had heeded his warning. Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution…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. Let's take a stroll through the mind of the gifted, creative, and twisted writer: Eric LaRocca. I hope I can come out unscathed on the other side. If not, then I hope it only hurts a little. Time will tell....
This book was very disappointing, not because it was terrible but because I had heard so many good things and I was expecting so much more. Founded in 2015 by Emma Alice Johnson and Sam Richard, Weirdpunk Books initially focused on anthologies like The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg and Blood For You: A Literary Tribute to GG Allin. That wind, here, could more accurately be called “the algorithm”—but before we get there, let’s talk about that hard-to-forget cover. It’s a painting by Kim Jakobsson called Passing Oxygen, which Richard and LaRocca agreed “was perfect.” Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans —though no one calls them that anymore.The Enchantment’ follows James and Olive who decide to act as live-in caretakers of a hotel during its off season (another example of LaRocca wearing their horror influences on their sleeve) after the suicide of their teenage son. While ‘The Enchantment’ doesn’t shine in the way that the previous story does, the way that LaRocca explores Judeo-Christian faith is inspired. The story takes place in a world where the concept of an afterlife has very recently been scientifically disproved. In the wake of this new atheistic realism, the characters discuss worldwide mass suicides as just another news story, and Olive’s obsessive faith becomes irrational and pitiful. It’s a wonderful setting, and most of the story is a well-written character study detailing the comfort of irrational beliefs. Ultimately, however, ‘The Enchantment’ loses its grip on the humanism that makes the first chunk of this book so special.
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. The third and final story, ‘You’ll Find it’s Like That All Over’, recentres itself within the everyday. The protagonist, known only as Mr Fowler, is the picture of suburban middle-class politeness and because of his inability to offend, he is embroiled in an increasingly violent series of bets with his Bosnian neighbour Mr Perlzig. It’s the shortest story in the collection, and the most parabolic. The story could be a comment on white America’s suspicion of other cultures, but ultimately proves this suspicion correct as Mr Perlzig is revealed to be a Jigsaw-esque sadistic manipulator, right down to keeping a functional guillotine in his home. A beautifully crafted, devastating short fiction collection from the Bram-Stoker finalist and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes. I thoroughly hated Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and yet, it only went downhill from there. That hasn’t stopped it from going viral. It may have even helped. Things Have Gotten Worse has sold more than 20,000 copies, making it by far the most successful release to date for Weirdpunk Books, the Minneapolis-based DIY horror imprint that published it.A stranger appears after his daughter hurts herself and presents Norval with a way out, a way to change everything and give Cassie what she desires most, whilst also freeing Norval to pursue his love and life and purpose with his lover. Third story may have actually been the best in terms of being a cohesive whole, though it was clunky in a few spots. I have been highly anticipating reading the novella THINGS HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE WE LAST SPOKE (5⭐️) and it did not disappoint!!!