Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes

Three dark and disturbing horror stories from an astonishing new voice, including the viral-sensation tale of obsession, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. For fans of Kathe Koja, Clive Barker and Stephen Graham Jones. 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. A couple isolate themselves on a remote island in an attempt to recover from their teenage son’s death, when a mysterious young man knocks on their door during a storm… And a man confronts his neighbour when he discovers a strange object in his backyard, only to be drawn into an ever-more dangerous game. From Bram Stoker Award finalist Eric LaRocca, this is devastating, beautifully written horror from one of the genre’s most cutting-edge voices. What have you done today to deserve your eyes? ‘A startling affair…I’ll be cleaning up particles of darkness in my office for weeks.’ – Josh Malerman ( Bird Box, Inspection ) ‘When broken people do broken things – especially in the name of love – we all get broken, too. What starts as sweetly genteel swiftly descends into everything that’s brutalizingly ugly about the abusive master/slave dynamic. A hauntingly elegant, masterfully written, and ultimately devastating indictment of cruel manipulation and even crueler submission. This is one deeply fucked-up heartbreaker. You have been warned.’ – John Skipp ( The Light at the End ) ‘Part Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts , part David Cronenberg’s The Brood …Eric LaRocca’s Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a masterpiece of epistolary body horror.’ – Max Booth III ( We Need to Do Something ) ‘ Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a tight, merciless epistolary, each piece of correspondence coiling the reader around its finger and never letting go. LaRocca skillfully weaves a grotesque, unforgettable page-turner of manipulation and depravity.’ – Hailey Piper ( The Worm and His Kings ) ‘With darkly poetic prose and chilling stories that peel back layers of skin to reveal a beating, bloody heart, Eric LaRocca is the clear literary heir of Clive Barker.’ – Tyler Jones ( Criterium, The Dark Side of the Room ) ‘Eric LaRocca is a fierce talent that knows no limit, masterful and utterly unmissable!’ – Ross Jeffery ( Juniper, Tome ) —- ISBN: 9781803363769