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. Winner of the Splatterpunk Award for Best Novella.
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 back yard, only to be drawn into an ever-more dangerous game.
Three devastating, beautifully written horror stories from one of the genre’s
most cutting-edge voices.
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
Review
Praise for Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes:
One of the 50 Best Horror Books of All Time -Esquire.
Indie superstar Eric LaRocca presents three novellas that capture profound pain and unthinkable horror... With shades of Nicole Cushing and Caitlín R. Kiernan, LaRocca's book is the ideal choice for readers who want depraved and disturbing horror that scares the living daylights out of them.
- Booklist
The author's strong prose does an impressive job anchoring everything on solid ground even as the stories spiral into surrealist grotesquerie. LaRocca is a writer to watch. - Publishers Weekly
There's something inevitable about these stories, the way before you know it they tighten around your mind like a trap. LaRocca writes startling and gorgeous portraits of damage, and the way it spreads from body to body. Indeed, LaRocca's stories are shocking precisely because, as strange as they are, they seem like they're occurring just down the street. - Brian Evenson
"Some horror walks you down a dark corridor, where there's whispers and laughter, sobs and screams. Other horror starts down at the end of that corridor, where there's a door that opens on to you don't know what. Read this, and then decide where Eric LaRocca has left you. Not that it matters. There's no way out." - Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw
Eric LaRocca's unflinching Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke will crawl inside you, move stuff around, and make you see the world differently, like all great stories do. - Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club.
Eric LaRocca is like a punk rocker crashing the over-produced world of arena rock in the 1970s: he's ferocious, angry, and coming on at a hundred miles an hour. He reminds us of what horror does better than any other genre: it lets loose the raw primal scream of life. - Nathan Ballingrud, author of North American Lake Monsters
Eric LaRocca's superb collection Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes is cutting edge horror with pristine writing sharp enough to slice open your skin. Strongly recommend. -Ray Garton, author of Live Girls and Crucifax Autumn
About the Author
Eric LaRocca (he/they) is the author of several works of horror and dark fiction including the viral sensation Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. A lover of luxury fashion and an admirer of European musical theatre, Eric can often be found roaming the streets of his home city, Boston, MA, for inspiration. For more information, please follow @hystericteeth on Twitter/Instagram or visit ericlarocca.com.
