Therefore, although the story is wonderfully well written, maintains queer representation, and explores an imaginative concept, the lack of motive causes it to fall a little flat. There is no big reason the protagonist needs to put themselves through hell for money, nor is there a motive to prove something in the competitive nature of the bet. It’s cozy, classic, mysterious horror, however, the motives are a little too surface level. The bets are odd, but begin relatively normal, escalating in difficulty and prize money, until the final task brings into question the sanity of both the antagonist and the protagonist. It follows an older man who begins to make bets on strange challenges with his isolated neighbour. “You’ll Find It’s Like that All Over” was the most page-turner tale in Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke and Other Misfortunes. Overall, the atmosphere was the strongest part of this story, taking elements of the gothic, The Shining, and even Moby Dick to haunt the reader with the idea of trying to find something that can never be found. While the solution is given to the beginning predicament of the tale, by the end, it felt as though the characters needed to be healed instead. Although the ending wraps up the story in an imaginative way, that offers closure to an initial scenario, the payoff does feel rather empty. However, this could comfortably reflect them in a period of emptiness, going through life as their son requested rather than living the life they wanted to.įurther, LaRocca’s exploration into the supernatural, and horrific conventions come through in an effective, yet simple style. Although the story explores these heavy elements of grief, it is difficult to empathize with the characters in some places as they do not have as much substance as you would hope from a couple in crisis. The story toes the line between critiquing the reliance on religion and examining how for many, it is a necessary coping mechanism. In this tale, LaRocca places the characters on a lost island for the winter to confront only themselves. The concept is intriguing, and a look into the influence of religion for those of us who did not grow up around it, but it also perfectly encapsulates the desperation of grief as we scramble for something to cling to in a time of pain. “The Enchantment” is the first original story in Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke and Other Misfortunes, which follows a heavily religious couple as they grieve their son, in a world where the existence of an afterlife has officially been refuted. These unexpected, gruesome moments are where LaRocca’s style truly shines in beautifully, unsettling prose. While reading the inner workings of these women’s minds, it wasn’t until I read the most wonderfully twisted outcome of Zoe’s manipulation that I realised I was the voyeur, and I wanted to turn away. In the downward spiral is where LaRocca unlocks the terror element of horror, wherein everything the reader thought they knew about the relationship between the two women turns upside down. Using this device in horror is deceptive because as readers we feel nothing can shock us because it’s already done, already over, but LaRocca uses this to their advantage. What’s interesting about these found documents is how much voyeurism it imposes on the reader. Agnes represents queer people who have been excluded from their families, and this desire for care and safety ends up leading her down a peculiar path. At first, Zoe begins as an innocent helping hand, but soon we learn of her more sinister motive. LaRocca carefully concocts the identities of each of them through how they present themselves via online messaging, and through beautifully pained prose, portrays the loneliness of Agnes, alongside the misunderstood pain of Zoe. Throughout the tale of Zoe and Agnes, LaRocca masterfully executes a tale of desperation and conveys how far people will go to feel secure.
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