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Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

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Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

By: Eric LaRocca
Narrated by: Laurie Catherine Winkel
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About this listen

Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death.

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.

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

©2021 Eric LaRocca (P)2021 Fireside Horror Genre Fiction Horror Literature & Fiction Mind-Bending Scary
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I think I may have enjoyed this story a lot more in book form rather than audio - the email format gets a bit annoying to listen to. That being said, the actual story itself was great and tied together well at the end.

Short story

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I enjoyed this book. I liked that it wasn't to long. was very unsettling to listen to. I found myself cringing and shaking my head at times, but overall this is such a sad story. I'm left feeling a little heavy

Unsettling

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loved it, very enjoyable and disgusting, exactly what I expected when it was recommended for me. however I wasn't quite convinced someone would go to such extremes by the end of the book. Anyways, if disturbed me in just the right way 👍

Now I'm craving mince beef

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As you read in the blurb, "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" is a book describing some version of an online lesbian romance set in the year 2000, wherein everyday communication with friends via email or MSN messenger didn't seem so painfully antiquated as it does today.

The book describes a relationship featuring something of an unequal power balance between parties, with the impression given that one woman is a little younger, and the other something of a slightly older, wealthier professional. What begins as a friendly and polite exchange surrounding the sale of an antique apple peeler, rather quickly turns into a somewhat perverse dom/sub relationship between the two women.

Obviously without spoiling anything, this relationship becomes more intense and perverse as time progresses, and culminates in some bizarre and grotesque moments. I have to admit, it did not go exactly how I expected, and I do enjoy being led astray by my expectations in cases like this. I have to criticise the perceived speed at which this all escalates. The book is read entirely as a set of emails and messenger exchanges, which outline rather explicitly the passage of elapsed time, but due to the shortness of the book, the listener can't help but to feel like it's all happening day-by-day. It's not really meant as a major criticism, but I suppose due to the brief, almost curt length of the story, this can't be helped. Though I understand the purpose they served, the existence of email headers being narrated between almost every exchange did get rather tiresome after a time.

The story did not deliver the level of disturbance or sickening horror that I had hoped to find in my quest to be shocked by a work of fiction, but I am personally hard to impress in this department, and haven't read (or listened to) a book that's done it to me yet. I will warn the prospective listener that it does have parts that someone less desensitised might find nauseating or disturbing.

The audio delivery is good. I really have no complaints about it at all. Laurie Catherine Winkel delivered the performance in a way that was easy to listen to, and easily differentiated the characters by tone without putting any absurd voice acting affect into it.

Slightly underwhelming but worth the listen

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It’s an ok story that is completely destroyed by the constant listing of email addresses and instant messaging handles,to and from. It would have been a better experience all round to have just read a physical copy.

If you have any interest in this book read it don’t listen to it!

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