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A beautifully crafted, devastating short fiction collection from the Bram Stoker Awards® finalist and author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. Includes an introduction from acclaimed bestselling author Chuck Wendig.
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; online 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 . . .
Originally published under the title The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales, this is a much-praised collection of deeply unsettling, painfully dark tales.
Contains mature themes.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 14, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798350867770
- File size: 144824 KB
- Duration: 05:01:42
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 30, 2023
In this collection of eight horror shorts, LaRocca (Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke) displays his signature style of rendering grotesque and brutal subject matter in exquisite prose. It starts strong, with the one-two punch of emotional heavy hitter “You Follow Wherever They Go” followed by “Bodies Are for Burning,” which takes readers into the disturbing mind of a woman whose thoughts are consumed by a desire to light the people around her on fire. The standout is the title story, in which a toxic relationship takes a mental and physical toll on the involved couple. LaRocca falters slightly with “You’re Not Supposed to Be Here,” which is reminiscent of the Saw movie franchise, and the lackluster “Where Flames Burned Emerald as Grass.” Still, the visceral depictions of unhinged psyches (“Suddenly, the thought arrives to me like a canine beckoned by a whistle. I imagine pressing a lighter against the small child’s index finger, holding the flame there until her pink skin bursts open and crinkles like a tube of blood sausage”) and unflinching body horror throughout will please LaRocca’s fans—and ought to earn him some new ones.
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