Summary reviewed by:
Terrence Timmons
Terrence Timmons
Analyst
Bachelor of Arts (BA), University Of California, Santa Barbara 2019
With over 4 years of experience as an analyst. Terrence Timmons is committed to analyzing summaries without compromising on quality.
You won't believe what's sold online nowadays.
In "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke," an eerie web of cyberspace connects two lonely souls in the digital alleys of early-2000s Internet. Agnes, a historian striving for the preservation of all things old, comes across Zoe, a young woman in desperate need of money and attention, on an online auction. But as innocuous as their initial encounter seems, their connection spirals into a harrowing narrative of obsession, longing, and sheer descent into madness. Their digital exchange becomes more obsessive, more demanding, revealing depths of psychological torture and forbidden desires. In this demented love story, Agnes and Zoe venture far beyond societal norms, blurring the lines between passion and perversion. The outcome? Something far graver than either of them could ever fathom.
Date Published: June 1, 2021
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Fiction
Horror
Psychological Thriller
LGBTQ+
Contemporary Gothic
Agnes: A passionate historian, she values the preservation of the past. Her infatuation with Zoe evolves from a mere online transaction to a need to keep her forever. This is evident when she takes measures to turn Zoe into a “preserved” artifact.
Zoe: A young, desperate woman seeking validation, she values attention and love, even at great personal cost. Her willingness to appease Agnes’s increasingly bizarre requests showcases her desperation for acceptance.
Obsession: The digital exchanges between Agnes and Zoe manifest into an unhealthy obsession, evident in how they constantly push boundaries in their interactions.
Loneliness and Connection: Despite the digital age’s promise of connectivity, both protagonists face profound loneliness, leading them to form a twisted bond online.
Perversion of Love: What begins as a unique connection soon blurs into a dark, perverted form of love, exemplified in their escalating dares and desires.
Duality of Digital Reality: The story highlights the dangers of the online world and its potential to warp reality, as seen in the disconnect between Agnes and Zoe’s online and offline personas.
Decay and Preservation: Agnes’s work as a historian and her act of preserving Zoe in the end represent the conflict between decay and the desire to maintain things in their original state.
