Course One - The Appetizer

Chew on This!

Guest Blog by Robert Essig

Years ago I edited two anthologies for a long gone small press. I thought they turned out pretty good, but putting together a book of short fiction from a dozen or so authors is quite a task. I promised myself I would never do it again.

So much for that...

So it’s April 1st 2017 and there’s a post on social media from my pals at Blood Bound Books asking for pitches to the “Demon Investors” for themed anthologies. Naturally I thought this was some sort of April Fool’s joke, and naturally I sent in a couple of pitches just in case it wasn’t.

It wasn’t.

I can’t even remember what my other pitch was, but they liked my idea for an anthology with stories based around food. I mean, come on, who doesn’t enjoy food? Even if you choose to treat food like fuel, you can’t avoid it. We all gotta eat!

The idea had actually been percolating for some time. Inspired by my friend and collaborator Jack Bantry and his SplatterpunkZine, I was originally going to put together a series of DIY zines, each with a theme. As it turns out, putting together something as simple as a folded over and stapled zine was beyond my limited abilities. Of the themes I had for that shelved-project, the one I wanted to explore the most was the food concept, so I’m glad I found good fortune with the Demon Investors.

I want to thank Blood Bound Books for believing in me and giving me the opportunity collect the best food themed-horror stories I could gather. It took some time to sift through the submissions and whittle down the short list, but we’ve got a hell of a collection here with delectable stories to meet your taste for quality horror fiction.

Here's who's on the menu so far:

"The Feeding" by Kristopher Triana

"Made to Order" by Mark C. Scioneaux

"Roley-Poley" by Vivian Kasley

"Mermaid Caviar" by Victorya Chase

"Meat or Be Meaten" by Sarah Johnson and Robert Bose

"The Insomniac Gods of Blackberry Court" by Chad Stroup

"Pickled Fetus and Chips" by John McNee

"Porkroll, Egg and Charnel" by Armand Rosamillia

"Barrel Aged" by Shenoa Carroll-Bradd

"Hungry Ghosts" by Sylvia Anne telfer

"A Woman’s Work is Never Done" by Tonia Brown