Chew on This!

by Robert Essig (Editor), Robert Bose, Tonia Brown

Chew on This! has everything you need to satiate your appetite for the strange and macabre.

Tonight’s menu is a fifteen-course meal of subtle and atmospheric tales all the way down to the grisly, blood-drenched extremes.

Creepy restaurants, treacherous take-out, forbidden feasts, and more!

We’ve got horror so good you can taste it!

Dig in!

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2020

About the author

Robert Essig is the author of 30 books such as Baby Fights, Disco Rice, and Master of Bodies, which was nominated for a Splatterpunk Award. He has published over 130 short stories and edited three anthologies. Robert lives with his family in east Tennessee.

Reviews

[River Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short story collections. I typically don't read them all in one go but savor them one story here, two stories there, offering a nice change of pace between longer works. This collection didn't disappoint. Strong stories from some really creative authors. Dark, uncomfortable to outright gory. Each story held its own and brought its own flavor to the table.

[KillerBunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I was hoping by reading this book, it was really good! My favorite story was Barrel Aged by Shenoa Caroll-Bradd ! Food and Horror really do go well together.

[Deb Soward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chew On This! is a collection of sixteen stories guaranteed to make your stomach turn, but will also keep you turning pages till you reached the very end. This was a great collaboration of Authors that included some of my favorites. Sit down at the table and prepare yourself for a horrific gastronomic experience. One thing for sure is I will never see the sauces that accompany wings the same way again. From cannibalism to body horror, you have a wide array of food related nightmares. This book is sure to make even the hardcore foodies vomit. Bon appetit! I was provided a copy of this book from Blood bound Books in exchange an honest review. 5 out 5 vomit emojis.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horror stories about food? Yes, please. I haven’t read an anthology like this before. I loved it. I ploughed right through it, wanting all the gross food stories.

My favourite story was Seeds of Filth Bu K Trap Jones. Let’s say, I will never be mean to the people who handle my food. Ever.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC

[Michael Cushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Horror Stories that center around food. There is a lot of dark humor in this Anthology. I found myself laughing out loud and shaking my head quite often reading this one. Two stories really stood out for me here. Meat or be Meaten, by Robert Bose and Sarah L Johnson. Words will not do me justice in trying to describe this one. It's one of the most vile and absurd stories I've ever read. The other was A Woman's Work by Tonia Brown. Dead Babies and a true wtf moment that made me put the book down for a bit so I could actually process what I just read.

[Genevieve Clements · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3 favorite savory stories from this collection include: A Womens Work, The Feeding and With A Little Salt and Vinegar. Barrel Aged is worth mentioning here as well. A wide range of flavorful short stories, coming in at 191 pages its a perfect addition for the gourmet in your life or for some light reading while snacking on your favorite bag of chips.


Here are my thoughts...


*Meat Or Be Meaten: The first story gave me so many emotions...at first I was like 😨 then I was like 😬 then the ending had me like 😏 and I think thats symbolic of being a good story. It gave my heart sweet B movie vibes (my sweet spot if you will)
*Cherry Red: Do you remember being a kid and wanting to collect all the mcdonalds toys but for some reason your McDonald's only had the same toy so you'd get mad 😠 yeah its like that. For a brief moment I thought I didn't like this story after I read it until I realized I sympathize with the main character. If you couldn't collect them all, this story is for you! If you could.....fuck you.
*The Feeding: I absolutely love realistic horror, did this happen...no but maybe it could. I loved this story, its something every person wants, the urge to not feel alone.
*Hungry Ghosts: Oh you know this one was good! I can't tell if each story is better than the last or its just preference at this point. Be careful how you treat others. This story has alot of great things going, so well written.
Ghosts ✔
Foodies ✔
Revenge~ a dish best served...well I'll leave it for you to find out.
*Seeds of Filth: OH YES! THIS IS FUCKED UP! DO NOT EVER ~and I mean NEVER EVER~ FUCK WITH PEOPLE WHO HANDLE YOUR FOOD!!!
*Grandma's Favorite Recipe: Aqua Tofana.
*Magick Brew: Give me 90s horror in all its goodness, you almost can't help but laugh at our main characters scenario
*Mermaid Caviar: This story really makes you think about where our future will take us.
*Consumption: I thought it was brilliant to place this story after Mermaid Caviar, often are we people who over indulge in a few of our favorite foods. Just because anyone can make a yelp review doesn't not mean that person is a true gourmet.
*A Womens Work: This 7 page story gave me Elizabeth Egstrom vibes, for such a disturbing story this author has beautiful writing I had looked them up afterwards to what else they've written.
*Made To Order: We all love our food fresh, it gives a good laugh but I love how hard this man works to please his customers.
*Roly-Poly: I thought I knew how it was gonna end but I was wrong. I wanna say this starts off a cute read with all the feel goods but it gets nasty.
*Porkroll, Eggs And Charnel: Damn 😂😂 thats it!
*With A Little Salt And Vinegar: This story is great in all its unsettling flavors, there's are those who will try anything once, for the sake of trying it and others who would try anything once because its their only option.
*The Insomniac Gods Of Blackberry Court: Dreamy writing in a gritty atmosphere, I wish there was more, but a good story always leaves us wanting more.
*Barrel Aged: I loved this one! A best for last if you will, pairs well with an old fashioned.

[Logan Gisick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chew On This! Is a compilation of short horror stories written by various authors in the genre. The common thread running through each story is food. Each story revolves around some sort of culinary topic, such as how will a vegetarian cat escape a house when all of the doors are closed and his owner has died? With the help of a love-seeking meat golem in the basement of course!

This book was a lot of fun, and gross, and interesting, and just a little bit scary at times. After now reading two books of short stories centered around a central theme (Ronald Malfi’s Ghostwritten focuses on Books), I think I would prefer more variety in my short stories. This one kind of felt like spaghetti every night, though I do like spaghetti.


Rating: 3/5 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley and Blood Bound Books for sending me a free advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review

[MiniMicroPup (X Liscombe) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, macabre, delicious (er, creative).

16 short stories involving food and consumption horrors:
-What could possibly cause a cat to become vegan?
-A toy prize results in a surprise for two kids.
-An affordable sandwich delivery service.
-The side effects of Westernizing the 'exotic' cuisine of other cultures
-A wait-staff support group (of sorts)
-Discovering the secret ingredient in a grandparent's irresistible treats
-An unconventional love spell works too well
-Fairy tale cures of the not-too-distant future
-A food influencer seeks out a secretive food convention
-A parent struggles to prepare a turkey dinner for their partner
-A down-on-their-luck carnie reinvents the corn dog
-A friend spills their guts about how they lost the weight and kept it off for good
-A veteran with a strange condition finds themselves fighting for their favourite food
-Dockyard workers start an eating contest
-A neighbour with a trash problem
-An alcoholic drink that really makes you feel something

🐺🐕Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🤩 I LOVED this. It was creepy, witty, gross, horrific, compelling, and mysterious. Each story contains these elements in different ratios. Most of the stories are direct, and even when predictable the writing was good for all of them so I wanted to know how it played out. Like knowing the ingredients to a recipe ahead of time, but wondering how it'll turn out...

👌 The stories are relatively short, and each has a unique tone, mini-sized character development, and plot while still on theme (kind of like Sesame Street for food horror). I don't think it was gratuitous. There were plots, not just endless descriptions of grossness.

🍿 The stories aren't overly ethereal, philosophical, or pursuing commentary. They also don't require heaps of suspended disbelief. There is symbolism if you're looking for it, but also easy to read without having to overthink. I'd say grab some popcorn and sit back to relax but...maybe nix the popcorn.

😏 A common theme for many (not all) of the stories was retribution of sorts. Either by the good, the bad, the bullied, the ugly, or even the food itself.

Mood Reading Match Up:
-Food horror
-Sneaky vengeance, retribution, and revenge stories
-Body horror and cannibalism
-Hints of magical realism horror

Content Heads-Up: Body horror. Body gore. Body fluids. Food horror. Body shaming (characters doing it to themselves or others). Alcohol and drug use (intentional).

Format: Kindle Unlimited

🫢🐶 Possible Fav Book of 2023

[TylerRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen short stories that will surely delight and probably trigger a gag reflex or two! Each one has me on the end of my seat, but also left me with trepidation moving to the next story with the gross factor. Each story was fantastic, offering many different themes to ‘chew on’.

Grandma’s Secret Recipe by Ronald Kelly was my favorite of the collection. Following grandma who is a beacon of her community and an excellent baker who has a gift of baking and uses it to provide comfort, express, friendship, and make amends with other members of her community. However, grandma has a secret ingredient that she only uses occasionally, and her grandson suspicions about strange happenings in the town center around grandma.

An honorable mention goes to A Woman’s Work by Tonia Brown. This. One. Had. My. Jaw. On. The. Floor. I still find myself ruminating on this one!

The magic of the short story is they are just short enough to leave you with questions and add your own interpretation and conclusions. I hope to see more short story compilations from these authors and Blood Bound Books in the future!

Chew on This was a fantastic compilation of short horror story’s all centered around food. Each left me with my mouth hanging open in shock. Warning, these are not for the faint of heart! Thank you to NetGalley, Robert Essig, all of the authors involved, and Blood Bound Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Chew on This!", edited by Robert Essig, is a chilling exploration of the dark side of our appetites. This anthology of short horror stories, each tethered to the theme of food, offers a disturbing and delicious feast for the macabre.

From the unsettling transformation in Kristopher Triana's "The Feeding," where a lonely old man finds renewed vigor after consuming mysterious hoagies, to the chilling domesticity of Ronald Kelly's "Grandma's Favorite Recipe," where a seemingly benevolent elderly woman harbors a sinister secret, the collection delivers a potent blend of dread and disgust.

John McNee's "With a Little Salt and Vinegar" stands out as a particularly potent and unsettling tale. While the direction of the story might be somewhat predictable, its graphic and unflinching portrayal of human depravity is both shocking and unforgettable. The story serves as a stark reminder that even the most mundane of culinary experiences can conceal a horrifying reality.

"Chew on This!" is not for the faint of heart. It's a collection that revels in the grotesque, pushing the boundaries of the unsettling and leaving a lingering sense of unease long after the final page is turned. However, for those who appreciate the power of dark imagination, and relish a good shiver down the spine, this anthology offers a truly unforgettable and disturbing culinary experience.

[Marisa (marisalynnreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chew on This! is a collection of sixteen short horror stories all centered around one thing: food.

All of the stories take on their own dark twists, leaving you wanting more after each read. A lot of the stories gave me Aron Beauregard vibes: gruesome with the added dark humor. A couple of the stories fell short, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

A look into some of my personal favorites: 

- The Feeding by Kristopher Triana, a story about Walter, an elderly gentleman, who believes he has found the cure for aging in Dotties deli sandwiches.
- Grandma's Favorite Recipe by Ronald Kelly, saintly Ms.Sarah Plummers cookies had a secret ingredient, Dr. Augustus Leech's Patented Elixir. 
- Made to Order by Mark C. Scioneaux, Charlies new corn dog recipe is making him a killer at the fair.

If you are a fan of quirky, disturbing short horror reads, add this to your TBR! This read is sure to make even the iron stomach horror fans queasy. 

[Horror Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great anthology of horror stories all based, in one way or another, around food and eating.

I always love a themed anthology that brings so many creative writers to the table and this is one which does so spectacularly.. We have the disturbing, the creepy, the deliciously disgusting, and truly unsettling stories you would want from a horror anthology. There are even some which deliver horrific images with an underlying sense of humor.

From food obsessions, eating disorders, and even cannibalism, the stories are never dull nor repetitive. They rely on food as the carrier of the horrors but it's the characters which make them so fun to read.

I loved this one and highly recommend it.I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

[Ash]

‘Chew on This!’ Is a horrific short story collection that focuses on food, not for the faint of heart or the easily disgusted, this book is a foodies worst nightmare.

As others have said, short story anthologies always come with a mixed bag. I found I enjoyed certain stories more than others. Regardless every story was well written and achieved the desired effect.

Stories that stood out to me were ‘Grandma’s Favourite Recipe’, ‘Made to Order’, ‘A Woman’s Work’, ‘Cherry Red’ and ‘Barrel Aged’. All the type of horror that leaves you reeling.

The most stomach turning (and the one I low-key hated) was ‘Seeds of Filth,’ a very grotesque read that will have you thinking twice about how you treat people in the service industry.

I’m not big on extreme horror but for a little dip into the genre this series was an interesting experience.

[whatemsreadingx · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge lover of anthology books and this one was no different, it was so good!

To me, the stories in this book felt a bit more like an elevated horror, more psychological and not reliant on big jump scares or gore to give the fright and gross factor. It relied a lot on infering and interpretation - which I thought was really well done.

Each story had it's own high points, although there were 2 I skipped as I just wasn't enjoying them (hence the 4 star rating) but the one thing that linked them was the quality at which they were written.

An all round excellent collection of some intriguing and downright disturbing and quite frankly gross short stories.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthologies are always a mixed bag, some stories hit, some miss, but enough hit here for it to be well worth the read. Tonia Brown, Ronald Kelly, Robert Rose and Sarah L Johnson stood out particularly for me.

[Laura Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHEW ON THIS by Robert Essig.
How can i describe this book? Well its Disgusting, highly entertaining and has the shock factor.
Loads of short stories by different authors and they all revolve round food.
Stomach churning but some dark humor thrown in and makes you want to read it.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were really creative and I enjoyed them immensely. Others were just gross, for gross sake and didn’t feel like they had any deeper meanings.

I’ve come to realize that I like my horror to have a deeper, darker meaning and not just superficial gore and gross outs.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has something for any horror lovers appetite but definitely not mine as I wouldn't eat or drink any of it. An enjoyable read for fans of the strange and macabre.

[SpookyMama🎃 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an incredibly disgusting book about food that I just couldn’t put down. I loved every single story and I definitely plan on reading more from each author.

[Hailee Knott. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m normally not a short story person but I really enjoyed these ones! Disturbing, entertaining and shocking. Up the ally for any lover of horror!

[FantasyBookNerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chew On This is an anthology of short stories revolving around food. The stories all have different flavours, ranging from comedy horror to the downright disturbing.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Some of them have a good frisson of black humour in them (think League of Gentlemen kind of humour) and some of the stories are just out and out gross.
The first story, Meat or be Meaten introduces us to the anthology and tells the tale from a cat’s perspective as we learn of the shenanigans he gets up to after his owner dies, leaving two meat golems in the house unsupervised. The story is bizarre, with a generous shake of comedic seasoning.
There are a couple of other stories in this collection that are definitely going to stay with me. A Woman’s Work is one of those stories. This one started off quite shocking and just kept getting worse from there, leaving the me with a jaw dropping ending that made give the book a double take when the realisation of what had happened hit me in the face
As you progress through the stories, the more disturbing some of the tales become.
Throughout the book there are tales of ghosts, cannibalism, meat golems, sweeny toddish corn dog vendors and a whole host of other monsters, both human and monster.
If you like your horror stories with a little bite, then this anthology could well be to your taste. But be warned, some of these stories will probably gross you out. Chew on this is not for those of you with a delicate disposition and you will definitely not look at food the same way again

[Jonathan Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great set of stories!! Essig put a lot of hard work on this book getting a lot of amazing talent! It’s horrific, disgusting as sometimes odd and funny. There wasn’t a bad story in the bunch! Beware it may make you hungry for more!