Amber Fallon [Fallon - TV Dinners from Hell

Praise for Amber Fallon:

Fallons writing will hit your brain like a hammer, leaving you dazed and satisfyingly pulped. Pure, over-the-top fun from cover to cover. Rachel Autumn Deering, author of Husk

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Wherever theres horror, Amber Fallon is there. C.V. Hunt, author of Ritualistic Human Sacrifice and We Did Everything Wrong

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Chilling and delightfully gruesome! Joe McKinney, author of Dead City, Flesh Eaters, and Mutated

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Solid writing and killer sensibilities make Amber Fallon a force to be reckoned with. Danger Slater, author of Puppet Skin

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Amber Fallons writing is propulsive and tough. If it seems like shes taking a breath, you better keep your guard up, because shes just winding up for a big hit. Fans of JF Gonzalez and Brian Keene, place your bets now. Fallon is the new Extreme Horror knockout artist. Bracken MacLeod, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Stranded and Come to Dust

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Amber Fallon brings fresh perspectives and new energies to classic tropes, reinventing them in delightful (and often unsettling) ways. Christine Morgan, author of Spermjackers from Hell and The Ravens Table

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Like the VHS horror of your youth that you dont have to worry with the late fee on. Like those 80s pulp horror books you used to gawp at while waiting in line at Hills, you know, all skeletons and embossed covers. Like the world ending and the dead singing. Like unseen creatures and quiet ghosts. Like honesty and lies. Amber Fallon delivers stories that are all of these things, and things that are even more unsettling. John Boden, author of Jedi Summer with the Magnetic Kid and Spungunion

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Amber Fallon writes the kind of skin-peeling, savage horror that calls back to such authors as Guy N. Smith. An economy of words and a brutal understanding of the human animal make her a rising star in the dark horror universe. K.H. Koehler, author of Dinosaur Valley and Ghost in the Machine

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After the B-movie pulp style of her debut The Terminal, and now the atmospheric creepfest that is The Warblers, Fallon has proven herself to be a versatile new voice in the horror field. Stephen Kozeniewski, author of Hunter of the Dead and The Hematophages

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Amber Fallons work inhabits two worlds: She delivers exciting, well-written narratives packed with nuanced characters, but also the kind of bloody, monstrous, weird onslaught of words that keeps fans of hardcore horror happy and coming back for more. Whichever you prefer, come for one and stay for the other. Fallon is a dark fiction star in the making, and jumping on her train early is a smart move. Gabino Iglesias, author of Zero Saints

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TV Dinners from Hell

by

Amber Fallon

Published by Fresh Pulp Press

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, save those clearly in the public domain, is purely coincidental.

Night Music Copyright 2016 by Amber Fallon

The Donor Copyright 2016 by Amber Fallon

Pretty Pretty Shiny Copyright 2013 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the anthology Operation Ice Bat, edited by Brian Keene

Behind the Smile Copyright 2012 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the anthology Here Be Clowns, edited by Dorothy Davies

78154 Copyright 2012 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the anthology So Long, and Thanks For all The Brains, edited by Matt Nord.

The Glen Copyright 2011 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared on Horror on the Installment Plan

Something Bit Me Copyright 2014 by Amber Fallon

Tequila Sunrise Copyright 2013 by Amber Fallon

Dawn of the Death Beetles Copyright 2017 by Amber Fallon

The Shark that Ate Everything Copyright 2016 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the anthology Fossil Lake IV: Sharkasaurus, edited by Christine Morgan

Demolition Derby Copyright 2011 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the Sirens Call eZine

Blind Copyright 2009 by Amber Fallon

Tell Me How You Die Copyright 2017 by Amber Fallon

Clickers in Space Copyright 2015 by Amber Fallon, originally intended for Clickers Forever: A J.F. Gonzalez Tribute Anthology, printed with permission from J.F. Gonzalezs estate

Odessa Copyright 2012 by Amber Fallon

The Dick Measuring Contest at the End of the Universe Copyright 2017 by Amber Fallon

Ornamentation Copyright 2011 by Amber Fallon, formerly appeared in the anthology Return to Deathlehem, edited by Michael J. Evans and Harrison Graves

Cover art Copyright 2017 by Marc Schoenbach

Interior illustrations Copyright 2017 by Chris Enterline

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Publisher, except for short quotes used for review or promotion. For information address the Publisher.

Paperback ISBN: 0692956980

Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0692956984

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Dedication

For J.F. Gonzalez.

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Menu

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DINNER FOR ONE

Hungry? You must be, after your day. Sit. Eat. There's plenty in this book to chew on.

Your armchair is waiting. There are some old scary movies on TV tonight, the kind that make a blue flicker of light and shadow dance across the walls behind you in the otherwise empty house. It is empty, isn't it? Tonight, it's dinner for one. There is beer in the fridge.

Oh, and there are some TV dinners in the freezer.

What you are warming up right now is a 17-course collection of Amber Fallon's short fiction, and it is a feast for one. Showcasing some of Amber's best short fiction to date, this book runs the gamut from quiet supernatural and preternatural horror to the more visceral and bestial sides of humanity. The genres range from horror to a little bit of fantasy and science fiction. There's something in here for everyones taste, and once you've had a bite, you'll gobble up the whole thing in one sitting. I did.

I've always thought short story collections are a little like family-style eating. You can get a sampling of all the different types of fare a writer has to offer. There is one chef, but many different flavors to experience. Some tales are sweet or salty, some are heavy and weigh on our stomachs, some are savory and instantly satisfying, and some are just plain bizarre. The best foods for the mind and body fill and satisfy us and nourish us for a time. Some of these foods are slavishly prepared for hours. Some of these are quick, microwavable comfort foods. The best dinners, in my opinion, are a little of both. The best books are a little of both, as well. TV Dinners From Hell is one of those books.

When I first met Amber, she told me that she wrote zombie horror. She doessome of the most beautifully written and heart-wrenching tales in this book are a testament to thatbut she does so much more. Like the greatest gourmet chefs, she uses specific ingredients to achieve a certain tone or effect. In these stories, her monsters, human or otherwise, have cravingssometimes for human flesh, sometimes for souls, and sometimes, for goals unsettling in their vagueness. We aren't always told what the secret sauce of some of these stories is, but we don't need the recipe. We can taste it, we can feel its effects inside us, and that is enough. These stories have an aftertaste, and it is powerful and memorable, as good work should be, and sometimes the inherent mystery of why is what makes it work so well. With many of these tales, we don't realize what we've taken into ourselves until it's already half-digested.