This Delicious Death — Matthew’s Book Club
By Rashauna Herm
Recommended reading age: 15 & up
“You know… I get what it’s like. Being a ghoul, I mean. As if turning into a monster isn’t bad enough, no one will let you forget what you are even when you look like everyone else.”
After the melting of arctic permafrost releases a deadly pathogen, a random percentage of the population are transformed from basic humans to feral, rabid creatures, commonly referred to by the public as “ghouls”, that hunger for flesh. The result is a mortifying pandemic known as “the Hollowing”. Fortunately, soon after the start of the pandemic, scientists were quickly able to form synthetic versions of flesh — aptly called SynFlesh — that would quell their hunger and allow the feral to return to their everyday life.
Shortly after this, we join Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine and Valeria, four “Hollow” friends from Southern California on their way to Desert Bloom, the iconic music festival of a lifetime, to blow off some steam and to celebrate their graduating from high school. What is supposed to be a celebration of life quickly devolves into a gory mystery after Valeria randomly goes feral and devours a boy from one of the bands. Soon after, other folks at the festival start disappearing. The girls realize that someone is drugging ghouls purposefully to make them feral, in an attempt to vilify all “Hollow” people. The girls must find a way to stop the madness, or else no one at the festival will make it out alive!
This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham (who uses they/she pronouns) is a sharp, quick-witted novel full of horror with a sci-fi twist. This book is a downright treat for fans of vivid, gory action, but who still want a relatable plot. At the forefront of this ghoulish tale is strong female friendship, with loads of amusing sapphic energy.
This Delicious Death is a fresh take on the classic “body horror/infection horror” genre. It’s a lively, campy read for teens that felt a little unhinged with everything that happened during the last few years with COVID-19, as well as the social unrest that we have all watched unfold, while helplessly watching from the sidelines. It has a lot of meat on its bones — pun fully intended! — tackling big themes like: self-worth, loss of self-control, flashbacks, forgiveness, sexism and transphobia. Even with such heavy topics, Cottingham does a lovely job at balancing horror with a humorous, light mood.
The summary of the book calls out Jennifer’s Body as a frame of reference for This Delicious Death. I definitely caught that influence, but I also got a splash of Resident Evil vibes at certain points, which I enjoyed. I read a lot of horror novels, and I will admit that I usually feel as if I have read everything in the genre, but This Delicious Death was a wonderful surprise!
I read Cottingham’s first novel, My Dearest Darkest a couple years ago and I have to say that they are definitely one of my favorite new authors! Their novels paint such rich imagery in my mind’s eye, and her characters are wonderfully and naturally diverse. I am so excited to see where their writing takes them!
About the Author:
Rashauna Herm is a 30 something Denver local. She enjoys a good potato-based dish, scary movies and glitter.
