2 stars. I wasn't a fan of this short story. The concept was interesting and different, but the style was not one that worked well. Review to come.

This is the first story I have read by this author. I found the piece to be a really original. I really liked the parallels to the pandemic and a zombie apocalypse. I found this to be extremely relevant in a really odd way to our current plight. This is definitely a short one, but left me wanting more. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley,

Why wasn't this a full length novel?!?!

The narrator just wants to love and be loved. To find a loving, breathing man that isn't missing an ear or so far decayed he has no lips.

How hard is it to find a man after an unknown plague infests the world? How far would you go to keep yourself "whole"?

I wish there was so much more. Like 200 more pages! But what the reader gets is enough to finish with a smile on their face... if they haven't lost them.

A tale of dating during the middle of an apocalypse isn't something we've seen done very many times, which makes this short little seventeen page story a very unique one. This is about loneliness and connection (or the lack thereof), and I found myself wishing it were longer.

At just 17 pages, Hungry Business is a poignant tale of one woman's search to find love in a dead world. Our protagonist is lonely. Why else would she continue to date when those dates make her feel cold. Vowing to never date again and swearing it's not worth the risk but loneliness and desperation drive her back out again nights later. Through it all, she wonders about the cat in the apartment across the way and the person who is still human enough to own it, as all the cats left the dead parts of the city during the initial rage of the virus.

Drawing parallels between the pitfalls of dating and dating in the zombie apocalypse, this short story packs a big world into a few pages. The dating scene is a cold enough place to be even when the body sitting across the table from you isn't slowly rotting from the inside out. Of course, the dates she encounters try to put on their best impressions—covering the evidence of their afflictions with dress and carefully applied makeup. It's not enough to hide the hungriness inside them as they ache for the life they no longer have.

This is obviously horror, populated as it is with the undead, though "Cozy gothic" are two words not often seen together. The pervasiveness of the narrator's constant fear of being overcome by rot, along with the pensive mood of the piece heightens the isolation that she feels even when with others.

Eventually, she realizes that the inside of her bright, cheery apartment and the view of the cat in the window fills her heart and brings her comfort the way the dates couldn't. It's a strange contrast between the cold, gray world outside and the cozy blankets, warm baths, and hot tea she comforts herself with indoors to keep ahold of her humanity. Through it all, the orange tabby cat is in the window across the way as a beacon of hope that there is another beating heart out there. Isn't that what we all search for in this big cold world?

I wasn't too interested in this story. It was a fast read but nothing popped out. It wasn't for me. Some might be interested. I just thought it had a cool cover. I was expecting scarier. It's pretty tame. Not so much humor though.

Fantastic little short story.
You think trying to find love now is hard? Wait until the world is full of hungries that want your flesh in completely different reasons.

*digital review copy provided by NetGalley.

I was granted review access to Hungry Business through two avenues, publisher Kitchen Witch Press on NetGalley and blog tour organizer Goddess Fish Promotions, and I would like to thank both and author Maria DeBlassie for this opportunity. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

I will do my best to tighten up my normally lengthy review style in an attempt to keep this review shorter than the source material. In just 17 pages, Maria DeBlassie paints a vivid picture of life in the aftermath of a Zombie virus outbreak, specifcally that of an introvert with a strong will to survive who's finding out that perhaps the desire for companionship is not a good enough reason to keep coming in contact with the undead. The main character possesses a healthy amount of paranoia in a time when only the paranoid get to keep living.

I love all the little world-building details that are deftly sewn into the narrative, like how grave dirt can be thrown at the Hungries to the same effect as salt or holy water on a minor demon, and I love all the little details that the main character cherishes as she holds onto her humanity. The cat in the window across the street who shows up every evening to stare back at her. The multitude of extra blankets she owns, just to feel warmth.

At the start of this story, I thought the main character was a killer of some sort. She has a corpse as a dinner partner and she does a lot of talking about hearts, ones still beating and not. My one criticism is that the corpse isn't dealt with on page after that. Was it a metaphorical corpse? Is it someone who contracted the virus and didn't feed? Is it someone who contracted the virus and she had to dispatch them? Is this the reason why she spends a good chunk of the story attempting not to acknowledge her fear that she's infected?

This short story answers enough questions to leave the reader willing to accept that this is where the story ends but leaves enough open that it could be expanded, in the future, to a longer piece. That wouldn't be an unheard-of thing to do. Robert J. Sawyer's 2013 novel Red Planet Blues begins with an updated version of his 2005 novella Identity Theft. I'd love to know how the main character's life goes now that she's made the decisions and discoveries she made in these 17 short pages.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves horror, suspense, dark humour, apocalyptic science fiction, or zombie stories in general, and I am definitely interested in reading more fiction by this author. (Especially a longer version of this!)

This was an intriguing little story to squeeze in. Both tragic and hopeful, it can be interpreted in different ways - literally losing your life in an increasingly cold and uncaring environment, or keeping alive despite being in a world full of bodies. I liked that the outcome is left to the reader's imagination, as it can turn out either way, though the cat makes me feel like it must be a good one.

This is a story about being alive.

What a fun, unique short story. Looking forward to reading more by the author & curious about a full novel set in the world of the living, the dead & the in between.

What a fantastic short story! Hungry Business takes a spin on the zombie theme and focuses on a young woman trying to find a companion after the contagion spread. This is both a philosophical journey and a life journey. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to spend an hour lost in a story.

Thank you NetGalley and Kitchen Witch Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

I honestly loved this short story. It was a little bit gruesome, and grotesque and macabre, but it all the right ways. Even in the dark world the story was set in, I loved the little bit of hope woven through it. My only complaint is that I wish there was more to this!

A virus seems to have taken over that makes people rot from the inside out leaving the victim hungry for flesh. The main character is lonely and seeking companionship with someone alive that wont want to eat her. Trying to remain strong, she struggles with her priorities and keeping herself healthy and warm. Nice vague gore scene. A fun short read before bed.

https://piratetwinkiereadsblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/08/hungry-business-by-maria-deblassie/

A great funny or short story that tickled my funny bone. I highly recommend this witty pros for any horror or comedy fan.

A short story very clever, very unexpected, very poignant. I must refrain from spoiling, so I can’t reveal much. This is definitely a story for 2020, but its lessons are also very apropos to any of us at any time. Read for the plot, digest the themes.