“The Gingerbread Metaphor” / Memorable Fancies #218

Hansel and Gretel are lost in the woods, but they come across a small house. Gretel says that they have become a metaphor of the human condition, finding refuge in the midst of despair. Hansel says nothing, because his mouth is full of gingerbread. The door of the house swings slowly open. A smiling face peers out. The metaphor continues. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XXIII” / Memorable Fancies #608

(with Jun Yan)      In a starving world, convicted criminals are sentenced to “donate” body parts to the State so that the masses may be fed: left leg for a first offense, right for a second. Some jurisdictions take the effort to make the punishment fit the crime: a hand from a forger or a groper (called a “hand-off”), lips from those who utter sedition or disagreement with official policy. In justification, authorities point to the ancient Middle East practice of amputating the hand of a … [Read more...]

F567 “The Cannibal Variations XX: Sprouting” / Memorable Fancies #566

“That corpse you planted last year in your garden, / Has it begun to sprout?” – Eliot, The Waste Land]      That was Philip. Yes, as soon as the last frost was gone I caught the ground heaving one day, just a little, and a tiny finger poking out, the nail still soft and fleshy. A week later a few more parts of Philip sprouted, and the fingers had grown almost to full size. I poked the ground gently with a thin pole, and yes, Philip was growing healthily, the flesh firming up, the gaping … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XIX: Our Favorite Restaurants and Dishes” / Memorable Fancies #476

The Homovore’s Dining Guide has recommended its favorite – Restaurants – Eat Your Heart Out Best Buns Alimentary, My Dear Watson Flesh in the Pan Chew the Fat Crackers (munchies from the U.S. South) What’s Eating You? Our Own Flesh and Blood And dishes – Baby-back ribs Celebrity roast Finger food Bleeding hearts Blood and guts Cold hands, warm heart Cut and dried [hube-jerky] A foreign tongue Hotwogs Huburger Whites Meat Knuckle … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XVII” / Memorable Fancies #468

     At first, only the newly dead were eaten, and even then only accident victims, for fear of disease. But gradually, accusations were made that not all these “accidents” were accidents, but people killed for their meat. Little by little, meat from human beings was introduced in restaurants and in the home because other animal protein had become very expensive and virtually unobtainable in any case. – This new food source was politely called “domestic protein.” Protestors carried signs reading … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XVI: The Importer’s Dilemma” / Memorable Fancies #464

     Arthur Leben’s company discussed the potential use of imported “wild” offshore protein resulting from riots, murders, wars, etc. They noted problems of unreliability of supply, spoilage, and a high percentage of unsuitable meat (from the old, the diseased, the poisonously gassed, etc.) which was nearly worthless for human consumption and could be sold only to governments for school-lunch programs in the poorer parts of town.      Owing to these problems, the firm concluded that there … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XIII” / Memorable Fancies #454

[The future: there’s not much left to eat but people.]       Americans eating Americans? – Never! But Arthur Leben finds that an antiquated quibble, and discriminatory as well. Arthur is concerned with the balance of trade, and the associated opportunities for increasing American farm exports and reducing imports. Real American hube meat is prized in Asia – a delicacy. “Let’s eat American tonight!” That slogan should appeal to the Chinese. Eventually, hube-meat could be our leading source of … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – XII” / Memorable Fancies #450

 [The future: there’s not much left to eat but people.]       “…to forestall the likelihood of empathetic feelings arising in the herd, those hubes who were born in free-range ranches were not given names. Nonetheless, it was observed that they often christened (if we may use the term here) each other with sobriquets that struck observers as ludicrous and over-elaborate, considering their destination as steaks, chops, and stew-meat. “Sparticus” and “Scipio” were among the favorites.” [– … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – VIII” / Memorable Fancies #431

  [The future: there’s not much left to eat but people.]       More far-sighted and patient than the fast-buck hube farmers, Arthur Leben’s farms spared especially choice males and females as breeding stock. He was aware of the dangers of in-breeding, but that would not appear for several generations, and by that time Arthur would have made his fortune many times over. This process was not only called “good business practice,” but “ethical” as well, the two terms being synonymous in Arthur’s … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – VII: The Squeal” / Memorable Fanci8es #430

     “Nothing but the squeal,” the old factory-farm motto, applied to hube farms as well. After all the meat had been extracted, the hair, skin, nails, and other parts of the ‘Volunteers’ were processed and sold as “faux alligator,” or “nouveau bovine,” and so on. Lampshades were popular. <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in StumbleUpon, Reddit, Face Book, or other social websites. I’ve published more than 50 weird, quirky, horror, … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – V: Generations” / A Memorable Fancy #424

     Arthur Leben’s hube farms were flourishing, but the food these farms produced had encountered some resistance. The few remaining liberals could be ignored, but objections from the dining public were more significant. Surveys showed large majorities agreeing with “all tastes the same”; “tastes like chicken”; “gamey”; and there was continuing concern about disease and Mad Hube Syndrome, since much hube nourishment was gained from eating their own kind, and so over the generations deadly … [Read more...]

“The Cannibal Variations – IV: Domestic Tranquility” / A Memorable Fancy #421

[The future: there’s not much left to eat but people.]      There were arguments, in the early days, as to what stock-breeding should aim at. Some argued that health and vigor were paramount, to ensure the hardiness of the herd. Some said docility. Others, that transportability, i.e., the ability to move large numbers of hubes in boxcars without noticeable damage to their flesh and more days in transit before rotting, were most important in reducing transportation costs. But eventually there … [Read more...]