Dana Hammer

The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting

Find love. Control the hunger. Save the world. Maybe not in that order.

Igor Fenenko, a former research scientist, is a scary, scary man. Not only is he a massive bodybuilder with a spider tattooed on his face, he has also been infected with Pestis Manducans — viral cannibalism. Igor tried to resist indulging, but his research specimens smelled so delicious. Who did it hurt, really, to nibble a corpse?

Caught, disgraced, and sent to a ‘rehabilitation’ center, Igor is now forced to live in a government-mandated Containment Center. He spends his days pressing wildflowers, growing blueberries, and doing his best to avoid human meat. More than anything, he wants a cure for the virus that has ruined his life.

Igor’s brother, Karl, is also infected with Pestis. But unlike Igor, he does not live in a Containment Center. He lives down by the river, where he runs a cannibal rights group. At first, the group seems harmless enough, if a bit creepy and overzealous. But when Igor discovers their evil practices, he is forced to intervene.

Aided and opposed by rich eccentrics who have their own agendas, Igor must use brains and muscles to find a cure while fighting the urge to turn brains and muscles into a delicious lunch.

Coming September 6 2022 by Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC

Cover by Ira Geneve

ISBN: 978-1-953971-50-0 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-953971-51-7 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-953971-52-4 (EPUB)

Selected Reviews

I thought this book was brilliant and so different. If it has a rich seam of political satire, (it seemed to me), then it's very clever.

A R

I loved the characterisation because it was very well-developed and I was able to relate to the character of Igor on such a deep level that it made reading this book an extraordinary experience.

H R P

I absolutely loved this novel. The author did an incredible job of crafting a narrative that felt alive on the page.

A Y

Darkly humorous allegory of humans’ knee-jerk propensity for mistrust and misplaced over generalization of virtually anything we don’t understand.

D K

I highly recommend “The Cannibal’s Guide to Fasting” to anyone that is a fan of horror. And if you don’t consider yourself a fan of horror, I still recommend checking it out.

R W L

This story had facets of the pandemic, Frankenstein, and zombie apocalypse all rolled together in a unique way. I was reading this on a long train trip and found that the story occupied me pleasantly as I traveled.

W V C

What could come off as yet another ordinary run of the mile take on the genre is in fact a wickedly clever and hilariously twisted tale that changes the genre in a phenomena

D A

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "zany". Yet for everything bizarre about it, it's a delightful read, a humorous but comical novel about a man striving to do his best.

K L

Dana Hammer’s The Cannibal’s Guide to Fasting is a smart, funny, and delightfully sickening tale set in a world where a virus causes a significant part of the population to crave human flesh.

L A C