Book: Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
Reviewed by Weird | weird.reads.books
Rating: 4/5
This is my first Chuck Tingle book, and I already know I need to go back and read (at the very least) his other horror works. The camp for this was so on-point that it makes for the perfect summer read. Despite this, there were still portions that gave me serious pause for introspection.
Fabulous Bodies follows a social media fashion influencer named Poppy who moonlights as a body snatcher to supplement her lavish lifestyle. One night, she’s given an offer she can’t refuse: snatch the body of the recently deceased Eddie Michaels, America’s fictional answer to Elton John. However, Eddie isn’t quite dead, and he quickly drags Poppy along for a nightlong murder spree.
Eddie is such a fun antagonist. He’s a deceased-ish celebrity who still holds onto his signature charisma while commanding people to perform horrific acts. Imagine if Beetlejuice was mashed up with Elton John, but possessed the mind-control powers of Kilgrave from Jessica Jones . There were parts that had me cackling at how grotesque and callous Eddie could be, while simultaneously sending a chill up my spine for that exact same reason. He is dreadfully fabulous.
I received an ALC from Macmillan Audio for this book, and it was such a delight to hear Mara Wilson narrate it! She did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life, balancing the camp and the horror extremely well.
I’ve read a few books lately with an influencer theme, and it always makes me curl up in shame when I see my own online habits parroted back at me. Tingle offers so much great commentary around influencer culture, the FOMO people experience from watching others show off online, and how desperate creators are to gain the attention and follower counts of larger accounts. There’s more to life than material things, which is a lesson Poppy is forced to learn. The sheer amount of debt she takes on just to maintain her "perfect" influencer image gave me so much anxiety that I think it was the biggest horror in the entire book.
Fabulous Bodies doesn’t shy away from gory details. If you’re someone who dislikes graphic descriptions of torture, death, and body horror, you might want to skip this one. However, as a fan of the genre who loves a good mix of gore and absolute silliness, I ate it up. Pick this up if you’re looking for the perfect Summerween read that flawlessly balances humor and horror.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.