In this macabre and darkly comedic episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw serves up a deliciously disturbing glimpse into a world where cannibalism isn't just accepted—it's celebrated as a cherished tradition.

"Eating" introduces us to an unnamed narrator who casually reflects on the culinary merits of recently deceased family members while preparing their own grandmother's remains. With matter-of-fact delivery and chilling nonchalance, they muse on family recipes, funeral etiquette, and the proper distribution of human remains in a society where consuming the dead has become normalised.

Themes & Topics

• The malleability of social taboos

• Family traditions and rituals around death

• The commodification of human remains

• Class divisions in funerary practices

• The search for meaning and connection in death

• The thin veneer between civilization and barbarism

Listener Discretion

This episode contains explicit descriptions of cannibalism presented in a casual, normalised manner that some listeners may find disturbing.

About the Author

Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that challenges social norms and examines how easily the unthinkable could become mundane under the right circumstances. His flash fiction often delivers maximum impact through deceptively simple premises taken to their logical—and frequently horrifying—conclusions.

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Keywords

Cannibalism, social norms, dark comedy, funeral traditions, taboo inversion, family rituals, speculative society, flash fiction, Jon Cronshaw, horror humor, social commentary, death customs