DIET RIOT-A Fatterpunk Anthology
Edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor
June 21, 2022
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello horror fiends! Welcome back to the Skullcave, where I’ve been reading a very cool collection of stories edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor. Why are they cool? Well, because these stories show plus-sized people in a positive light. Instead of being made fun of or having their bodies be what makes them bad, Diet Riot celebrates bounteous bodies and makes them something to be proud of. Diversity is what makes the world a great place. Forcing others to fit one person’s concept of beauty is way too prevalent in our society and it’s wrong, damn it! That’s why the editors dedicated Diet Riot to: “Everyone who ever felt like they don’t belong.”

This cool, fatterpunk anthology starts off with Stephanie Rabig’s story Cinderella And Her Demon Godmother.  When an angry girl calls forth a demon from Hell to kill some body shamers, she gets more than she bargained for. Enter Lucinda, a plus sized and sexy demon ready to get the job done. But, it’s complicated and no smart demon who’s allowed to go topside for a few hours is going to waste a brief reprieve from Hell. So, Lucinda takes her young friend out on the town in style and has some fun along the way. She also makes one last stop before returning home, to burn down a major asshole who thinks it’s funny to shame fat people. GREAT STORY!

Editor Nico Bell contributes her narrative tale Lake House to the collection. It’s the perfect mix of frightening and “fuck you haters!” Erin and her wife Lauren are trying to clean up the big mess of a lake house they’ve just moved into when things go very wrong. There might be a monster in the basement or maybe not, and Erin has an epiphany. Lauren just wanted to mold her like a piece of clay with wacky diet potions and pills. She never really loved Erin for just being her fine, fluffy self. That’s bad enough, but when Lauren drops the bomb of divorce on her, Erin decides to help her lose lots of weight super fast.

Curious Garden by E.E.W. Christman brings us to a horrifying fat camp for kids. Most people, let alone children, don’t think of going to fat camp as a fun vacation. Especially Camp GnuYu where the counselors are freakishly cheerful and bad morale is not tolerated. Failure is also not an option and anyone who passes out from exhaustion disappears in a mysterious way. Jeanie, the camper who narrates this chilling tale, wants to know why. But everything is hush-hush with the counselors acting even stranger as time goes by. They insist that to be loved, a person must be thin, but Jeanie doesn’t agree. Things reach a head when fellow sufferer, Kylie asks Jeanie for help. What they discover is a bizarre hidden garden that’s always hungry.

The past few years have brought many competitive cooking shows to our living rooms. Who’s the best baker, barbecue pit-master, or candy maker? With insane prizes of big money and the chance to launch one’s career, there are always plenty of contestants. So when Crystal gets the chance to become part of the show Easy Bake, she eagerly signs up. But to her horror, the contestants who lose don’t get a big hug from Paul Hollywood and some fond words. Nope, they are eliminated on the spot, striking the fear of God into the survivors. Each round Crystal continues to survive until the semi-finals, but that just brings her closer to dying on the kitchen floor. Then, just as she’s giving up, an escape opportunity presents itself. Will the finalists escape or be cut down by the creepy security team of Scott and Zelda? To find out the ending of this great story by Sonora Taylor, make sure to get yourself a copy of Diet Riot-A Fatterpunk Anthology!

So what does your old pal Skull think of this unique and timely anthology? I give it a Hearty FIVE STAR RATING! In fact, I’m planning on purchasing a few copies when Diet Riot is released on June 21, 2022. One will be going up on the “Wall of Fame” and another will be going to a friend who is really going to enjoy this gift. While I never judge a book by its cover, I must say the cover of Diet Riot is a real beauty! Well done Tori Celeste at Vicki Be Wicked, LLC. For more information about Diet Riot-A Fatterpunk Anthology, visit
Nico Bell at: www.nicobellefiction.com
Stephanie Rabig at: www.stephanierabig.weebly.com
E.E.W. Christman : www.eewchristman.com
Sonora Taylor can be found at: www.sonorawrites.com or Twitter @sonorawrites  
And please follow your old pal Skull at: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com

Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer recommends giving copies of this book to those you love who suffer poor self-esteem because of fat shaming and body discrimination. Diet Riot is a very empowering anthology that is artfully edited to give people of size a much needed round of applause. Your old pal Skull is a blues fan and agrees with all the musicians who revered a “Big Leg Woman” My mortal host Brian James Lewis is currently working on an essay that celebrates his love of plus sized goddesses. More on that soon! If you don’t like fat people, keep it to yourself. Dig?