The Body Shop and Other Amusements — Patrick Welch

The Body Shop consists of a novella and twelve short stories. The title piece is the most engaging and original story in the whole collection. Its 40,000 odd words pack in a fair amount of black satirical horror. Set in a post apocalyptic future where life is very cheap and rapidly cannibalised, we discover the human body to be very much in need of a Dr. Frankenstein figure (Edgerton) to put us back together. Of course there's a high monetary cost, and disregard of gender and ethics. For our hideous human vanity will do anything to procure a functional body. My favourite moments are when the heads (only), of the injured rich, argue about their needs. They've been waiting for a body for years. Even become a little community, that gets to sing carols with Edgerton once a year!