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Last Meal: A Deliciously Paranormal Horror Story
Last Meal....About to be served
Chuck is one miserable, racist, nasty, and downright troubled person. He's also a diehard foodie that takes great pride in making the last meals for death-row inmates. But when some of those prisoners begin haunting Chuck, making him explore his inner workings, things get uncomfortable, intense, and somehow appetizing.
Now put on your bibs and take a seat at the table, because your last meal is about to be served . . .
Chuck is one miserable, racist, nasty, and downright troubled person. He's also a diehard foodie that takes great pride in making the last meals for death-row inmates. But when some of those prisoners begin haunting Chuck, making him explore his inner workings, things get uncomfortable, intense, and somehow appetizing.
Now put on your bibs and take a seat at the table, because your last meal is about to be served . . .
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2024
3 people are currently reading
1528 people want to read
About the author
Peter Topside
6 books1,465 followersI am an author, reviewer, and horror fanatic. I am also an accomplished, self-taught chef and baker, a proud father and husband, and a Clinical Exercise Physiologist by trade.
I had a rough upbringing, which bestowed many traumas on me, that remained in place for a long time. I spent years struggling with crippling anxiety and depression, but once I got to my lowest point, I made the difficult decision to fight for better mental health. I traveled to a lot of dark corners of my mind, confronting the deepest and scariest aspects of my PTSD, but was able to make it through successfully. Throughout my recovery process, I was able to funnel all of the energy, thoughts and feelings into my writing. My books are the culmination of my own personal, life-changing journey.
Follow me;
https://www.facebook.com/topsidepeter
https://www.instagram.com/ptopside/
https://twitter.com/PTopside
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peter...
I had a rough upbringing, which bestowed many traumas on me, that remained in place for a long time. I spent years struggling with crippling anxiety and depression, but once I got to my lowest point, I made the difficult decision to fight for better mental health. I traveled to a lot of dark corners of my mind, confronting the deepest and scariest aspects of my PTSD, but was able to make it through successfully. Throughout my recovery process, I was able to funnel all of the energy, thoughts and feelings into my writing. My books are the culmination of my own personal, life-changing journey.
Follow me;
https://www.facebook.com/topsidepeter
https://www.instagram.com/ptopside/
https://twitter.com/PTopside
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peter...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 31, 2024
Food is a Powerful Thing...
LAST MEAL:
A Deliciously Paranormal Horror Story
by Peter Topside
No spoilers. 5 stars. Chuck Saunders loves his job. He's the chef at Eagle Stone Correctional Facility...
Food is Chuck's life. It excited him no end, and he experimented with his cooking, trying to achieve greatness...
His specialty was cooking the condemned their last meal. Afterward, he felt it his duty to watch as the inmate was put to death...
He despises the inmates, but he likes serving them their last meal. It is the last pleasure they will know. Then it's good luck transitioning...
One day...
While Chuck was preparing lobster rolls for a prisoner scheduled for execution the next day...
Meadowsville, where the prison was located, had an incident that blurred the lines between this world and the next...
From that day forward, every condemned man that Chuck cooked a last meal for returned to haunt him...
One of the men...
... a cannibal, asked Chuck for an uncooked London broil, and when it was served, the man ripped into it with gusto...
Food is a powerful thing...
That's really all I can say about the plot without crossing into spoiler territory, but I can say that I was flipping pages to get to the end.
This is an exceptional story for those who have a stomach for it. I'll confess that I had to skip through some of it because it was too graphic for me, but I didn't down rate the book for it because if you're into extreme horror, you'll probably settle right into it.
Warning to some readers: This is extreme horror. It includes blood, gore, and body mutilation, as well as profanity, racial and homosexual slurs, suicide, and capital punishment.
LAST MEAL:
A Deliciously Paranormal Horror Story
by Peter Topside
No spoilers. 5 stars. Chuck Saunders loves his job. He's the chef at Eagle Stone Correctional Facility...
Food is Chuck's life. It excited him no end, and he experimented with his cooking, trying to achieve greatness...
His specialty was cooking the condemned their last meal. Afterward, he felt it his duty to watch as the inmate was put to death...
He despises the inmates, but he likes serving them their last meal. It is the last pleasure they will know. Then it's good luck transitioning...
One day...
While Chuck was preparing lobster rolls for a prisoner scheduled for execution the next day...
Meadowsville, where the prison was located, had an incident that blurred the lines between this world and the next...
From that day forward, every condemned man that Chuck cooked a last meal for returned to haunt him...
One of the men...
... a cannibal, asked Chuck for an uncooked London broil, and when it was served, the man ripped into it with gusto...
Food is a powerful thing...
That's really all I can say about the plot without crossing into spoiler territory, but I can say that I was flipping pages to get to the end.
This is an exceptional story for those who have a stomach for it. I'll confess that I had to skip through some of it because it was too graphic for me, but I didn't down rate the book for it because if you're into extreme horror, you'll probably settle right into it.
Warning to some readers: This is extreme horror. It includes blood, gore, and body mutilation, as well as profanity, racial and homosexual slurs, suicide, and capital punishment.
September 12, 2024
I see Peter’s reviews all the time and I was so excited to see that he wrote a book. I gobbled this up like crazy. Literally. But don’t you dare eat and read this book because wow…
August 30, 2024
"Are 'YOU' being served?" - Michelin stars, to be sure!
Haute Cuisine Menu:
Shawshank vibes, great story, true to life characters, execution, racism (used to good effect, sparingly to fit the narrative), cannibalism, self-torture, gore, malevolence, ghosts and a touch of the supernaturals...all the way through to cooking tips and recipes.
All jumble together you get one mighty fine 'Penitentiary Stew - Horrifique'
Sit back - read, eat, drink and thoroughly enjoy this short, clever, gastronomical, deathly treat.
Mr Topside, sir, what d'you propose for dessert? - cannot wait to imbibe in seconds - more, please!
Different, enjoyable and highly recommended.
Rating: 4.3 grisly, but weirdly delectably spiced, fine stars - 'Magnifique!'
Haute Cuisine Menu:
Shawshank vibes, great story, true to life characters, execution, racism (used to good effect, sparingly to fit the narrative), cannibalism, self-torture, gore, malevolence, ghosts and a touch of the supernaturals...all the way through to cooking tips and recipes.
All jumble together you get one mighty fine 'Penitentiary Stew - Horrifique'
Sit back - read, eat, drink and thoroughly enjoy this short, clever, gastronomical, deathly treat.
Mr Topside, sir, what d'you propose for dessert? - cannot wait to imbibe in seconds - more, please!
Different, enjoyable and highly recommended.
Rating: 4.3 grisly, but weirdly delectably spiced, fine stars - 'Magnifique!'
August 25, 2024
In the first page, the narrator makes an offhand comment about "sauce" vs. "gravy," and considering my mom was a New Orleans Sicilian, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. If I'm cooking spaghetti, and my kids ask what's for dinner, I usually say something like "pasta and red gravy," which irritates the hell out of my Chicago-born wife. But the magic of this story is not so much what is said, but HOW it is said. Peter Topside has a knack for good literary timing, whether it be to deliver a belly-full of guffaws or a gut-punch of gross. This novella has heaping helpings of both.
And there are little moments in this story where timing is everything. The narrator, Chuck, is a bitter man literally stewing in his own venom, who will go on these prolonged internal misanthropic rants because he assumes malevolence in everything and everyone. But it's sometimes what happens directly after his ruminating that highlights how Chuck is broken, why he takes so much pride in giving a final pleasure to inmates on death row, and the tragedy of the whole situation. So the story can be as subtle as it is over-the-top.
When the extreme horror elements really get going, I confess that it's hard to swallow! Fortunately, there's only about forty pages or so of the brutal stuff, but those forty pages make it count where it hurts!
If you are new to extreme horror, this is a nice sample platter for starters. If you are already well-seasoned, this meal will satisfy, and it certainly won't be your last. Just keep the Alka-Seltzer handy.
SCORE: 4 heaping bowls of pasta with good red gravy!
And there are little moments in this story where timing is everything. The narrator, Chuck, is a bitter man literally stewing in his own venom, who will go on these prolonged internal misanthropic rants because he assumes malevolence in everything and everyone. But it's sometimes what happens directly after his ruminating that highlights how Chuck is broken, why he takes so much pride in giving a final pleasure to inmates on death row, and the tragedy of the whole situation. So the story can be as subtle as it is over-the-top.
When the extreme horror elements really get going, I confess that it's hard to swallow! Fortunately, there's only about forty pages or so of the brutal stuff, but those forty pages make it count where it hurts!
If you are new to extreme horror, this is a nice sample platter for starters. If you are already well-seasoned, this meal will satisfy, and it certainly won't be your last. Just keep the Alka-Seltzer handy.
SCORE: 4 heaping bowls of pasta with good red gravy!
August 22, 2024
Last Meal made me uncomfortable a couple of times, walking away from a book to do a "chore" I just remembered really needed attention. This was a tight well written psychological horror story. It earned the fourth star with the ending and just how well put together the narrative felt.
August 8, 2024
Scary, sad and definitely not delicious
I am new to the horror genre and the Last Meal by Peter Topside seemed like a good place to start. It was.
Chuck/Chuckster/Chucky(not recommended to call him that) as the prison chef was not likable and by the second chapter, he had managed to make me sick. The fact that he enjoys making the last meal for the death row prison inmates and his internal comments made me wonder what was wrong with him.
He watches the other prison inmates meet their end and his behaviour with the others in the prison and his philosophy about cooking/life left me wondering what had made him like this.
The answers come and it is not nice. Yes, his sarcasm was noted and no, it did not make things any better.
Chuck also gets haunted by the ghosts of the inmates he watched die.
It left me wondering, does he really deserve this?
Sad, scary and a good read.
I am new to the horror genre and the Last Meal by Peter Topside seemed like a good place to start. It was.
Chuck/Chuckster/Chucky(not recommended to call him that) as the prison chef was not likable and by the second chapter, he had managed to make me sick. The fact that he enjoys making the last meal for the death row prison inmates and his internal comments made me wonder what was wrong with him.
He watches the other prison inmates meet their end and his behaviour with the others in the prison and his philosophy about cooking/life left me wondering what had made him like this.
The answers come and it is not nice. Yes, his sarcasm was noted and no, it did not make things any better.
Chuck also gets haunted by the ghosts of the inmates he watched die.
It left me wondering, does he really deserve this?
Sad, scary and a good read.
August 13, 2024
Another good read by Peter Topside!
It was so strange how i was empathizing with such an awful man. The book was so conflicting and sad and though i’m not a fan of body horror, I really liked this!
It was so strange how i was empathizing with such an awful man. The book was so conflicting and sad and though i’m not a fan of body horror, I really liked this!
August 27, 2024
I am getting to the horror genre and this was not the book for me. The storyline seemed to jump around a little to much for me I could tell if days had past or month had past in the timeline and I just had a hard time following
October 21, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Dark, twisted, and surprisingly thought-provoking!
Last Meal serves up a horror story that’s as chilling as it is original. Peter Topside blends psychological depth with supernatural terror in a way that genuinely creeps under your skin. Chuck, the deeply flawed prison chef at the heart of this story, is a character you both despise and pity — and that’s what makes this book so fascinating.
I was completely drawn into the grim atmosphere of Eagle Stone Correctional Facility, where every meal might be someone’s last and every ghost has unfinished business. The writing is sharp, immersive, and full of haunting emotion. It’s gruesome in places (definitely not for the faint of heart!), but the horror isn’t just about gore — it’s about guilt, obsession, and the ghosts we create for ourselves.
Last Meal serves up a horror story that’s as chilling as it is original. Peter Topside blends psychological depth with supernatural terror in a way that genuinely creeps under your skin. Chuck, the deeply flawed prison chef at the heart of this story, is a character you both despise and pity — and that’s what makes this book so fascinating.
I was completely drawn into the grim atmosphere of Eagle Stone Correctional Facility, where every meal might be someone’s last and every ghost has unfinished business. The writing is sharp, immersive, and full of haunting emotion. It’s gruesome in places (definitely not for the faint of heart!), but the horror isn’t just about gore — it’s about guilt, obsession, and the ghosts we create for ourselves.
July 11, 2025
Weird book
Well written but iffy subject. Found myself wincing a few times. Was just long enough and didn’t draw any scenes out.
Well written but iffy subject. Found myself wincing a few times. Was just long enough and didn’t draw any scenes out.
September 20, 2024
This was weird, and not just for obvious reasons. Felt too light on real plot, but also very detail heavy? I don't know.
October 8, 2024
This is a fantastic book! The story kept pulling me along and although there was definitely gore, it didn’t feel exaggerated. A perfect, dark read for this Halloween season. I was not a fan of how emphasized the racism of the main character was, however. It felt a little unnecessary and very offensive. I only took off one star though because Peter clearly mentions the character is racist. I just was not prepared for how much so. Overall I absolutely recommend.
August 11, 2024
Like all of Peter Topside’s books, this one starts strong and keeps you entertained all the way through. He knows the world he created, and though this is in a different town, I love that it is still in the same world. Don’t worry, though—you don’t have to have read the other books to know what is happening here.
This is a delicacy of a book with a unique spin on a prison cook. Based on the first chapter, I thought I knew where it was leading, but I am glad it went in a different direction. The author immerses the reader into the story with imagery, which sometimes makes me cringe.
This is not too long of a novel, but it packs a full punch of entertainment. If you love something different and freakish, this is a great read.
This is a delicacy of a book with a unique spin on a prison cook. Based on the first chapter, I thought I knew where it was leading, but I am glad it went in a different direction. The author immerses the reader into the story with imagery, which sometimes makes me cringe.
This is not too long of a novel, but it packs a full punch of entertainment. If you love something different and freakish, this is a great read.
February 13, 2025
Disturbing but Delectable Horror
This is a wonderfully twisted story combining psychological effects of past abuse, ghosts, and a flawed main character whose outlook of life is influenced by his past.
You may not like Chuck, but you can feel a bit sorry for him as his sanity slowly fractures. It's horrifying, but hard to put down.
This book shines a light on a lot of uncomfortable topics, and is not for those who aren't in a good place or have triggers.
This is a wonderfully twisted story combining psychological effects of past abuse, ghosts, and a flawed main character whose outlook of life is influenced by his past.
You may not like Chuck, but you can feel a bit sorry for him as his sanity slowly fractures. It's horrifying, but hard to put down.
This book shines a light on a lot of uncomfortable topics, and is not for those who aren't in a good place or have triggers.
February 1, 2025
Last Meal was an absolute treat of a horror tale and one I will remember!
The author has skillfully created a culinary horror delight here, and I highly recommend you get stuck in now!
Brilliantly done!
The author has skillfully created a culinary horror delight here, and I highly recommend you get stuck in now!
Brilliantly done!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews