Dayna Ingram

Layers of Fun!

Twenty-two-year-old furniture saleswoman Devin is the unlikeliest of heroes: She's prone to fainting spells. She's socially awkward and has trouble approaching customers (Her coworker Cherry's advice? Just picture everyone with a giant penis in their mouth!) or carrying on "normal" "adult" conversations (Scare quotes because who wants to act like a grownup anyway?). She tends to wet her pants when threatened. She's completely oblivious to the fact that her longtime girlfriend, show more the improbably named Carmelle Souffle, is cheating on her (and, when she finds out, she immediately faints...and then forgives Carmelle).

And she manages to get herself bit just hours into the zombie apocalypse that sweeps through Buttfuck, Ohio. Sure, she was trying to rescue her big bear of a boss, Biff, at the time, but still. Rookie mistake!

The plot of Eat Your Heart Out: a novella is pretty standard zombie fare: the dead start rising, and so the living try to get the heck out of dodge. Luckily, the plot is mostly incidental to Dayna Ingram's expert wordslinging. Ingram's got a wicked fun sense of humor and a delightful potty mouth. The pop culture references are many; the fangirl angle, fun and kind of meta (reminiscent of some of the better episodes of Supernatural, I think); the disembodied, floating penises, epically hilarious; and the lesbian subplots pretty much seal the deal.

The cast is rather diverse, with no fewer than four lesbians and/or bisexual women, and one woman of color in the form of movie star Renni Fucking Ramirez, of the zombie-movie-with-an-arguably-lesbian-subtext, Rising Evil. Girlfriend Carmelle is a former stripper who works at an adult store, The Sweet Onion ("Layers of Fun!"). Even though she's the cheater (Devin catches her in the act when she gallantly kicks down the doors of The Sweet Onion in order to "save" Carmelle), Ingram portrays their slowly crumbling relationship with such compassion and nuance that I kind of felt bad for the both of them. (Though the ambiguous resolution is a relief.)

Devin's aforementioned loose bladder is also a welcome surprise; so few horror writers acknowledge the indignities of human biology in life-or-death situations. (Again, I'm reminded of Supernatural - specifically, "The Mystery Spot," wherein one of Dean's many deaths involves vehicular manslaughter. "Did it look cool, like in the movies?" "You peed yourself." "Of course I peed myself. Man gets hit by a car, you think he has full control over his bladder? Come on!") Devin's references to her overactive bladder are many, and she soils more than one pair of clean (well, save for the zombie guts) pants by letting loose. I can relate; if I were to ever find myself in a zombie apocalypse, I'd be carrying around a package of Depends alongside my machete and MREs.

Devin's copious knowledge of zombie lore - not to mention, her expertise at dropping zombies, thanks in no small part to first-person shooter games - opens yet another avenue of self-referential comedic fodder.

Eat Your Heart Out is the most fun I've had reading a zombie book in a long while. With kick-ass heroines, witty banter, cultural references like whoah, girl-on-girl love triangles, and a Nick Fury lookalike, you just can't go wrong. The zombies are just icing on the cake. (Vegan buttercream, because that poor vegetarian zombie deserves a break!)

http://www.easyvegan.info/2014/02/24/eat-your-heart-out-a-novella-by-dayna-ingra... show less

It starts out just like any other annoying day for Devin: she's already running late to bring the morning coffee to her girlfriend Carmelle Soufflé, and then she gets to spend yet another day as a salesclerk at Ashbee's Furniture Outlet. At the store, she patiently listens while her boss Biff Tipping warns her about being late, then steps onto the floor to see if she can make any sales. Her day takes an interesting turn when Renni Ramirez, the gorgeous B-movie actress walks through the show more door. Tongue-tied at the sight of Renni, she finally summons up enough courage to say something when she's interrupted by a commotion outside. One of their customers is being attacked by a zombie, of all things. In the middle of Nowhere, Ohio! Now Devin, Renni and her co-workers are trapped in the furniture store and need to get out before the automatic door opens up, letting the flood of the undead into the store. Will they be able to make it out safe and sound, and will Devin be able to rescue Carmelle in time?

"Eat Your Heart Out" is a fast-paced page turner, filled with great characters -- like the kick-ass Renni who finally makes Devin realize what she really wants from life -- and a truly unique perspective on the zombies themselves. I was blown away by author Dayna Ingram's idea of the zombies and literally slapped my palm against my forehead, wondering why no one had thought of that before. Pure genius! I also found it interesting that the story unfolds in the present tense, enhancing the level of urgency and fear the more I read.

My only gripe comes from the character of Deus Ex Machina. His reason for being in Ohio when the zombie breakout occurs is very honorable, but when he discovers the true nature of the zombies, he's quick to change his mind, and it felt like a minor letdown for me. But I can and will look past that because this is an excellent zombie novella. show less

Eat Your Heart Out is funny as heck in many parts and very touching in others. It unravels in your mind like a fast-paced movie, much better in your imagination than it probably ever could be captured on film. Dayna Ingram is a smart, snappy writer who takes what other writers would never be able to lift off the ground and keeps in running till you reach the end and wish it could start over again! This is a fun, enjoyable read that makes you fervently hope Ms. Ingram is at work on more show more fiction!:) show less

I'm not usually a zombie fan, but apparently when you give me a wry, dorky butch dyke narrator whose life is a disaster *before* the living dead show up, I make an exception. This was fun and entertaining (and gross, as zombies tend to be!) and a quick read, easy to devour (heh) in an afternoon.

I feel like it started more strongly than it ended; the last quarter threw a lot of ideas at the zombie problem all at once, and the chaos didn't serve the overall story very well. But it was still a show more good time overall, and if you're in it for the giddy, trashy fun of it -- hot girls shoot zombies and also make out a little -- then it's totally worth a read. And too-good-to-be-true badass B-movie star Rennie Ramirez is my new fiction crush. show less