On Fridays, We Eat Meat

Eden Book Society #1993

by A.S. Hopewell

Gozie and her friends Mbembe and Chuma meet only during the summer holidays when they return from boarding school. They spend their days exploring on their bikes, building toys out of scrap gathered from construction sites and reading forbidden copies of Ikebe Super, which Mbembe steals from his father.

Their favourite haunt has been renovated and has a new occupant, a returnee with an icy house and even icier drinks who treats them as equals and invites them to return. The more they see him, however, the more the trio fight, their friendship strained by previously hidden secrets.

Gozie is out no girls allowed. And something is making the boys grow up faster than normal...

The Eden Book Society was a publishing house that produced horror novelettes for a private list of subscribers. It was established in 1919 by the Eden family, handed down through the generations issuing short horror novels to a confidential list of subscribers. Eden books were always written under pseudonyms and were rumoured to have been written by some of the greatest horror authors of their day, many of whom had strong ties to the mysterious Eden family. Dead Ink is reissuing eight novels from Eden's 1993 archive encompassing psychological torments, vampiric intrigue, visitors from beyond the grave and much more.

Are you brave enough to join the Eden Book Society?

Genres: Horror, LGBT

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2026

Reviews

[Blair]

Obinne and her friends Mbembe and Chuma are young street hawkers in Amawbia, Nigeria, killing the days by wandering the town to escape their respective problems at home. As they enter adolescence, their previously easy friendship is becoming strained, Obinne growing away from the boys as she struggles to accept the changes puberty is bringing to her body. One day, exploring a wealthy estate, they find an odd house (cleverly described; the reader understands better why it’s out of place here than the characters do). When Mbembe jumps the fence and disappears into the house, he seems inexplicably changed. The friends’ relationship and the sheer bludgeoning heat of their aimless days are highlights of this story, and I loved the incongruousness of the house.

(Part of the Eden Book Society 1993 collection)

[Lizzie]

Need this to be a full book so bad

[jay daniells]

A disturbing little horror novella set in a Nigerian town.

Following 3 friends as they stumble into a sort of lovecraftian skinwalker type.

This was a very quick read, but most of the time was spent fleshing out the characters, without ever really fleshing them out? The actual horror and plot felt like it was somehow shoehorned in? It felt a bit throwaway which is a shame.

I’m excited to read the rest of the Eden Book Society collection, but this was a bit of a bum start.

[Laura Murray]

None of the books description is in the actual book. The blurb has more story to it than the actual sorry. It is terrible I feel like no effort has gone into it at all. What a waste of £9

[tasha ☆彡]

3.5⭐️

the blurbs description is definitely different to how the story goes. Still enjoyed. it is very short so flew through it.

[Kaela]

I enjoyed this story & read it in only a couple of hours.
I do feel this could have done with being longer & more fleshed out. Going by the synopsis, which does not match the actual story, it would seem that originally there was going to be more to it.

I wasn't disappointed by the mismatch between the story & the synopsis because I didn't read it before going in(I bought the set & am reading through them at random). However, I can understand why others felt let down by the story.

The story revolves around 3 friends, Obinne, Chuma & Mbembe, who go to visit Mbembe's dream house to cheer him up after suffering his stepmother's horrible abuse.
When they arrive, the house is changed & now occupied. Mbembe is compelled to venture closer & is discovered by the owner. Obinne & Chuma are forced to leave their friend despite his peril. When they return they find Mbembe also changed, though seemingly in a better state than when they left, the friends know deep down something is not right.

[Sassy Sarah Reads]

3.5 stars

On Fridays, We Eat Meat is a Nigerian horror novella that blends coming of age, gender dysphoria, and child abuse to paint a story that could pack a punch if it had another 20-30 pages, but instead feels abruptly concluded, and I am left feeling bereft. I was so invested and moved by the characters. This novella is definitely more of a character study, which I think might be the crux of most Nigerian horror. I haven't read much in the genre, but I read Futility, and that was a character study within the bounds of body-swapping. I wanted this to be perfect. I thought it was going to be, and then the pedal was thrown to the floor with no buildup and no clear directions. The ending is abrupt and concludes nothing. I do love the implications that the ending brings forth with gender, but there wasn't enough spent on building up the villain's ethos and his effect on the boys in the town to drive forth the overall thematic message. I did enjoy it more than Our Little Group, and I seem to be the opposite of the general consensus in hating that one and preferring this one, but I stand by the fact that the level of child abuse and exploitation explored in the novella made for a strong foundation in character work.

[joe’s book nook]

Whilst not necessarily my cup of tea, the setting and characters are well established during the first half of the book, but it suffers from poor pacing and a rough story in the second half.

The stories conclusion tumbles quickly and messily, without proper foreshadowing. What once seemed clear as a trans character, seems to fall apart at the last second.

The prose has promise, but the story was clearly rushed to an unfinished conclusion.

[Siobhan]

I wish this one was a bit longer as the second half felt rushed and the character dynamics and how they changed with the horror side were very interesting. Also, as other reviews have noted, the actual book doesn't quite match its blurb.

[Sai]

rlly enjoyed reading this one (the blurb seems to be for a diffrnt version of the story so mayb ignore it)

[georgia]

2.75

[Christabel]

weird, I like it

[R]

banger, gonna have to figure out who wrote this so I can go back and read everything else they've ever done

[Beth]

The blurb of this is a bit misleading, the plot is okay but it was a little bit too short and I wasn’t quite sure what was going on at one point!

[kangeiko]

It was… strange. The blurb seems to be completely different from the book itself, I wonder if that was intentional or if there were some late changes.

[Fred]

Killed an hour in a coffee shop, fun wee read

[Laura Watt]

3.5

As everyone else has said, the blurb of this book didn't match the story at all.

But I still enjoyed it! The setting and the characters were fun and spooky. Wish it was a bit longer