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His Black Tongue

His Black Tongue

GothicMedieval
Pages
179
Published
2021
Language
English

Synopsis

In the plague-torn countryside of fourteenth-century France, an aging Franciscan friar named Pierre and his young ward Remi seek shelter in Enfaire, a god-fearing town north of Reims. The pestilence that has already claimed thousands elsewhere has spared Enfaire entirely, but its fields hold dead, twisted shapes, and rumors circulate of a blasphemous union and creatures that haunt the night. As Pierre and Remi look closer, their faith is tested by a darkness that proves worse than any sickness. The first story in the In the Name of the Worm series, it grounds its horror in the religious fervor and intimate awareness of mortality that defined medieval Europe, setting visceral supernatural evil against ordinary devotion.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

DarkCreepyGrittyAtmosphericTense

Genres

Gothic Medieval Horror Dark Fantasy Folk Horror Historical Fiction Fantasy Short Stories

About the author

M
Mitchell Lüthi

A South African writer and producer based in Cape Town, Mitchell Lüthi is known for dark, atmospheric medieval horror and grimdark fantasy. Before turning to long-form fiction he worked across scripts, short stories and radio plays, and his short story 'The Bone Fields' earned an honorable mention in the 2020 L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Competition. His debut full-length novel, Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror, follows a German knight's nightmarish return from the Crusades, while his Plaguebo...

Characters

PierreProtagonist

An aging Franciscan friar who investigates the horrors around Enfaire.

RemiSupporting

Pierre's young ward, traveling with him through plague-torn France.

All characters in His Black Tongue

Frequently asked questions

  • Who are Pierre and Remi?

    Pierre is an aging Franciscan friar and Remi is his young, saintly ward. His Black Tongue is the first story in their shared world, which continues in the novel In the Name of the Worm.

  • When and where is His Black Tongue set?

    In plague-torn fourteenth-century France, in a god-fearing town called Enfaire north of Reims that has been left untouched by the pestilence killing thousands elsewhere.

  • Is His Black Tongue part of a series?

    Yes. It is the first book in the In the Name of the Worm series, followed by the 2025 novel In the Name of the Worm, which continues Pierre and Remi's story.

  • Is the book historically accurate?

    It evokes medieval France vividly, though some readers have pointed out anachronisms, such as a character smoking a pipe with a match centuries before tobacco and friction matches actually reached Europe.

  • What is the central horror of the story?

    Enfaire is spared the plague, but dead, twisted shapes appear in its fields and rumors spread of a blasphemous union and creatures that haunt the night, hinting at something worse than any sickness.

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