Skip to content

In the Name of the Worm

In the Name of the Worm

GothicHistorical Fiction
Pages
265
Published
2025
Language
English

Synopsis

The Black Death has emptied half of Christendom, and its survivors grasp at salvation wherever they can find it: in the bones of dead saints, the promises of priests, or the bottom of a cup. Forged indulgences and false relics multiply on both sides of the Rhine, turning hallowed remains into mere commodities, while a new Pope in Avignon schemes to reassert control over the Holy Roman Empire. Into this rotting empire come Pierre and Remi, following a trail of murdered priests, plague-prophets, treacherous knights and stolen relics toward the heresies growing in the void left by the plague. The second story in the In the Name of the Worm series, it carries the friar and his ward from the confined dread of His Black Tongue into a wider intrigue, blending heterodox Christian and German folklore with lost gods, entombed nuns and witch-knights.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

DarkTenseMysteriousGrittyAtmospheric
QuestMorally GreyCourt IntrigueMentor Figure
Writing4.5Impact4.5Characters5.0Plot5.0Atmosphere5.0

Genres

Gothic Historical Fiction Horror Medieval Dark Fantasy Fantasy

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

The Franciscan friar of His Black Tongue, drawn with his ward into an intrigue over forged relics and murdered priests across a plague-hollowed empire.

RemiProtagonist

Pierre's ward, accompanying him deeper into the heresies and corruption left in the plague's wake.

All characters in In the Name of the Worm

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read His Black Tongue first?

    It is the second story in the Pierre and Remi world and a direct successor to His Black Tongue, so reading that first gives the fullest context, though this book moves the pair into a larger story.

  • What is In the Name of the Worm about?

    In a Christendom hollowed out by the Black Death, Pierre and Remi follow a trail of murdered priests and stolen relics into an intrigue over forged indulgences and false relics in a rotting empire.

  • What real history sits behind the story?

    The newly Avignon-based papacy's effort to reassert control over the Holy Roman Empire, set against the post-plague trade in saints' bones and relics on both sides of the Rhine.

  • What folklore does the book use?

    Heterodox Christian and German folklore, featuring lost gods, entombed nuns and witch-knights woven through its dark fantasy.

  • When was In the Name of the Worm published?

    In 2025, several years after His Black Tongue appeared in 2021.

  • Is it horror or historical fantasy?

    Both. It is historical dark fantasy with strong horror elements, grounded in the real religious upheaval of fourteenth-century Europe after the Black Death.

Read all 2 reviews