The Language of Beasts

“Those dark, glistening jewels – stomach, kidneys, liver – whispered as they fell. I only caught a few words, but what they conveyed… well, it was profound.”

In a slaughterhouse a group of men find they can tell fortunes from entrails; an invisible shark haunts a children’s book author; redemptive magic is discovered in the ancient chalk horse of the Oxfordshire hills; a woman vicar is possessed by the soul of a reactionary priest – in these seventeen stories of the weird, uncanny and fantastical, British Fantasy Award winner Jonathan Oliver takes the reader into imagined lives and worlds. Horrifying, weird and darkly humorous, The Language of Beasts is the first collection of stories from this critically acclaimed editor.

“This is an outstanding collection, by degrees wild and uncanny, tender and true.”
—Robert Shearman

“This is an author who never loses sight of the human aspect in every situation, no matter how bizarre. His characters are real, breathing, feeling, hurting individuals the reader simply has to care about.”
—Lisa Tuttle

“The Language of Beasts is grim and guttural: yet beneath its surface is a whisper of poignant humanity. So listen closely, friends. You won’t be disappointed.”
—Helen Marshall

“An engaging and thoroughly enjoyable treasure trove of a collection, bursting with invention – a definite must-read!”
—Alison Littlewood