The Salt Grows Heavy

A mermaid and her plague doctor companion escape into the wilderness to confront a village where children hunt each other for sport,sacrificing one of their own at the behest of three surgeons they call the saints. To save the children, the plague doctor must confront their past, and the mermaid must embrace the darkest parts of her true nature.

Format: Hardback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 12 May 2023
Publisher: Titan Books Ltd

A captivating and eerie horror novella brimming with unsettling suspense and tantalizing gore, deftly reimagining mermaid myths into something perilous, menacing, and ravenous, captivating fans of Christina Henry, Carmen Maria Machado, and Eric LaRocca. Following the tragic demise of her husband and the collapse of his empire, a mermaid and her plague doctor companion find themselves fleeing into the untamed wilderness. Deep within the dense forests, they stumble upon a peculiar village where children engage in a macabre pastime, ruthlessly hunting each other for sport, offering one of their own as a sacrificial offering to the three surgeons they revere as saints. These saints wield their mystical powers, gleefully harvesting the finest parts of the children for their own enjoyment and skillfully reassembling the remnants of their sacrifices. To rescue the children from their grim fate, the plague doctor must confront his dark past, and the mermaid must embrace the darkest depths of her true nature.

Weight: 192g
Dimension: 136 x 208 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803363424