They Do the Same Things Different There

Book excerpt: A collection of the best weird fantasy stories by the Doctor Who series writer and World Fantasy Award–winning author. SHORTLISTED FOR THE SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD Prolific author and screenwriter Robert Shearman has won numerous awards for his short stories of dark fantasy and horror. In this collection, Shearman visits worlds that are unsettling and strange. Sometimes they are just like ours―except landlocked countries may disappear overnight, marriages to camels are the norm, and the dead turn into musical instruments. Sometimes they are quite alien―where children carve their own tongues from trees, and magic shows are performed to amuse the troops in the war between demons and angels. There is horror, and dreams—fulfilled and squandered—of true love. Venture into the world of Robert Shearman’s darkly exhilarating imagination. They do the same things different there.