Tongues by Ezra Fisher is a literary horror novel about faith, doubt and the power of language. During his nationwide revival movement, Micah Crane's words take on an eerie power. His speaking in tongues draws his followers into ecstatic trances, and at times, violent seizures. Caught between divine inspiration and demonic possession, Micah must decide whether to fully embrace the madness or break free before it consumes them all—body, mind, and spirit.
The goal for this cover was to represent the religious horror themes of the novel while standing out on the shelf. Many contemporary horror novels have opted for illustrative covers, so a photographic cover would set this book apart for potential readers. However, this cover still incorporates common horror art decisions such as a dark background and a blackletter typeface to maintain the appropriate tone for the artwork. Further, Christian motifs—such as the tongue of flames, dove, and scripture—are used to further reemphasize the religious inspiration but with a darker twist.
The display type is set in Carol Gothic for its angular and traditional letterforms. Freight Sans was also used as a secondary heading typeface, such as for the author's name on the cover and the folios in the interior. Freight Text was used for body type for its warmth and adaptability.
The interior design was inspired by several different editions of the bible, such as the folio placement and use of red text. These decisions were then offset by the deeper margins and sans serif folio typeface to avoid being too kitschy.
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