Slime is ambiguous. Slime is both disgusting and delightful. Slime is a carrier for pathogens and a powerful weapon of our immune system. Slime is the substance that helps our world move. Slime exists at the boundaries of everything: between different organs and layers of our bodies, and between land, water, and air in the environment. In the natural world, it often becomes the decisive argument in fatal confrontations between predator and prey—and it also plays a key role in curious mating practices of underwater gastropods. In this surprising book, Susanna Vedlich guides you through a three-billion-year history of slime: from its role in the evolution of life on this planet to how it might appear in post-human life of the future. Vedlich explores the cultural and emotional significance of slime—from its special place in horror films to its subtle influence on Art Nouveau style. Slime is what brings together Patricia Highsmith’s love for snails, John Steinbeck’s disgust for mixins, and Emperor Hirohito’s passion for jellyfish.