The Nigerian horror tale Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh (Titan, Oct.) follows 11-year-old Bata after a botched exorcism claims her life, sending her to Ibaja-La, an afterlife populated by brides who suffered untimely deaths. When she returns to the land of the living, the knowledge she gained in Ibaja-La comes to the fore, helping her protect her family from terrifying forces. Onoh spoke with PW, which gave the novel a starred review, about the way the horror genre bridges cultural divides.
What inspired this novel?
African folklore is filled with possession stories. Many horror readers are used to the same kinds of possession stories, like The Exorcist or bodily possession of the Alien franchise, so it was important for me to do something different. The entity in the novel is neither a demon nor a spirit like you find in the usual possession stories. It’s a kind of intelligence that I’ll let the reader discover for themselves.
Amid these differences, what shared experiences does horror evoke?
When humans are faced with external threats, be it a natural disaster or an epidemic or an alien invasion, we unite as one against a common enemy, regardless of race or religion. In my book, I take it to the ghostly realm—the brides come together to fight a common threat. We all share the same emotions of fear and pain, and the same insecurities and resilience, the same ability to hope. It’s a common appreciation of our humanity.
How did you balance supernatural and real-world horror in the novel?
Real-world horror is the worst kind of horror. Because we know supernatural horror isn’t real, it lets us relax and just enjoy entertainment for the joy of it. I did a balancing act between real-world and supernatural horror to create a sense of contrast with the horror of Bata’s everyday life. Let’s face it: nothing beats humanity when it comes to being evil.
Why do the brides have such varied backgrounds?
I realized that if I was going to have a realm of brides, it had to be representative of every kind of bride in the world. Because of Bata’s sheltered background, a lot of what she’s seeing is not what she’s used to. The joy was in researching the histories of weddings from different cultures and finding out how they worked. I wanted to bring them alive so that the reader could understand each of them, even the evil ones.
How does Bata’s upbringing factor into the danger she faces?
I grew up in a very patriarchal society, so that inevitably seeps into my writing, consciously or unconsciously. The story is set in the 1970s, before the internet was available. Children in 2024 have access to resources Bata wouldn’t have—she’s from a culture where children are seen and not heard. And her parents are trying their best, but they’re facing things they don’t understand. They’re victims of their own upbringing as well. Families do their best, but sometimes their best is not enough.
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