By Eden Royce (@EdenRoyce)
Nuzo Onoh is a British writer of African heritage from the Igbo tribe in what was formerly known as The Republic of Biafra. During their civil war with Nigeria, Onoh had several family members die in the conflict. That war had a great impact on her writing style. For people whose lives have become full of such brutality and carnage, their stories become full of tales about death and the afterlife.
Nuzo Onoh is a British writer of African heritage from the Igbo tribe in what was formerly known as The Republic of Biafra. During their civil war with Nigeria, Onoh had several family members die in the conflict. That war had a great impact on her writing style. For people whose lives have become full of such brutality and carnage, their stories become full of tales about death and the afterlife.
Unhallowed Graves
is a well-paced read, soaked in folklore and dotted with unexpected twists. These stories are of vengeance and the power of the dead to
affect the living from beyond the grave. And they use this
ability to the fullest. Onoh also doesn’t shy away from the gritty, nasty
details when creating trauma to put her characters through. (Two words: corpse water. *shudders*)
I find it refreshing to read a horror tale where all of the
characters are aware of what brings evil to your doorstep. For me, that makes a
writer have to push and stretch their creativity and plot line in order to
deliver the fearful scares more so than the story where one person is a
non-believer.
The three novellas in Unhallowed
Graves are elegantly written horror. While there is a subtle hand crafting
the stories, they do not shy away from visceral descriptions of violence and
stomach-churning description. Unhallowed
Graves is an example of the short form of horror packing a powerful punch.
A bit about each novella:
The Unclean:
Beautifully tragic opening. My allegiances changed several times during the
course of this tale. It is especially potent for women as the story is set in a
society where a woman’s worth is only measured by her ability to provide her
husband with sons to carry on the line.
It is a real occurrence for many in the world. Reading about the lengths
Desdemona goes to in order to procreate is heartbreaking.
Night Market
(Oja-ale): This is the cautionary tale. An English man takes a high-ranking
position in Nigeria and brings his wife along. Of course, he ignores the
warnings of his driver and the other locals, allowing his wife’s cardigan to be
stolen by…something. The story chronicles his deception and attempts to regain
the item. But once something goes up for
sale in the Night Market, the owner is never the same…
Our Bones Shall Rise
Again: Inspired by a true story—famous
Igbo Landing hauntings of St. Simon’s
Island, Georgia where hundreds of men and women drowned themselves rather than
be taken as slaves. In Onoh’s vision, we are given a beginning and an ending to
this tragic story. "Bones" is full of male and female witch doctors and their
sorcery—attempts to preserve the characters’ way of life. Some may find this a
difficult story to read as it shows the native tribe’s distrustful response to Westerners
and their religions.
I appreciated that not all of the women in the story were
physically beautiful. Onoh doesn’t hesitate to show women’s deformities, going
so far as to celebrate them as positives in a culture where it is difficult
for women to hold positions of power.
While I interviewed Nuzo by email the
first time she appeared on this blog, I thought something more personal should
follow. Since I moved to England last
year, I haven’t been able to find many local authors to talk with and discuss inspirations.
So I emailed Nuzo and asked if she would be receptive to a telephone interview
as we are both in England and I didn’t have to worry about time zones and such.
She readily agreed and we set a date to speak.
I’ll admit I was nervous. I love Nuzo’s work and I wanted to make a
good impression on the author. We’ve all heard those stories online of authors
behaving badly.
I needn’t have worried.
Talking with Nuzo was like talking with
an old friend you haven’t seen in years. We fell into a comfortable
conversation from the start. She is a
warm, intelligent person with a positive outlook on life, the publishing
industry and horror. “I love the support you get from strangers; it inspires
you to keep going.”
When I asked her what made her decide
to write Unhallowed Graves, she said, “I want people to recognize African Horror
as a genre and get beyond their negative perceptions of the continent.”
Like many women authors, including
myself, she’s received some questions about her decision to write horror.
“People say to me: ‘Everything about Africa is horror. Why would you want to
write about it?’ I tell them that writing and reading is about escapism. That’s
why I write about it. Escape into fantasy.”
Onoh’s African horror is rich with
culture and folklore, but there is a hefty dose of realism blended in. As we
spoke about our individual upbringings we were both fascinated at the
connection between African culture and the culture of blacks in the American
South. Many times we were able to call
up similar references of stories told to us by family members. The tales had
variations, but the creatures, the warnings—some subtle and some not so—were
distinct parallels.
The strongest link was the
Igbo/Gullah-Geechee connection. Nuzo is
of the former and I’m of the latter. In "Our Bones Shall Rise Again", she takes
the details of the Igbo landing and makes it her own. If you’re unfamiliar with the Igbo landing and
what is considered by many to be the first freedom march in the history of
America, see the link here. She creates a beginning for it, told
from the local Igbo point of view and brings the story to a stunning conclusion.
Nuzo and I spoke for an hour, ending
the conversation with the promise of getting together for lunch when our
schedules permitted. It was wonderful to talk and discuss our work, our
influences, and our hopes for the future of horror and those who write it.
I will leave you with Nuzo’s words for
women of color who love horror:
“Horror should be more inclusive. Lose the shame and
self-consciousness. Claim it!”
You can purchase Unhallowed Graves on Amazon now and follow Nuzo on Twitter!
Eden Royce is descended from women who practiced root, a type of conjure magic in her native Charleston, South Carolina. She’s been a bridal consultant, reptile handler, and stockbroker, but now writes dark fiction about the American South from her home in the English countryside. She has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books, Dirge Magazine, and is one of the founders of Colors in Darkness, a place for dark fiction authors of color to get support for their projects. Find out more about Eden’s brand of horror at edenroyce.com or follow her on Twitter (@EdenRoyce)