Where the Dead Brides Gather, by Nuzo Onoh

22 Oct 2024

The Book

Where the Dead Brides Gather
Pages: 288
Age Group: Adult
Published on 22 Oct 2024
Publisher: Titan Books
Genres:
Horror
Available on:

Synopsis:

A powerful Nigeria-set horror tale of possession, malevolent ghosts, family tensions, secrets and murder from the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement and ‘Queen of African Horror’. For readers of Octavia Butler, Ben Okri and Koji Suzuki.

Bata, a young girl tormented by nightmares, wakes up one night to find herself standing sentinel before her cousin’s door. Her cousin is to get married the next morning, but only if she can escape the murderous attack of a ghost-bride, who used to be engaged to her groom.

A supernatural possession helps Bata battle and vanquish the vengeful ghost bride, and following a botched exorcism, she is transported to Ibaja-La, the realm of dead brides. There, she receives secret powers to fight malevolent ghost-brides before being sent back to the human realm, where she must learn to harness her new abilities as she strives to protect those whom she loves.

By turns touching and terrifying, this is vivid supernatural horror story of family drama, long-held secrets, possession, death - and what lies beyond.

My Review

Where the Dead Brides Gather is an African horror novel, written by Nuzo Onoh, and published by Titan Books. A powerful story that mixes together Nigerian traditions and Catholicism, in a story that accurately portrays the eclectic contrast between traditional and modern aspects of life in the village, all woven around a supernatural horror that affects to women.

Bata, a ten-year-old girl, experience terrible nightmares, and wanders in her sleep; one night, she wakes up standing in front of her cousin Kezia's bedroom door, who is to be married the next morning. However, a ghost-bride is to attack Kezia; Bata is possessed and defeats the ghost-bride. The family, fearing for the worse, takes Bata to be exorcised by Dibia, a local witch doctor; but a spirit intervenes and takes her to Ibaja-la, the realm of ghost-brides, where she resides for a time and is given some powers to use in her new role as Bride Sentinel, meant to protect brides from those dangerous ghost-brides. Upon returning to the world, she's meant to protect her family, but at the same time, she will experience the cold disdain from many of her relatives, ostracising her in a Nigeria still rooted on tradition.

Bata's journey is not an easy one, and Ozoh chooses to represent it by using Bata's own voice as the narrative one; the reader can feel the struggles and the doubts experienced by her, and how she's afraid of losing those that she appreciates as a consequence of a condition she didn't ask to suffer. As a young girl, we can also see her naivety and how that will put her into a complicated situation at Ibaja-la; overall, Ozoh's characterization work is simply excellent.

The setting is one about contrasts: the modernity that is slowly reaching the village against the traditions that are firmly rooted in the people; we can also see how Nigerian people are divided among traditional religion and Catholicism, leading to some conflicts in their beliefs (such as we can see between Bata's parents). Ibaja-la itself is an interesting place, where we learn more about Nigerian folklore, while also introducing modern notions such as queer acceptance; feminism and women's empowerment is a recurring theme in this novel.

Where the Dead Brides Gather is an excellent piece of African horror, perfect if you come from a fantasy background or want to experience something different from the classical western horror; Nuzo Ozoh pretty much nailed it, and I can't recommend it enough.

The Author/s

Nuzo Onoh

Nuzo Onoh

Nuzo Onoh is a Nigerian-British writer of Igbo descent. She is a pioneer of the African horror subgenre. Her books, The Reluctant Dead (2014) and Unhallowed Graves (2015) are both collections of ghost stories depicting core Igbo culture, traditions, beliefs and superstitions, all within a horror context. She’s also the author of the novels, The Sleepless (2016) and Dead Corpse (2017), The Unclean (2020), and A Dance for The Dead (2021). Titan Books UK will publish four of her new works  from October 2024 Where The Dead Brides Gather until 2026 FutilityThe Turning of Sally May and The Ghost in the Moon.

Hailed as the “Queen of African Horror”, Nuzo’s writing showcases both the beautiful and horrific in the African culture within fictitious narratives. She holds a Law degree and a Masters degree in Writing, both from Warwick University, United Kingdom. An avid musician with an addiction to JungYup and K-indie pop music, Nuzo plays both the guitar and piano, and holds an NVQ in digital music production from City College, Coventry. She currently resides in The West Midlands, UK, with her cat, Tinkerbell.