Author Nuzo Onoh is back after a five year hiatus with a brand new novel [out 11/1] and she offered all of us an exclusive except. You can also read this excellent CrimeReads piece she wrote this week entitled "5 Female Demagogues of Horror.
Below is some information about Onoh and her novel, A Dance for the Dead which received this excellent advanced blurb:
“Nuzo Onoh’s A DANCE FOR THE DEAD is a thrilling, creepy, and moving novel about betrayal, sacrifice, redemption…Very powerful. A story I won’t soon forget.”
--Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the end of the World
It has been five years since Nuzo Onoh, widely known as the Queen of African horror, released a novel. In that interval, she has published a novella, The Unclean, been twice longlisted by the British Science Fiction Association Award and shortlisted by the Nommo Awards, published stories in multiple anthologies including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from African and the African Diaspora, Africa Risen Anthology, Picnic in the Graveyard anthology, and the highly acclaimed collection, Revelations: Horror Writers for Climate Action featuring many of the big and rising names in the horror genre, amongst several other anthologies.
For Nuzo’s fans and horror lovers around the globe, the long wait for another African Horror chiller is finally over. Nuzo’s latest novel, A DANCE FOR THE DEAD, is released on 1st November, 2022 by Stygian Sky Media. The novel is described on the publisher’s website as “a chilling African-horror tale of sibling betrayal, dark rituals, malevolent curses, and supernatural vengeance by the undisputed “Queen of African Horror” Nuzo Onoh.”
The highly prestigious Publishers Weekly, describes the book as a “gripping dark fantasy…The vibrant worldbuilding and steady pace keep the pages flying. Readers are sure to be impressed”. Acclaimed horror author, Jeremy Bates has this to say about the book, “Nuzo Onoh’s novel, A DANCE FOR THE DEAD is a mesmerizing and terrifying thrill-ride from start to finish. I haven’t read anything really like this before.” And the award-winning Australian author, Eugen Bacon writes, “Nuzo Onoh writes simply and powerfully, masterful at a calibre of African horror that yanks out your outrage, solidifies your fear.”
Going by the mostly 5-star early reviews on Goodreads, the Queen of African Horror is back to her rightful throne. A DANCE FOR THE DEAD follows the tragic story of two princes, Ife and Diké, and the consequences of betrayals, abuse of power, prejudice, and supernatural vengeance. In hallmark Onoh writing, the book brims with superstitions, powerful magic, malevolent ghosts and brutal cultural practices in the notorious Ukari village, the fictitious African village in Onoh’s stories that has become the equivalent of Derry in Stephen King’s works.
The book begins with an African saying, “When a man’s penis grows too big for his loincloth, he shouldn’t be shocked when a monkey mistakes it for its banana” But readers should not be deceived by this humorous opening. While there are flashes of humour in the story, the plot is one that is filled with the kind of terror and brutality that will leave readers unsettled long after they have read the final page.
Prince Diké is the first son of the King, heir to the throne and leader of the fearsome warrior cult, the Ogwumii. His younger brother, the handsome Prince Ife, is a famed dancer, with an addiction to Palm-wine and merry-making. Despite being engaged for over three years, Ife is still to marry the village beauty, Ada of the Nightingale Voice. In frustration, the king instructs Diké to arrange with the Ogwumii warriors to abduct Ife and force him into marriage.
Ife panics. His best friend, Emeka, suggests they abduct Diké instead. Dike’s abduction would plunge the kingdom into panic and scuttle the unwanted marriage to Ada of the Nightingale Voice. Emeka has always hated and envied Diké and Ife, unaware of the dastardly intention behind Emeka’s plan, agrees to the abduction.
The book blurb states: On a moon-lit night, Diké, heir to the Kingdom and leader of the terrifying warrior cult, the Ogwumii, falls asleep inside his bedroom. He wakes up to find himself trapped within the secret shrine of the village deity, a dark cave forbidden to all save the powerful witchdoctors. Overnight, the mighty warrior-prince becomes an Osu- an untouchable and outcast. In disgraced exile in the forbidden shrine, his sole companion is the raging ghost of a murdered slave girl, wrongly sacrificed to the gods on the false prophecy of a lecherous witchdoctor. To break the Osu curse, Diké must find the traitors who orchestrated his downfall and embark on a terrifying journey to the ancestors' realm, a deadly quest that could end his life or return him to full citizenship and glory.
This brief synopsis already gives readers a taste of the dark thrill awaiting them. The ghosts are powerful and malevolent, while the witchdoctor rules in evil supremacy. Intrigues and treachery are abound and readers will be left rooting for vengeance and redemption. The below extract from the book will give readers a taste of what to expect from this latest offering from The Queen of African Horror. Happy reading.
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(Except from A DANCE FOR THE DEAD)
A terse silence hung in the air, a silence of screeching hate. The witchdoctor stared coldly at the gathered warriors.
“Diké, son of Ezeala of Oma clan, hear this!” he pointed a blood-reddened finger at Diké. “I once again pronounce the curse of The Shadow Crows on you! A dark cloud now hovers over your head, a cloud of crows, the shadow of misfortune and pain. You have become the foolish chicken that walked out of the protection of its mother’s wings and became food to the preying hawk. Even as you stand before me today, your body has already become meat-feast to the grave worms.”
Dibia Okpoko turned and faced the stunned warriors, his eyes blazing. “Hear this! Any of you warriors who refuses to abduct the slave-girl for the sacrifice, shall also be burdened with the curse of The Shadow Crows. Your foolish leader has commanded that you reject the heart of the slave-girl and I will not punish you for obeying your leader. That is the law of your cult, after all. But you must obey the laws of the land by performing your duty to the gods, which is to bring the human sacrifice into the shrine. Go now and bring the slave-girl that you may all live. As for your leader, he is doomed. I, Dibia Okpoko, have spoken, and the words I sow have never failed to harvest crops.”
He turned back to Diké and spat into the soil. “As for you, proud prince, upon your foolish head be your doom. The black birds have spread their invisible wings over you and the clouds above you have turned to night in the middle of the day. Start counting your days, proud prince, and remember to count backwards, not forward.”
For several terse seconds, the two men glared at each other, hatred blistering like an inferno between them. Finally, Diké picked up his machetes and turned and walked away from the shrine-grove. He waited to hear footsteps behind him, the fearless feet of his warrior-leaders and his father.
He heard nothing. No one followed him out.
A sudden shiver layered his skin with goosebumps. He shook it away with a loud curse as he stalked away from that place of death. Every man has his own palm-lines, his own lines of destiny, he thought. He could not fight Chicken-Legs’ doomed destiny. He could only fight his own. He didn’t believe that the decrepit witchdoctor had any powers over his destiny, regardless of his threats. Should misfortune come, he would handle it with the fortitude of a man. Should death come instead, he would face it like the warrior he was and fight it without fear, without mercy, and with great respect.
***
A DANCE FOR THE DEAD (paperback) is now available for preorder from all reputable retailers. Click here to order
A special edition hardcover is also available from the publisher. Click here to order
(About the Author)
Nuzo Onoh is a Nigerian-British writer of Igbo descent. She is a pioneer of the African horror literary subgenre. Hailed as the "Queen of African Horror”, Nuzo’s works have featured in numerous magazines, podcasts, and anthologies, as well as in several academic studies and publications.
Nuzo holds a Law degree and a Masters degree in Writing, both from Warwick University, United Kingdom. She is also a certified Civil Funeral Celebrant, licensed to conduct non-religious burial services. 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, United Kingdom, with her cat, Tinkerbell.
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