Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh
(Titan Books, 2024)
Reviewed by Amirah Muhammad
Ghosts are a classic horror fiction trope. We expect them to be creepy, terrifying, and somewhat unhinged, so much so that it can be hard to do something inventive with ghosts. Nuzo Onoh writes a fantasy novel set in 1977 Nigeria, which draws on the emotive elements of possession stories in African folklore to create Ibaja-La, the spirit world where dead brides gather. Here, brides of all faiths and cultures who have met untimely deaths become Ghost-Brides, waiting for the chance to possess a living bride and have their dream wedding. Most of the Ghost-Brides that 11-year-old Bata encounters are friendly if tragic, but as she spends more time among them, she begins to recognise that the vengeful Ghost-Brides pose a serious threat to living brides in their determination to possess them.
Weddings are an exciting rite of passage, and no one is more excited than Bata when her cousin Keziah’s wedding approaches. Although her recurring nightmares distance her from her family, the nuptials promise a distraction from normality. On the eve of Keziah’s wedding, Bata finds herself supernaturally transformed into the Bride-Sentinel, protecting her cousin from the evil Ghost-Bride, Anene Eze, who seeks to possess her and marry her groom. Bata is relieved when her Bride-Sentinel powers are no longer required to protect Keziah, prompting her father to enlist the local medicine-man, Dibia, to rid her of her powers. Instead, a botched exorcism sends Bata to Ibaja-La, where the powerful spirit Mmuọ-Ka-Mmuọ trains her to protect Ghost-Brides and recognise those that would use possession for evil. Despite her training, Bata’s return from Ibaja-La puts further strain on her familial dynamics. Regardless of Bata’s personal troubles, the stakes are higher than ever as the wedding of Chief Omega’s daughter approaches. Bata is once again required to use her powers to banish the evil Ghost-Brides forever.
The novel pivots on key moments of change by preying on our sense of anticipation. Whether it’s a wedding or an exorcism, the expected never plays out as expected. It begins with the striking image of a panicky black horse dying at the very moment Bata transforms into the Bride-Sentinel, leaving her usually brown skin a ghastly, ghostly white. The visual contrast, and thematic connection, is stark and unsettling. On top of this, the rules of Bata’s universe are constantly shifting as she navigates familial discord, patriarchal expectations, religious differences, and the lands of the living and the dead. Reliably, though, the distinctive smell of the evil Ghost-Brides is a telltale sign that they are nearby. The recurring motif of smell makes for compelling prose since it is laden with its own in-universe horror: what can you smell when you’re dead?
Onoh uses the power of rituals, and interrupted rituals, to flip between invoking sympathy for her ghosts and revelling in the horror they produce. Preying on Bata’s sympathy, the evil Ghost-Bride Gisèle-from-Paris tricks her into exposing her Bride-Sentinel powers. As she leads Bata impossibly faster through a terrifying forest, her body hunches and drags on the ground in a frightening bestial display. The vengeful Ghost-Brides struggle with the very human emotions of deep sadness, love, and loss. As much as the Ghost-Brides may be understandable, they remain dangerous to Bata—and reading the novel from her perspective reminds readers that no amount of empathy will save her from death.
Readers are rooting for Bata as she navigates the difficult worlds of adults’ interpersonal relationships and Ibaja-La, never quite sure that she’ll make it. In a final act of disrupting expectations, and after all the horror, Onoh’s novel does promise a happy ending.
Review from BSFA Review 25 - Download your copy here.