Where the Dead Brides Gather

by Nuzo Onoh

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1835410561
• ISBN13: 9781835410561
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Titan Books (UK)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Is there a place where dead grooms gather?

Thank you to Titan Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review! Tormented night after night with images of ghastly white women, 11-year-old Bata awakes from one of her hellish nightmares in an unusual place. Not her home, she shares with her parents and siblings. No, she finds herself standing sentient in front of her cousin bedroom door, a cousin that's supposed to marry the next morning. Something even more strange, from head to toe her usual ebony skin is stark white and glowing. From that night forward, she was thrust into the world of spirits and capricious adults when she was granted the title and powers of Bride Sentinel. Young Bata must now fight malevolent ghost-bribes that return to forcefully reclaim their grooms in the living realm, and protect the innocent living brides from the ghastly scorned women in white. Can she handle the pressure and responsibility of such an important task, all the while those around her want to use her powers for their own greedy sake? It was hard at times to get into or stay in the emotions of the scenes. Possibly because the emotions Bata felt switched sometimes three times in one paragraph, going from frightened, to in-awe, to crying and back again, not really giving the reader time enough to adjust to new emotion before the next one is thrown into the pot. Yet other times the vibe was well-detailed and felt for all the chills and fright the scene deserved. However, the overall atmosphere of this book was fantastic and perfect for spooky season. The POV (point of view) is first-person, and most of the time, it doesn't really feel like an 11-year-old speaking. Many of the words used are above an 11-year-old's rank, which makes a lot more sense as the story goes on and nears the end. However, reading it for the first time took me out of the story at times because I was trying to figure out how a not-fully literate girl knows such mature language. The diversity of Ibaja-La, the land of dead brides, was wonderful, not just African brides, but women from all over the world from the USA, France, South Korea, Quebec, and so on. Also, the Commodore of the bribes there was beautiful, excusing the malevolent brides of the Wastelands. But the world-building of Ibaja-La and the Wastelands was amazing, I loved every second when the pages shared that land, and like Bata, I wish I could go back there too. All in all, this was the first horror novel that left me satisfied and wanting more! I am definitely looking up more of Nuzo Onoh's works. The action and suspense had me at the edge of my seat, craving the next page. She's a horror author I have to have more books by!