Nuzo Onoh (born 22 September 1962) is a Nigerian-British writer. She grew up the third of eight children of the late Chief Mrs Caroline Onoh, a former headteacher. Her father was Chief Dr. C.C Onoh, the wealthy landowner, lawyer, politician, and former governor of Anambra State.[1] She experienced the Biafran war with Nigeria (1967–70) as a child refugee within numerous Biafran villages and towns[2] and at the age of 13, she was the victim of an attempted "exorcism" by a local pastor. Due to this experience, she advocates for greater awareness of ritual child abuse in African communities.[3] On 17th June 2023, Nuzo Onoh became a recipient of the 2022 Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is conferred on "an individual whose work has substantially influenced the horror genre", and "is an acknowledgment of superior achievement in an entire career."[4] Nuzo is the first African and Black-British to win this award.[1]
Nuzo Onoh attended Queen's School, in Enugu Nigeria, as well as The Mount School, York, a Quaker boarding school in York, and later, St Andrew's College,[5][6] a sixth form college in Cambridge, England. Onoh holds a law degree and a master's degree in writing from Warwick University.[2]
Onoh is a pioneer of the African horror subgenre.[7] Onoh's books The Reluctant Dead (2014)[8] and Unhallowed Graves (2015)[9] are both collections of ghost stories depicting core Igbo culture, traditions, beliefs and superstitions within a horror context.
She is also author of The Sleepless (2016), Dead Corpse (2017), and A Dance for the Dead (2022).[10][11][12] Onoh's works have featured in numerous magazines, podcasts, and anthologies, including the highly acclaimed anthology, REVELATIONS: Horror Writers for Climate Action, which also includes Stephen King, Clive Barker, Joe R. Landsdale, Ramsey Campbell and Paul Tremblay amongst many others.[13] She has also contributed to several award-winning anthologies amongst which are, Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora, winner of the British Fantasy Award for "Best Anthology" in 2021 [14] and Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, winner of The 2023 Locus Award for Best Anthology. [15] She has also had work appear in Starburst, the world's longest-running magazine of cult entertainment.[16][17] She is listed in the reference book 80 Black women in Horror (Sumiko Saulson, 2017) and 160 Black Women in Horror (2023). Her works have been longlisted and shortlisted and have also been included in academic studies, including the "Routledge Handbook of African Literature" and "Follow Me: Religion in Fantasy and Science Fiction" amongst others. (2023)[18] She has also appeared on multiple media platforms, discussing her unique writing and African Horror as a genre. She has written several blogs for Female First Magazine and Black Ballad Magazine.[19][20][21] Onoh has been mentioned as one of the British horror writers bringing a positive change to how black and minority races are portrayed in mainstream horror fiction.[22]
Onoh has also given talks and lectures, including at the prestigious Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies.[23]
Onoh writes about vengeful African ghosts with unfinished business and has been hailed, by one journalist, as the "Queen of African Horror".[24] Her writings have been described as works of "magical realism and horror", exploring the "philosophical positions that define the reality of Africa and Africans in a world that is bent towards Western globalization and the annihilation of African roots in culture."[24] Her writing showcases both the beautiful and horrific in the African, mainly, Igbo culture and doesn't shy away from tackling issues of religious hypocrisy, child abuse, ritual killings, dangerous superstitions, corrupt politicians, evil witchdoctors and the plight of widows in the broader African culture, all within a fictitious horror context.[24] Her book The Sleepless, a ghost story tackling both the ritual abuse of children and the horrors of the Biafran War, has been described as "a genuine powerhouse of horror storytelling"[17] and as a work that "goes beyond magical realism":[24] "What distinguishes her genre as 'African Horror' is the detailed exploration of African beliefs on the mysterious and the spiritual, which reveals a lot about the 'African Self'".[24]
Onoh has two children, Candice Onyeama (writer and film director)[25] and Carmen Jija Gyoh (Fintech Product Designer).