Meet the WEIRDo's: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Emmett Nahil

Hailing from a haunted seaside town in Massachusetts, Emmett Nahil is the author of novel FROM THE BELLY (Tenebrous Press, 2024) and graphic novel LET ME OUT (Oni Press, 2023). His obsession with horror and speculative fiction has taken his writing to Nightmare Magazine, The Molotov Cocktail, and elsewhere. In his other life, Emmett is the Narrative Director and co-founder of Perfect Garbage Studios. He can be found most places online as @_emnays.

Emmet’s BNW-winning story “Vining” originally appeared in The Book of Queer Saints, Volume 2 (Medusa Haus Press).

BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

A grad student strives to summon an eldritch god using plant infestation within his own body. Things go either very badly, or very well, depending on your perspective.

We’re going with the latter, because plant infestation sounds like only upside.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

Step offline at any possible opportunity. Listen to angry music, and get used to taking in things that will enrich you that are made my real humans, whether that's art, books, or film.

Do you take naps?

Nope! I'm an early riser, so I do go to bed very early, though.

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.

Mandy x Green Lung

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?

I frequently get premonitory dreams. I wish I'd seen Mothman or something, that would probably be cooler.

You still have your youth, and Mothman is eternal. It’ll happen.

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

Meet the WEIRDo's: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Plangdi Neple

Plangdi Neple is a Nigerian writer and editor whose dark and fantastical tales have appeared in magazines such as Anathema and Omenana. A lover of the Weird and unnatural, his works draw inspiration from Nigerian myth, folklore and tradition. He is a co-recipient of the Milford 2024 Bursary and a Voodoonauts 2024 Fellow. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky and his website.

His BNW-winning story “Not All Your Bones Are Yours” originally appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine.

BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

A distraught man with a devastating secret steals a bone from a merman so he can have a second chance with his dead boyfriend.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

Focus on the things you CAN impact, not just the things that annoy you and make you want to gouge your eyes out (or anyone’s eyes really). It’ll save you a lot of head banging and 2am screaming-into-the-void.

But without eye-gouging I’m just not really sure what makes life worth living.

Do you take naps?

God yes! During work hours, when I probably should be writing, or when it’s raining. I’d be a perpetual grump otherwise. Then again, I'm told I sulk for about an hour whenever I wake...

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.

Roman Holiday x Lady Gaga

Like a boss, Plangdi refused to answer what the Weirdest thing that’s ever happened to him was. But I did receive a package in the mail from him this afternoon. Inside it was a nondescript velvet box containing an unidentifiable bone. I’m sure it’s…fine, it’s fine, really, I’m just gonna put that over…there. Yeah, way over there. At my neighbor’s. Pretty sure it was meant for them.

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

Meet the WEIRDo's: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Azure Arther

When she's not bumbling through a mystical realm, Azure Arther is a playwright, an author, a poet, and, occasionally, a dryad. Her short stories and poems have appeared in over two dozen publications, including midnight & indigo, Small Wonders, and Rogue Agent. She is an editor for Augur Literary Society and has been a resident artist or scholarship recipient for numerous organizations. You can keep up with her at azurearther.com.

Her BNW-winning story, “Reciprocity,” originally appeared in Aurealis Magazine.

BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

If you've ever wondered if trees have feelings, Reciprocity shows you that yes, they do, and they're not nice and cuddly. In fact, trees are pretty pissed off and they aren't getting ready to take over the world...they already have. That wood house? Tear it down. Those wood pencils? Give them back. And don't ever, ever, ever make a tree mad, because you might not survive their wrath.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

Compliment people. Often. At least five times a day. You feel good. They feel good. And honestly, joy, one second at a time, can eventually become a minute and those few minutes of joy in the hours of drudgery can make all the difference. Be a light.

Do you take naps?

Naps are a necessary part of life. Rest is resistance. Come off the cog.

I don’t know the phrase “come off the cog” but I like it and I’m gonna work it into my daily lexicon. Along with complimenting people often. Alex! You look like you’ve really come off the cog today, it’s incredible, is that a new fabric softener? Am I doing this right?!

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.

Lilo and Stitch x Rihanna.

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?

I'm neurodivergent and I think a lot of things are weird but this question gives me anxiety because what if the thing I think was weird was just neurotypical?

Tenebrous Press: spreading anxiety coming off the cog since 2020. 

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

Meet the WEIRDo's: 2024 BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Susan L. Lin

Susan L. Lin is a Taiwanese American storyteller who hails from southeast Texas and holds an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. Her novella Goodbye to the Ocean won the 2022 Etchings Press novella prize, and her literary/visual art has appeared in nearly a hundred publications. She loves to dance. Find more at susanllin.com.

Her BNW-winning story, “Gravitational Pull,” originally appeared on taiwaneseamerican.org.

BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

Inspired by a Taiwanese legend, an astronaut’s single-minded obsession with the moon, along with her desire to disprove her mother’s inexplicable superstitions, ultimately leads her down a harrowing path with tragic consequences.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

I read an interview the BBC conducted with Tim Burton last year where he admitted that he avoids the internet because it makes him depressed. (Same!) To feel better, he instead spends time looking at clouds and hanging with the ten giant dinosaur models in his backyard. I, sadly, do not have a collection of giant dinosaur models in my backyard, but I do now try to spend a lot more time examining and photographing clouds in the sky. Other phenomena that fascinate and delight me daily: weird dreams, weird trees, weird rocks, weird architecture, weird fashion, weird furniture, weird timepieces, weird toys, weird napkins...the list goes on.

Taking notes…BUY…GIANT…DINOSAURS. Okay, so that might cut into the Tenebrous publishing budget for the next 15 years, but my mental health is important.

Do you take naps?

I was an insomniac for about 30 years, and I took frequent naps because I was always exhausted in the afternoons and evenings. After getting really sick a couple years ago, I was forced to start following a more regimented sleep/work/play/meal/exercise schedule. I thought I would hate it, but it's improved nearly every facet of my life, and I haven't needed or wanted a nap since.

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.

The Prestige x Depeche Mode

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?

On my last day of second grade, someone at school gave us these giant plastic syringes as graduation gifts. No commentary, no explanation, nothing. I was completely mystified. I decided it must be some kind of novelty water gun, so I tested it out in my bathroom sink after going back home. Not only could the device not hold water, but it couldn't propel that water very far either. Frustrated with what I assumed was my own incompetence, I eventually gave up and tossed it under the sink. Decades later, my gaze randomly landed on a pet store ad in the newspaper, and recognition slowly dawned. Apparently that perplexing gadget was an animal feeding syringe for sick and/or malnourished pets who couldn't consume solid food! Okay, sure. Makes sense. Mystery solved! Except...what on earth possessed an adult to give these to a bunch of seven-year-olds as gifts? And without any context? To this day, I haven't the faintest idea. I still wonder about that a lot.

Okay but, this story took me on quite a journey; I’m just glad we wound up in confounding territory instead of scrub-my-brain-with-bleach territory.

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out June 24th.

You can preorder it here.