Geneve Flynn is a speculative fiction editor, author, and poet; and the winner of two Bram Stoker
Awards, a Shirley Jackson Award, an Aurealis Award, and recipient of the 2022 Queensland
Writers Fellowship. Her work has been nominated and short/longlisted for the British
Fantasy, Locus, Ditmar, Australian Shadows, Elgin, and Rhysling Awards, and the Pushcart
Prize. She is the co-editor of Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women.
Her story, “A Box of Hair and Nail,” was originally published at Pseudopod and will appear in BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror Volume Two, available to preorder now
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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-nommed story, please.
“A Box of Hair and Nail” is inspired by a Malaysian urban legend my mum once told me,
and involves two sisters, an odious shaman, and very black magic.
What does your writing routine look like? Do you have an office? A preferred coffee
shop? The back of the bus? Standing under your neighbor’s eaves, avoiding the rain?
Are you one of those true modern Weirdos who write your entire novel on your
phone?
My writing space is essentially a walk-in closet with a sit-stand desk so I remember to move
and be human once in a while. I spend a lot of time thinking, going down rabbit holes, and
plotting. Then I write, write, and write, and emerge like a mole blinking in sunlight when I’ve
finished. Not terribly glamorous, but it seems to work.
What does “Weird” mean to you, in the context of storytelling? And what
creators/experiences/influences helped sculpt this definition for you in your creative
journey?
“Weird” fiction feels a lot like the stories that I heard, read, and watched as a Chinese kid
growing up in Malaysia. The supernatural was threaded through everyday life, and there was
always a sense that it would only take one wrong turn or the crossing of some unseen
threshold to come face-to-face with something that would shake your understanding of reality
and remind you with a damp, trailing caress in the dark that the world is stranger, bigger, and
more dangerous than you think—and there isn’t a lot you can do about it except try to avoid
notice and allow the strange narrative to play out. There were folktales of rajahs (kings) who
turned into tigers, one-legged dokkaebi (monstrous Korean tricksters), and unstoppable
hopping vampires that fed on your qi. Being exposed to these tales of the Weird—much like
zhiguai, accounts of anomalies in Chinese literature—created an openness to a porous,
unstable reality woven with myth and urban legend, one I can play with to create stories that I
hope evoke the sense of unease and dark awe characteristic of Weird fiction.
On the Tenebrous Discord, 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.
I’m not on Discord, sorry. If I was, I guess I’d be The Wailing x The Kiffness?
What’s the Weirdest thing—capital W—that’s ever happened to you (that you’re
comfortable sharing)?
My son (who is now an adult) was about three. It was just the two of us alone at home and
going about our morning routine as usual. I knelt in front of him to help him get dressed. He
was normally a chatty little guy, full of bright conversation and very alert and engaged. I
listened with half an ear, concentrating on getting one chubby leg into his pants at a time,
when he suddenly went quiet. In a distant, solemn voice, he asked me “Mummy, can you
keep me safe to monsters?” I drew back to look at him—to really look. He stood with his
arms lax by his side, not wriggling for once, his face vacant and dreamy, staring at a spot
above my shoulder, as if looking up at someone or something very tall, right behind me. A
swift, cold current ran down my arms and back and legs and it took a second before I could
force myself to swivel around. The hallway was empty. I told my little boy that of course, I
would keep him safe, and besides, there’s no such thing as monsters. But I have a feeling I
was wrong that day.
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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror, Volume Two, is out June 26th.
