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.
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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.
