Meet the New Faces in Terror!
Meet the New Faces in Terror!
An inside look into a true mistress of wonder and fear, Nora B. Peevy
Q: Who are you?
A: That’s a good question. Some days I ask myself that. HA. I am an author who writes weird fiction. I can’t completely define myself as just a horror author because I write in other genres, though I write a lot in the horror genre. I use my real name: Nora B. Peevy. On the interdweeb I am known as Onyx Brightwing. It’s fine to call me either, but for publishing purposes I better seen my birth name in print unless I decide to use a pen name, which I would if wrote westerns or romances or something out of my wheelhouse.
If you mean, who am I as a person … well, most people think I’m part cat and part pixie. I’m also an artist and photographer. I’m a champion sleeper and I’m pansexual.
Q: What do you provide to the horror world?
A: I am an author, editor, illustrator, interviewer, and sometimes a bit of a mentor. I review books for a publisher, and I also read scripts for The H.P. Lovecraft Festival as well. I think I have a lot of experience in publishing and can pretty much run a press on my own. I also have good people skills and am good at networking.
Q: What does horror mean to you?
A: What horror means to me … hmm. Good question. True horror is being trapped in a body which does not work the way you want it to or living through traumatic psychological or physical injuries scarring you for life. It’s being able to get inside a person’s head and twist their heart inside out until they’re so disoriented they forget society’s mores and who to trust anymore. They might even lose their own identity. It’s about exploring the shadow side of yourself or others. We all have a shadow side. We are all light and dark. Nobody is purely good or purely evil.
Q: Why do you enjoy the horror genre so much?
A: I enjoy taking all my anxiety, grief, frustration, anger, and depression and putting it into my characters and my plots. It’s therapy for me. If I couldn’t express myself on the page, I think I would be as mad as The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
Q: What particular subgenres do you enjoy most? Do you have a favorite or one that sticks out to you more than the others?
A: I’m a creature feature lover. And for me I will watch any shark movie no matter how bad it is. You say “shark” and I am there!
Q: What is your favorite horror film or TV series?
A: Right now, my favorite film is They Fell Hard, this awesome splatterpunk western with an almost completely Black cast and a great plot. Plus, the costumes and acting are killer. And the killing scenes are inventive. The action is wild and the characters you are meant to hate you really LOVE to hate.
If you ask for my all-time favorite film, I have two. Jaws and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Q: What is your favorite horror novel?
A: That’s an odd question for me because every novel I read becomes my favorite novel while I am reading it. I don’t really have one that sticks out to me right now as being a favorite. I am a hoarder of books. If I were a dragon, my treasure would be books.
Q: Do you play any horror video games (Ex: “Silent Hill”, “Resident Evil”, “Dead by Daylight”, “Amnesia, the dark descent”, Etc.), and if so, which is your favorite(s)?
A: I haven’t played anything since the 80s/90s. I still love the original text Zork. I still am a fan of Diablo and Balder’s Gate and Warhammer 40K too.
Q: Who are your favorite horror icons?
A: Bruce Campbell.
Q: When it comes to your projects, who or what have you drawn primary inspiration from?
A: Eavesdropping on people’s conversations, dreams, ideas my brother insists I should write (hahaha), movies or shows I watch, tarot art and other art, being psychic and having experiences, walking cemeteries and looking up people when I get home and learning about the history of them and the cemetery, books I read, people watching and imagining what is happening to them, a funny sign or something I see on the street when I’m out. It could be almost anything. Even just one line I come up with that makes me laugh or a character idea I fit a story around. Sometimes it’s just a submission I draft a story for purposely.
Q: What projects are you currently working on? (Please feel free to include links ;))
A: Currently, I’m working on a witch story with Heddy Johannesen. I am also writing a fallen angel dark romance apocalypse story with Thomas Stewart. I have a short story collection called: Sapphic Divinity I am putting together, and I have a flash fiction collection I am beginning based on pieces of famous art that Thomas Stewart is illustrating for me. I am writing from the perspective of one of the animals or people in the artwork. I also work steadily as the nonfiction writer for the Weird Wide Web: Weird Wide Web – A place for all things dark and weird. (art.blog). And I am venturing into my own imprint with Thomas Stewart and JC Macek III soon. Plus, I’m toying with the idea of putting together my own subscription horror Substack with Thomas Stewart. I am also writing a piece for Sidney Shiv now too to go in his last anthology he’s working on. I think that’s about it for the moment. I’m probably going to put together some pieces for the different imprints of Unveiling Nightmares, which is one of the publishing houses I work with. I’ll most certainly be subbing to this month’s list of subs that hold my interest, which probably means authoring new stories. (One month I subbed twenty-six pieces.) I’m finishing up reading scripts for The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and I’m starting submission reading season for Trepidatio/Journalstone. Oh, and I always write book reviews for Hellnotes: Nora B. Peevy | Hellnotes I also have my own Substack where I am writing about my own journey and featuring interviews for a bunch of Indie authors. Is that enough? Geez, just typing all this out I realize I am busy. LMAO Maybe, I need more sleep or more hands or more hours in the day or less work? No. Less work would drive me crazy. I have ADHD and am driven, which is why I’m so organized and able to juggle so many projects at once. Maybe, I could use a PA though. Anyone out there? Pretty please?
Q: Where can fans, fiends, and ghouls find you? (Please feel free to include links ;))