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02/08/2026 BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Sylvester Barzey

  • Writer: Candace Nola
    Candace Nola
  • 13 minutes ago
  • 6 min read

As we do every year in the month of February, Uncomfortably Dark takes time out to honor Black authors and Black history from every era, past and present. If you already read widely and diversely or want to get started; please add these authors to your Must - Read lists and to those TBR piles!


A massive thank you to fellow author Eliza Broadbent for this huge undertaking for this month, enabling Uncomfortably Dark to honor at least one author a day, or more!

Sylvester Barzey is an award-winning horror and fantasy author who grew up in the Bronx, NY, and was later transplanted to Bethlehem, GA. A military veteran with a passion for all things horror, Sylvester’s goal is to shine a spotlight on Black characters within the horror/fantasy genres.




Today, we honor Sylvester Barzey!


1. What kind of horror do you write/publish, and what brought you to the horror genre in particular?


I write in many subgenres of horror, including supernatural, apocalyptic, and slasher, but my main focus is survival horror. I was drawn to horror because of its survival aspect. I like the idea of a regular person overcoming life-or-death odds, because I feel like that’s really what our lives are made of at their core: surviving. We all wake up to survive another day, be it hard or easy. Be it metal struggles, physical or financial, we’re all just trying to survive, and it’s good to see someone come out on the other side, even if it’s only in fiction. It makes you think, “Yeah, the bills are piling up right now, but at least I can take a nap, unlike Nancy and the Elm Street Kids.”



2. Who would you consider your influences and inspiration?


I’m always consuming and always trying to learn and get better, so I think I take on a lot of influences and get a lot of inspiration from life. But if I had to lock it down to five things that make up my writing and inspire me, they would be: The Twilight Zone, True Crime, Tales From The Crypt, The Black American Experience, and Ryan Coogler. Twilight and Tales really inspire me; I want to create stories that can still impact people throughout different generations. True Crime is because it’s always good to take a look at the real horrors of the world, which is mankind.


I create the stories I do because I’m shaped by my experience as a Black man in America, as a First-Generation American, and by the need to see people like me in my favorite genres. Lastly, Ryan Coogler’s story and filmography are just mind-blowing, and I feel a drive to do better every time I watch one of his films or hear him speak about his craft.



3. What piece of writing has meant the most to you, and why? This can be both your own and/or another author’s.


The piece of writing that means the most to me, that I’ve created, is Planet Dead 2: Patient Zero. That book helped me through a really dark time in my life. I was working on it the year my father passed away. I had an odd relationship with my father at the time, and I felt like I didn’t get the closure or the chance to say goodbye. Throwing myself into that book kept me sane, and I was able to work through many of my personal issues in that story, overcome much of the pain, and say goodbye in the best way I knew how.



4. What’s your writing/editing journey been like? What challenges have you faced?


My writing journey, or my publishing journey to be more specific, started in 2017, and while I’m not where I want to be career-wise, I still feel like I’ve done a lot. The only challenges I run into are really just financial; you need money for ads, covers, editing, author events, stocking your store, and countless other things. You can create an amazing story, but sometimes if there isn’t money behind it, it’s hard to get it traction. There are a lot of authors who blow up through word of mouth, but in my head, I feel like that’s not something you can count on. Getting my work out there is a challenge, but it’s compounded by not having the funds to invest in my career as I would like.



5. Who do you think everyone should be reading right now?


I’ll do this for Trad Published and Indie.


Trad Pub: Tiffany D. Jackson - S.A Cosby - Liselle Sambury - Lisa Springer - Lamar Giles


Indie Authors: Candace Nola - Felix I.D. Dimaro - J.R. Mason- Octavia Grant- Amanda B. Weaver



6. What’s it like being a Black horror writer/editor at this particular moment?


In this particular moment? Hard, the world’s on fire, and there have been nothing but warnings for years, and now we’re at a point when it feels like an ‘I told you so’ moment, but we’re also in the flames, so it doesn’t feel like that will help anyone. As a writer, everything seems small compared to what’s going on today with ICE and this current administration. It’s hard to sit down and try to plot something when all you can think about is ‘What’s going to happen today?’ It’s a consistent state of anxiety.


So hard would be the word I’d use, but we have to keep creating, we have to keep standing up and having those hard conversations, and we have to keep fighting back, because if we don’t, they win. They want us to feel overwhelmed, and like there isn’t anything we can do, so we’ll give up. It’s hard, but I keep creating and keep helping anyway I can.

 


7. All horror is political. How do you think your politics informs your writing/editing?


I feel like my politics and overall character shape me and, in turn shapes my work. I believe in trans rights, I believe in everyone being equal, and I’ve lived through eras where we faced those who don’t believe that. When I’m creating my worlds and my monsters, they might be zombies, vampires, or ghosts, but they’re always going to be surrounded by the real evil we face in life. It shapes who my leads are, how my story is told, and who it’s for. I have this gift, and I feel like it’s my duty to use it to say something about the world we live in.



8. Do you do any writing or editing that’s not fiction? If so, how did you come to that space, and where can we find it?


I have a newsletter that goes out with some fiction but mostly non-fiction, be it lists, horror breakdowns, or just talking about how to survive the world we’re in now. I want to do more horror breakdowns and look at horror that has roots in the real world, because that’s something I love to learn about in my free time, so I think it would be great to do more of that for my readers. All those things can be found at my SubStack.



9. Have you faced any unique challenges in your writing career?

Nothing different from what any other Black author has faced. I’ve faced racist Facebook group admins who didn’t see the point in celebrating Juneteenth. I’ve faced racist event planners who think my books shine a bad light on a white community (Forsyth County, y’all will forever be wrong for what you did to the people of Oscarville).


I’ve seen all-white events where no one bothered to invite a person of color. I’ve seen last-minute events tossed together for cultural holidays. I don’t think there’s anything unique about it all, which is sad because it means everyone is dealing with the same issues, and there has been little change since I started in 2017.



10. What advice do you have for Black horror writers who are just getting started in the genre?


Make it clear why you’re doing this, what is your why? Because when things get hard, and they will, you can look back at that to keep you pushing forward.


It’s okay to take a break from it all for your mental health; you don’t owe anyone anything.


Build yourself a tribe of people who understand what you’re going through and can help you get where you want to be in your career.


Give back, I’m a big believer in supporting people the way you want to be supported. Do what you can for others, and the universe will see that.


And keep your eyes on your lane. Don’t worry about who’s getting what and what sales others are making. Never look to someone else’s success and think, “It should be me.” Instead, think, “How can I get there?” Look at people as inspiration and not competition.



Published Works and Links:




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Owner: Candace Nola

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