Nipah Nightmares

Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, year: 1998. Seng Boo, 16, has a hard time adjusting to life in the squalor of the warehouse he shares with his family and relatives near the pig farms. The recurring nightmares of fires in the warehouse, coupled with other bizarre scenes continue to distress him.

Meningitis, dengue fever, and Japanese encephalitis had all contributed to a sudden spike in cases of respiratory illness in the area. The incidence rates kept rising despite widespread prevention efforts. An inquisitive doctor appears, with a hunch that pig farms are where the disease first emerged.

As Seng Boo watches his family’s business collapse in the face of rampant viral outbreaks and racial tension, he must decide whether to aid his loved ones, or aid Dr Kaw in his investigation of the outbreak’s origin.

Ismim Putera is a poet and writer from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. His works can be found in many online journals and anthologised in To Let the Light In: An Anthology of Life and Death, Instinct: Asian Speculative Poetry 2021, Colours of Tapestry 2: Stories from Asia, Unsaid: An Asian Anthology, and recently in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror. His poem “Durian Blossoms” won third place in the 7th Singapore Poetry Contest (2021), and “Jantina” was longlisted for the Malaysian Poetry Competition (2021). Nipah Nightmares is his debut novel.