Who knows? I certainly don’t. Of course, I know the “About” section of these types of websites usually say something to the effect of “Osie Turner is a writer and photographer living in Las Vegas,” but that is rather bland. Besides, you don’t really want to know who I am—you’re likely more interested in figuring out what it is that I do, exactly.
I consider myself an artist; it is tempting to say that writing, both fiction and non-fiction, is my primary passion but photography is essentially a part of my daily life and so closely related to my writing that the two are essentially inseparable. Every professional article I’ve had published has included photos I’ve taken of or at whatever it is the article is about. Likewise, many of the photo shoots I’ve gone on have ended up inspiring fiction.
Although born in Las Vegas, Nevada, I grew up in a small mining town known as Sandy Valley—about 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas in the heart of the vast Southern Nevada desert. I believe growing up in such a geographically isolated place amid antique leftovers from a century before helped to cultivate my affinity towards old things and forgotten or unusual places.
Art has also been a lifelong obsession. My grandmother was the source of this obsession; I originally aspired to be a painter like her, but eventually I found that this was simply not the correct medium to realize my creative vision. This eventually led to an interest in artistic photography; the camera lens turned out to be the right outlet in which to capture nature and forlorn places from my own unique perspective. Dark landscapes, cemeteries, and abandoned buildings are my usual photographic subjects—which is why I use “Nature Macabre” as a screen name on Instagram and my Facebook page.
As to my professional background as a writer, I began blogging in 2011; oftentimes featuring book reviews, esoteric studies, and general curiosities from around the world. In 2012, these esoteric studies earned me my first position as a staff writer with a newly formed publication called Occult World Magazine. Unfortunately that was short lived; the magazine went out of print shortly thereafter having only published a few of my articles.
In January 2013, I founded The Forlorn Press, an ebook publishing endeavor devoted to reviving forgotten classics, particularly early weird fiction and horror. My efforts with The Forlorn Press earned a front page article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in September 2013. Currently The Forlorn Press has 15 different anthologies published on various platforms (and a few select titles have been converted to paperback); for more about The Forlorn Press please visit The Forlorn Press page of this website.
Also in 2013, I began writing for Examiner.com, usually focusing on local history and the unique people and places that speckle the deserts of Southern Nevada. This was my first break into the world of online journalism. I wrote for Examiner up until the website went offline in July, 2016.
In 2014 I signed on as a staff contributor for AXS.com, a music and live entertainment website, in November 2014 and wrote for them until mid 2016. Via this website, the latest in heavy metal and the darker subgenres (such as death metal, Swedish dark metal, etc.) were the usual fare.
At the dawn of 2016, I landed staff position writing a weekly column for Living-Las-Vegas.com which led to becoming a staff contributor for RoadTripAmerica.com the same year. As of 2018, my sole focus is on producing original horror fiction and completing an upcoming non-fiction travel guide to Southern Nevada.
As to my horror fiction, my main inspirations have been Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft, and the essentially unknown Alma Newton. I’m immensely indebted to the various other Victorian and Edwardian era pioneers of speculative fiction whose names are mostly forgotten to modern day readers whose tales I’ve read. Hopefully my own tales of the bizarre will honor their memory.
If you’ve read this far, then why not follow me on social media?
I consider myself an artist; it is tempting to say that writing, both fiction and non-fiction, is my primary passion but photography is essentially a part of my daily life and so closely related to my writing that the two are essentially inseparable. Every professional article I’ve had published has included photos I’ve taken of or at whatever it is the article is about. Likewise, many of the photo shoots I’ve gone on have ended up inspiring fiction.
Although born in Las Vegas, Nevada, I grew up in a small mining town known as Sandy Valley—about 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas in the heart of the vast Southern Nevada desert. I believe growing up in such a geographically isolated place amid antique leftovers from a century before helped to cultivate my affinity towards old things and forgotten or unusual places.
Art has also been a lifelong obsession. My grandmother was the source of this obsession; I originally aspired to be a painter like her, but eventually I found that this was simply not the correct medium to realize my creative vision. This eventually led to an interest in artistic photography; the camera lens turned out to be the right outlet in which to capture nature and forlorn places from my own unique perspective. Dark landscapes, cemeteries, and abandoned buildings are my usual photographic subjects—which is why I use “Nature Macabre” as a screen name on Instagram and my Facebook page.
As to my professional background as a writer, I began blogging in 2011; oftentimes featuring book reviews, esoteric studies, and general curiosities from around the world. In 2012, these esoteric studies earned me my first position as a staff writer with a newly formed publication called Occult World Magazine. Unfortunately that was short lived; the magazine went out of print shortly thereafter having only published a few of my articles.
In January 2013, I founded The Forlorn Press, an ebook publishing endeavor devoted to reviving forgotten classics, particularly early weird fiction and horror. My efforts with The Forlorn Press earned a front page article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in September 2013. Currently The Forlorn Press has 15 different anthologies published on various platforms (and a few select titles have been converted to paperback); for more about The Forlorn Press please visit The Forlorn Press page of this website.
Also in 2013, I began writing for Examiner.com, usually focusing on local history and the unique people and places that speckle the deserts of Southern Nevada. This was my first break into the world of online journalism. I wrote for Examiner up until the website went offline in July, 2016.
In 2014 I signed on as a staff contributor for AXS.com, a music and live entertainment website, in November 2014 and wrote for them until mid 2016. Via this website, the latest in heavy metal and the darker subgenres (such as death metal, Swedish dark metal, etc.) were the usual fare.
At the dawn of 2016, I landed staff position writing a weekly column for Living-Las-Vegas.com which led to becoming a staff contributor for RoadTripAmerica.com the same year. As of 2018, my sole focus is on producing original horror fiction and completing an upcoming non-fiction travel guide to Southern Nevada.
As to my horror fiction, my main inspirations have been Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft, and the essentially unknown Alma Newton. I’m immensely indebted to the various other Victorian and Edwardian era pioneers of speculative fiction whose names are mostly forgotten to modern day readers whose tales I’ve read. Hopefully my own tales of the bizarre will honor their memory.
If you’ve read this far, then why not follow me on social media?
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