The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014 (Volume 5)
Page 51
Gerry Huntman is a speculative fiction writer based in Melbourne, living with his wife and young daughter. He writes in all genres, and most sub-genres of speculative fiction, having sold over 50 stories to date. Recent sales include Night Terrors III and Creepy Campfire Stories (for adults). Gerry published a young teen fantasy novel, Guardian of the Sky Realms, through Cohesion Press late in 2014. He is Managing Director and Chief Editor of IFWG Publishing Australia, which includes the popular speculative fiction e-zine, SQ Mag.
Rick Kennett’s horror and SF stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and podcasts including Dunesteef, Pseudopod, and the young adult orientated Cast of Wonders. He won two Parsec Awards for podcast stories in 2013, the same year the novel The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was published. He is the podcast reporter for the Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter.
David Kernot is an Australian author living in the Mid North of South Australia. He writes contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and horror, and is the author of close to sixty published short stories throughout Australia, the US, and Canada. This is his fourth collaboration with David Conyers. More information can be found at davidkernot.com.
Charlotte Kieft lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her husband and two small dogs. She has several short stories published, in 2013 was awarded a New Zealand Society of Authors’ Mentorship (mentor David Hill), and in 2015 was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story. She is currently working on an historical novel, and loves travel and scuba diving.
S. G. Larner is a denizen of Brisbane, Australia, where she complains about the heat, wrangles three children, and explores the dark underbelly of the world in her writing. Her work has appeared in Apex, Aurealis, Dimension6 and SQ Mag, among others. She’s currently studying a Masters of Information Science. You can find her at foregoreality.wordpress.com and on Twitter @StaceySarasvati.
Claire McKenna is a Melbourne-based genre writer and tragic fangirl. The story of “Yard” came about after moving from a comfortable house in the Western suburbs to a Bayside house built by a former high-ranking member of the Nazi Party. (This in fact is a true story. The house was demolished due to evil and termites, but the grass continues to grow . . . )
Andrew J. McKiernan is an author and illustrator from the Central Coast of New South Wales. First published in 2007, his stories have since been short-listed for multiple Aurealis, Ditmar, and Australian Shadows awards and reprinted internationally, and in a number of Year’s Best anthologies. His short story collection, Last Year, When We Were Young, was awarded the 2014 AHWA Australian Shadows Award for Collected Work. andrewmckiernan.com
Faith Mudge is a Queensland writer with a passion for fantasy, folk tales and mythology from all over the world—in fact, almost anything with a glimmer of the fantastical. Her stories have appeared in various anthologies, including Kaleidoscope, Phantazein and Hear Me Roar. She posts reviews and articles at
beyondthedreamline.wordpress.com. Somewhere in the overcrowded menagerie of her mind, there are novels. She is even writing some of them.
Jason Nahrung’s work is often set in Australia and invariably darkly themed. His most recent books are the seaside Gothic Salvage (Twelfth Planet Press) and outback vampire duology Blood and Dust and The Big Smoke (Clan Destine Press). A PhD candidate in creative writing at The University of Queensland, the former Queenslander lives in Ballarat with his wife, the writer Kirstyn McDermott, and lurks online at jasonnahrung.com.
Emma Osborne is a fiction writer and poet from Melbourne, Australia. Her short fiction has appeared at Bastion SF, Aurealis and Shock Totem and is forthcoming at Pseudopod. Her poetry has appeared in Apex Magazine. Her essay “So Say We All” was included in Lightspeed’s Queers Destroy Science Fiction. She can be bribed with whiskey and ribs. You can find her on Twitter as @redscribe.
Angela Rega is a belly-dancing school librarian in love with folklore, fairy tales and furry creatures. She is a Sydney based writer and graduate of Clarion South. Her stories have appeared in publications including Crossed Genres, PS Publications and the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror. She drinks way too much coffee, often falls in love with poetry and can’t imagine not writing. She keeps a very small website here: angierega.webs.com.
tansy rayner roberts is an Australian fantasy author, blogger and podcaster. She won the 2013 Hugo for Best Fan Writer. Tansy has a PhD in Classics, which she drew upon for her short story collection Love and Romanpunk. Her latest fiction project is Musketeer Space, a gender-swapped space opera retelling of The Three Musketeers, published weekly as a web serial. Tansy also writes crime fiction under the name Livia Day.
Cat Sparks is a multi-award-winning author, editor and artist whose former employment has included: media monitor, political and archaeological photographer, graphic designer and manager of Agog! Press amongst other (much less interesting) things. She’s currently fiction editor of Cosmos Magazine while simultaneously grappling with a PhD on YA climate change fiction. catsparks.net @catsparx
Brisbane-based writer Angela Slatter has won five Aurealis Awards and one British Fantasy Award, been a finalist for the Norma K. Hemming Award once and the World Fantasy Award twice. She’s published six story collections, has a PhD, was an inaugural Queensland Writers Fellow, is a freelance editor, and teaches creative writing. Her novellas, Of Sorrow and Such (Tor.com) and Ripper (in Horrorology, Jo Fletcher Books), will be out in October 2015, and Jo Fletcher Books will publish her debut novel, Vigil, in 2016, with its sequel, Corpselight, coming in 2017.
Anna Tambour’s latest book is a collection, The Finest Ass in the Universe, from Ticonderoga Publications. Her novel Crandolin was shortlisted for the 2013 World Fantasy Award. She lives in the bush in New South Wales.
Kyla Lee Ward is a Sydney-based créatif devoted to all things dark and beautiful. Co-author of the Aurealis Award-winning Prismatic, The Land of Bad Dreams is her solo collection of dark poetry. Her short stories have appeared on gothic.net, Shadowed Realms and the Stone Skin Press anthologies, amongst others. RPGs, films and plays—she’s been there, as well as a whole lot of cemeteries.
Bram Stoker, twice-World Fantasy Award Nominee and Shirley Jackson Award winner Kaaron Warren has lived in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Fiji. She’s sold over 200 short stories, three novels (the multi-award-winning Slights, Walking the Tree and Mistification) and six short story collections including the multi-award-winning Through Splintered Walls. Her latest short story collection is Kaaron Warren: Cemetery Dance Select. Kaaron just completed a Fellowship at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, where she researched Prime Ministers, artists and murderers. The resulting crime novel should see print in 2016. She was a special guest at Genrecon 2015.
Janeen Webb is a multiple award winning author, editor and critic who has written or edited ten books and over a hundred essays and stories. Her short story collection, Death At The Blue Elephant, was released by Ticonderoga in 2014 and is currently short listed for the 2015 World Fantasy Award. Janeen is a recipient of the World Fantasy Award, the Peter MacNamara SF Achievement Award, the Aurealis Award, and the Ditmar Award. She holds a PhD in literature from the University of Newcastle, and divides her time between Melbourne and a small farm overlooking the sea near Wilson’s Promontory, Australia. janeenwebb.com.au
Recommended Reading List
Liz Argall, “Soft Feather Dance”, Apex Magazine
Alan Baxter, “The Darkness In Clara”, SQ Mag
James Bradley, “Skinsuit”, Island magazine
Jay Caselberg, “Bite Marks”, Noir
Rjurik Davidson, “Night-time in Caeli-Amur”, Tor.com
Terry Dowling, “The Four Darks”, Fearful Symmetries
Alice Godwin, “Scarlett Fever”, Subtropical Suspense
David Grigg, “This Too, Too Solid Flesh”, Cadavers
Lisa L. Hannett, “A Girl of Feather and Music”, Postscripts 32/33: Far Voyager
Lisa L. Hannett and Angela S
latter, “The Female Factory”, The Female Factory
——— “Baggage”, The Female Factory
S.G. Larner, “Shades of Memory”, Suspended in Dusk
Tracie McBride, “The Truth About Dolphins”, disquiet
Kirstyn McDermott, “By the Moon’s Good Grace”, Review of Australian Fiction, Vol.12, Issue 3
Ian McHugh, “Apricot Finds a Treasure”, Angel Dust
Andrew J. McKiernan, “Last Year, When We Were Young”, Last Year, When We Were Young
Robert Mammone, “Suffer The Children”, Amok!
Paul Mannering, “The Princess and the Flea”, At Hell’s Gates: Volume One: Existing Worlds
Faith Mudge, “Descension”, Kisses by Clockwork
——— “Twelfth”, Phantazein
Lee Murray, “Inside Ferndale”, SQ Mag
Ian Nicholls, “Mister Lucky”, Use Only as Directed
Shauna O’Meara, “Beneath the Surface of Two Kills”, Writers of the Future (Volume 30)
Anthony Panegyres, “The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople”, Kisses by Clockwork
Rob Porteous, “A Drought of Tears”, The Sea
Dan Rabarts, “Children of the Tide”, AHWA Online
Angela Rega, “Cloaks and Hoods”, Black Apples
Carol Ryles, “Siri and the Chaos-Maker”, Kisses by Clockwork
Leife Shallcross, “Music for an Ivory Violin”, Aurealis 74
Angela Slatter, “Let The Words Take You”, Dreams of Shadow and Smoke: Stories for J.S. Le Fanu
——— “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”, The Review of Australian Fiction
Cat Sparks, “The Seventh Relic”, Phantazein
Leah Swann, “Of Life Below”, The World To Come
Cameron Trost, “Lauren”, Of Devils and Deviants: An Anthology of Erotic Horror
Kaaron Warren, “Eleanor Atkins Is Dead and Her House Is Boarded Up”, SQ Mag
——— “The Nursery Corner”, Fearsome Magics
Janeen Webb, “Skull Beach”, Death at the Blue Elephant
——— “The Sculptor’s Wife”, Death at the Blue Elephant
Suzanne J. Willis, “Rag and bone heart”, Phantazein
Australian & New Zealand Fantasy & Horror Awards
The Australian SF “Ditmar” Awards
Best Novel
Thief’s Magic, Trudi Canavan (Hachette Australia)
The Lascar’s Dagger, Glenda Larke (Hachette Australia)
Nominees
Bound, Alan Baxter (Voyager)
Clariel, Garth Nix (HarperCollins)
The Godless, Ben Peek (Tor UK)
Best Novella or Novelette:
“The Legend Trap”, Sean Williams (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories)
Nominees
“The Darkness in Clara”, Alan Baxter (SQ Mag #14)
“Escapement”, Stephanie Gunn (Kisses by Clockwork)
“The Female Factory”, Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter (The Female Factory)
“The Ghost of Hephaestus”, Charlotte Nash (Phantazein)
“St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”, Angela Slatter (Review of Australian Fiction Vol 9, No. 3)
Best Short Story
“The Seventh Relic”, Cat Sparks (Phantazein)
Nominees
“Bahamut”, Thoraiya Dyer (Phantazein)
“Vanilla”, Dirk Flinthart (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories)
“Signature”, Faith Mudge (Kaleidoscope)
“Cookie Cutter Superhero”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Kaleidoscope)
Best Collected Work
Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, Alisa Krasnostein & Julia Rios, eds. (Twelfth Planet)
Nominees
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013, Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene, eds. (Ticonderoga)
Phantazein, Tehani Wessely, ed. (FableCroft)
Best Artwork
Cover art by Kathleen Jennings for Phantazein (FableCroft)
Nominees
Illustrations by Kathleen Jennings for Black-Winged Angels (Ticonderoga)
Illustrations by Kathleen Jennings for The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (Tartarus Press)
Best New Talent
Helen Stubbs
Nominees
Michelle Goldsmith
Shauna O’Meara
Aurealis Awards
Fantasy Novel
Dreamer’s Pool, Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Nominees
Fireborn, Keri Arthur (Hachette Australia)
This Shattered World, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)
The Lascar’s Dagger, Glenda Larke (Hachette Australia)
Afterworlds, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin Books Australia)
Daughters of the Storm, Kim Wilkins (Harlequin Enterprises Australia)
Fantasy Short Story
“St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”, Angela Slatter (The Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 9, No. 3)
Nominees
“The Oud”, Thoraiya Dyer (Long Hidden, Crossed Genres Publications)
“Teratogen”, Deb Kalin (Cemetery Dance, #71, May 2014)
“The Ghost of Hephaestus”, Charlotte Nash (Phantazein, FableCroft Publications)
“The Badger Bride”, Angela Slatter (Strange Tales IV, Tartarus Press)
Best Horror Novel
Razorhurst, Justine Larbalestier (Allen & Unwin)
Nominees
Book of the Dead, Greig Beck (Momentum)
Obsidian, Alan Baxter (HarperVoyager)
Best Horror Short Story
“Home and Hearth”, Angela Slatter (Spectral Press)
Nominees
“The Executioner Goes Home”, Deborah Biancotti (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 11 No. 6)
“Skinsuit”, James Bradley (Island Magazine 137)
“By the Moon’s Good Grace”, Kirstyn McDermott (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 12, No. 3)
“Shay Corsham Worsted”, Garth Nix (Fearful Symmetries, Chizine)
Best Collection
The Female Factory, Lisa L Hannett and Angela Slatter (Twelfth Planet Press)
Nominees
Secret Lives, Rosaleen Love (Twelfth Planet Press)
Angel Dust, Ian McHugh (Ticonderoga Publications)
Difficult Second Album: more stories of Xenobiology, Space Elevators, and Bats Out Of Hell, Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus Press)
Black-Winged Angels, Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)
Best Anthology
Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios eds (Twelfth Planet Press)
Nominees
Kisses by Clockwork, Liz Grzyb ed. (Ticonderoga Publications)
Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction, Dominica Malcolm ed. (Solarwyrm Press)
Reach for Infinity, Jonathan Strahan ed. (Solaris Books)
Fearsome Magics, Jonathan Strahan ed. (Solaris Books)
Phantazein, Tehani Wessely ed. (FableCroft Publishing)
Best Children’s Fiction
Shadow Sister: Dragon Keeper #5, Carole Wilkinson (Black Dog Books)
Nominees
Slaves of Socorro: Brotherband #4, John Flanagan (Random House Australia)
Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, Karen Foxlee (Hot Key Books)
The Last Viking Returns, Norman Jorgensen and James Foley (ILL.) (Fremantle Press)
Withering-by-Sea, Judith Rossell (ABC Books)
Sunker’s Deep: The Hidden #2, Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin)
Young Adult Short Story
“Vanilla”, Dirk Flinthart (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, Twelfth Planet Press)
Nominees
“In Hades”, Goldie Alexander (Celapene Press)
“Falling Leaves”, Liz Argyll
(Apex Magazine)
“The Fuller and the Bogle”, David Cornish (Tales from the Half-Continent, Omnibus Books)
“Signature”, Faith Mudge (Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, Twelfth Planet Press)
Best Young Adult Novel
The Cracks in the Kingdom, Jaclyn Moriarty (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Nominees
The Astrologer’s Daughter, Rebecca Lim (Text Publishing)
Afterworld, Lynnette Lounsbury (Allen & Unwin)
Clariel, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
The Haunting of Lily Frost, Nova Weetman (UQP)
Afterworlds, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin Books Australia)
Best Illustrated Book/Graphic Novel
Mr Unpronounceable and the Sect of the Bleeding Eye, Tim Molloy (Milk Shadow Books)
Nominees
Left Hand Path #1, Jason Franks & Paul Abstruse (Winter City Productions)
Awkwood, Jase Harper (Milk Shadow Books)
“A Small Wild Magic”, Kathleen Jennings (Monstrous Affections, Candlewick Press)
The Game, Shane W Smith (Deeper Meanings Publishing)
Best Science Fiction Short Story
“Wine, Women and Stars”, Thoraiya Dyer (Analog)
Nominees
“The Executioner Goes Home”, Deborah Biancotti (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 11 No. 6)
“The Glorious Aerybeth”, Jason Fisher (OnSpec, 11 Sep 2014)
“Dellinger”, Charlotte Nash (Use Only As Directed, Peggy Bright Books)
“Happy Go Lucky”, Garth Nix (Kaleidoscope, Twelfth Planet Press)
Best Science Fiction Novel
Peacemaker, Marianne de Pierres (Angry Robot)
Nominees
Aurora: Meridian, Amanda Bridgeman (Momentum)
Nil By Mouth, LynC (Satalyte Publishing)
The White List, Nina D’Aleo (Momentum)
This Shattered World, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)