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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Blackwater Days, is a collection of seven linked short stories set in and around the Blackwater Psychiatric Hospital in New South Wales' Hunter Valley. The stories, inspired by Shaun Tan's painting 'Black Water', were written in a creative burst in mid-1996.
Notes
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Dedication: To my fellow Poets-at-Arms Rob Brown, Russell Scott and Bill White.
Contents
- Downloading, single work short story horror (p. 1-28)
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Beckoning Nightframe,
Shaun Tan
(illustrator),
single work
short story
horror
Corinne's just published her book on how she profiled the Harbourside Killer, and she holds a combined launch and thank-you party. Invited are her consulted psychiatrists, editors, close friends, and George Faye, who had reviewed her first book.
As the evening progresses, Corinne finds herself captivated by the house across the street's curtains, which seemed to beckon as they moved in the breeze. George comes to find her and notices them, too, which Corinne resents, wanting some privacy, especially as she and George had unresolved romantic tension.
Finally alone after the party, Corinne finds herself comparing her nightly routine to the neurosis the Killer had been victim to; she wakes in the middle of the night and sees the curtains again. Despite her attempts to ignore it, over the next few days, her attention is drawn back to them again and again. Eventually she pretends she is looking for a lost cat, wanders up to the shed, and touches the curtains.
Even so, she can't shake the feeling of being watched.
- Basic Black, single work short story horror (p. 59-88)
- The Saltimbanques, single work short story horror (p. 89-120)
- Jenny Come to Play, single work short story science fiction horror (p. 121-156)
- Light from the Deep Pavilion, single work short story horror (p. 157-180)
- Blackwater Days, single work short story horror (p. 181-207)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
The Australian Horror Novel Since 1950
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 112-127) According to James Doig the horror genre 'was overlooked by the popular circulating libraries in Australia.' In this chapter he observes that this 'marginalization of horror reflects both the trepidation felt by the conservative library system towards 'penny dreadfuls,' and the fact that horror had limited popular appeal with the British (and Australian) reading public.' Doig concludes that there is 'no Australian author of horror novels with the same commercial cachet' as authors of fantasy or science fiction. He proposes that if Australian horror fiction wants to compete successfully 'in the long-term it needs to develop a flourishing and vibrant small press contingent prepared to nurture new talent' like the USA and UK small presses.' (Editor's foreword xii) -
Blackwater Days
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Aurealis : Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction , no. 27-28 2001; (p. 228-229)
— Review of Blackwater Days 2000 selected work short story -
Terry Dowling and Blackwater Days
2000
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Swancon 2000 2000; (p. 42-43) -
Horror
2000
single work
review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 24 December 2000; (p. 35)
— Review of The Resurrectionists 2000 single work novel ; Blackwater Days 2000 selected work short story
-
Horror
2000
single work
review
— Appears in: Canberra Sunday Times , 24 December 2000; (p. 35)
— Review of The Resurrectionists 2000 single work novel ; Blackwater Days 2000 selected work short story -
Blackwater Days
2001
single work
review
— Appears in: Aurealis : Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction , no. 27-28 2001; (p. 228-229)
— Review of Blackwater Days 2000 selected work short story -
Terry Dowling and Blackwater Days
2000
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Swancon 2000 2000; (p. 42-43) -
The Australian Horror Novel Since 1950
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 112-127) According to James Doig the horror genre 'was overlooked by the popular circulating libraries in Australia.' In this chapter he observes that this 'marginalization of horror reflects both the trepidation felt by the conservative library system towards 'penny dreadfuls,' and the fact that horror had limited popular appeal with the British (and Australian) reading public.' Doig concludes that there is 'no Australian author of horror novels with the same commercial cachet' as authors of fantasy or science fiction. He proposes that if Australian horror fiction wants to compete successfully 'in the long-term it needs to develop a flourishing and vibrant small press contingent prepared to nurture new talent' like the USA and UK small presses.' (Editor's foreword xii)
Awards
- 2001 winner Ditmar Awards — Best Collected Work
- 2001 shortlisted World Fantasy Award — Best Collection
- 2000 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Horror Division — Best Novel