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History

Historically, the section was divided into two awards: Best Novel and Best Short Story. In 2016, convenors announced a splitting of the short-fiction award, making three individual awards: Best Short Story, Best Novella, and Best Novel.

Notes

  • Note: no award was made in this category in 1996 or in 2011. (In 2011, two books received honourable mentions.)

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2022

winner (Short Story) They Call Me Mother Geneve Flynn , 2022 single work short story horror
— Appears in: Classic Monsters Unleashed 2022;
winner (Novella) Kookaburra Cruel Aaron Dries , 2022 single work novella horror
— Appears in: Damnation Games 2022;
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon The Stone Road Trent Jamieson , Sydney : Brio Books , 2022 23141793 2022 single work novel fantasy

'In Casement Rise, a dusty town at the end of days, Jean is a young girl with an innocent but timeless voice that will call to all of us. The day Jean was born a mysterious force named Furnace awoke a few miles out of town that mysteriously calls people to it, never to be heard from again. Jean’s father has been called to it and so many others besides.

'The novel revolves around Jean, and her relationships both with her stern and overprotective grandmother, and the ancient evil that is Furnace. Jean’s grandmother has always kept Casement Rise safe from monsters, but in protecting Jean, she may have left it too late to teach her how to face the demons on her own, and now it’s time to grow up.

'With the lyrical cadence of The Last Unicorn and intense imagery of Wizard of Earthsea, The Stone Road is a powerful novel of hope and belonging.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2021

winner (Short Story) Don't Look! Lisa Fuller , 2021 single work short story
— Appears in: Hometown Haunts : #LoveOzYA Horror Tales 2021;
winner (Novella) All The Long Way Down Alfie Simpson , 2021 single work novella horror
— Appears in: Cthulhu Deep Down Under : Volume 3 2021;
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Holly and the Nobodies Ben Pienaar , United States of America (USA) : HellBound Books , 2021 24312437 2021 single work novel

'Holly Anderson is a lonely girl, born with the power to materialize living beings from thin air.

'When she decides to kidnap a ‘real’ person to be her friend, schoolgirl Alex Miller becomes the target.

'But, when Alex goes missing, her close friend, James, is the only one who suspects what really happened.

'And, the further James pursues the truth, the deeper into Holly’s bizarre world he finds himself.

'Even with some of Holly’s odd creatures on their side, it is soon apparent that they won’t get out unscathed – if they get out at all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2020

winner (Short Story) Phoenix Pharmaceuticals Jessica Nelson-Tyers , 2020 single work short story horror
— Appears in: Cancer 2020;
winner (Novella) The Saltbush Queen Chris Mason , 2020 single work short story horror
— Appears in: Outback Horrors Down Under : An Anthology of Antipodean Terrors 2020;
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon None Shall Sleep Ellie Marney , Boston : Little, Brown , 2020 18641366 2020 single work novel thriller young adult

'In 1982, two teenagers — serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell — are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case — a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers — things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.

'Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

winner (Novel) y separately published work icon The Rich Man's House Andrew McGahan , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2019 16620123 2019 single work novel crime

'In the freezing Antarctic waters south of Tasmania, a mountain was discovered in 1642 by the seafaring explorer Gerrit Jansz. Not just any mountain but one that Jansz estimated was an unbelievable height of twenty-five thousand meters.

'In 2016, at the foot of the unearthly mountain, a controversial and ambitious 'dream home', the Observatory, is painstakingly constructed by an eccentric billionaire - the only man to have ever reached the summit.

'Rita Gausse, estranged daughter of the architect who designed the Observatory is surprised, upon her father's death, to be invited to the isolated mansion to meet the famously reclusive owner, Walter Richman. But from the beginning, something doesn't feel right. Why is Richman so insistent that she come? What does he expect of her?

'When cataclysmic circumstances intervene to trap Rita and a handful of other guests in the Observatory, cut off from the outside world, she slowly being to learn the unsettling - and ultimately horrifying - answers.'

Source: Back cover.

winner (Short Story) Vivienne and Agnes Chris Mason , 2019 single work short story horror
— Appears in: Beside the Seaside : Tales from the Daytripper 2019; (p. 113-132)
Two old women, who have weathered many storms, now have to weather a plague of zombies.
winner (Novella) y separately published work icon Into Bones Like Oil Kaaron Warren , Atlanta : Meerkat Press , 2019 17087981 2019 single work novella horror

'People come to The Angelsea , a rooming house near the beach, for many reasons. Some come to get some sleep, because here, you sleep like the dead. Dora arrives seeking solitude and escape from reality. Instead, she finds a place haunted by the drowned and desperate, who speak through the sleeping inhabitants. She fears sleep herself, terrified that the ghosts of her daughters will tell her "it's all your fault we're dead." At the same time, she'd give anything to hear them one more time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2018

winner (Short Story) Sub-Urban Alfie Simpson , 2017 single work short story horror
— Appears in: Breach , no. 7 2017;
winner (Novella) Crisis Apparition Kaaron Warren , 2018 single work single work novella horror
— Appears in: A Primer to Kaaron Warren 2018; (p. 99-125)
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Tide of Stone Kaaron Warren , United States of America (USA) : Omnium Gatherum , 2018 14976277 2018 single work novel horror

'The Time-Ball Tower of Tempuston houses the worst criminals in history. Given the option of the death penalty or eternal life, they chose eternal life. They have a long time to regret that choice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

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