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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Explore Australia's dark literature past, present, and future all in one landmark anthology! From the very earliest colonial ghost stories through to grim tales of modern life, Macabre will take you on a journey through the dark heart of Australian horror. With classic stories from Australia's masters of horror alongside the best of the new era, Macabre is set to be the finest dark fiction anthology ever produced in Australia.' (Source: Publisher's website http://www.brimstonepress.com.au/)
Notes
-
Launched during the Worldcon, Melbourne, 2 - 6 September 2010..
-
Dedication: To our spouses,
Tanya Young and Shane Jiraiya Cummings...
...without whose support and encouragement this dark project
would have never seen the light. -
Includes biographical information.
-
Includes: Australian Horror Fiction Timeline pp. 670-671
Contents
* Contents derived from the
Western Australia,:Brimstone Press
, 2010 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
- Australia's Horror Short Story : An Introduction, single work criticism (p. 9-21)
-
Fisher's Ghost : A Legend of Campbelltown,
single work
short story
(p. 25-31)An early version of the tale of Fisher's Ghost, Australia's first legend of a ghost.
-
The White Maniac : A Doctor's Tale,
single work
short story
horror
(p. 33-54)
The tale opens in London in 1858 where an aristocratic young doctor first sees, then is consulted to call on a house where everything is white. He falls in love with the foreign young noblewoman for whom all this is arranged, only to discover that she is an anthropophagus and feasts on human flesh.
-
Hunted Down,
single work
short story
humour
(p. 57-65)An author is confronted by a man demanding to be given a better job and accusing him of being unfair. The author is at first confused, then astounded when he recognises features of the man as belonging to one of his frequently used, though negatively stereotypical, characters. The author quickly understands what the man is objecting to when he becomes dangerously embroiled in one of his own plots and must write himself out of danger.Note: With title: Hunted Down
-
The Devil of the Marsh,
single work
short story
horror
(p. 67-71)A nightmarish vision of possession and sorcery.
- The Red Cap Spectre of the Robertson : A Tale of the Gilbert Diggings, single work short story (p. 73-88)
- The Old Portrait, single work short story horror (p. 91-95)
- The Ghostly Door, single work short story humour (p. 97-102)
-
The Chosen Vessel,
single work
short story
(p. 105-112)Following a similar thread to Henry Lawson's "The Drover's Wife" (and many believe, a direct response to it), "The Chosen Vessel" follows a young mother left alone in her outback hut who becomes growingly concerned for her own safety following the arrival of a menacing swagmen. The story also follows for a short time a man riding in to town to place his vote and his struggles with religious guilt.
- The Land of the Unseen, single work short story horror (p. 115-124)
-
A Strange Goldfield,
single work
short story
(p. 127-134)Three travellers encounter a strange man at an abandoned gold mine and can't make up their minds whether what they experience is real or not.
-
Yara Ma Tha Who,
single work
prose
dreaming story
(p. 137-139)
This story is about the mystical creature, the little red man. 'This is one of the stories told to naughty children to teach them that if they do not behave the Yara-ma-yha-who will come and take them and make them become one of themselves' (Source: Footnote p. 342, Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines)
-
And Not in Peace,
single work
short story
fantasy
horror
(p. 141-154)
'He laughed at devils and vampires and wasn't afraid, because they belonged to the world of fantasy–forgetting that it is sometimes the realest world of all ...'
Source: Magazine blurb.
- The Evil Sickness, single work short story thriller (p. 158-170)
- Blinded They Fly : A Fantasy, single work short story horror fantasy (p. 173-189)
- The Bullet that Grows in the Gun, single work short story horror (p. 193-214)
- Rough Trade, single work short story thriller (p. 217-229)
- Entropy, single work short story horror (p. 231-237)
- Passing the Bone, single work short story science fiction (p. 239-260)
-
Never Seen By Waking Eyes,
single work
short story
horror
(p. 263-293)'"Never Seen by Waking Eyes" intriguingly mixes locales in Oxford and London with Lewis Carroll and mysterious immortal young girls' (Colin Steele, SF Commentary No 77, p.54).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Macabre: The Interview
Lee Battersby
(interviewer),
2010
single work
interview
— Appears in: Midnight Echo : The Magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association , June no. 4 2010; (p. 23-25) -
Stories Tell of Brown Land's Black Heart
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Westside News , 6 October 2010; (p. 12)
-
Stories Tell of Brown Land's Black Heart
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Westside News , 6 October 2010; (p. 12) -
Macabre: The Interview
Lee Battersby
(interviewer),
2010
single work
interview
— Appears in: Midnight Echo : The Magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association , June no. 4 2010; (p. 23-25)
Awards
Last amended 27 Feb 2017 10:01:47
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