News: AHWA Flash & Short Story Competition 2010

The AHWA Flash & Short Story Competition is open to submissions from January 1, until May 31, 2010!

What We're After: Horror stories, tales that frighten, yarns that unsettle us in our comfortable homes. All themes in this genre will be accepted, from the well-used (zombies, vampires, ghosts etc) to the highly original, so long as the story is professional and well written. No previously published entries will be accepted – all tales must be an original work by the author. Stories can be as violent or as bloody as the storyline dictates, but those containing gratuitous sex or violence will not be considered.

There are two categories for submission:
FLASH FICTION
Stories up to 1000 words in length. The winning author will receive paid publication in Midnight Echo; The Magazine of the AHWA and an engraved plaque.

SHORT STORY
Stories with 1001 to 8000 words. The winning author will receive paid publication in Midnight Echo; The Magazine of the AHWA and an engraved plaque.

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ENTRY DETAILS

Writers may submit to one or both categories, but entry is limited to 1 story per author per category. No simultaneous submissions. Any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Entry Fee:
AHWA Members have free entry.
Non-AHWA Members: $5 for flash fiction, $10 for short story entries.

Secure payments can be made via Paypal using our Palpal id ahwa@australianhorror.com

Alternative payment options are available; please contact us at competitions@australianhorror.com and we will provide appropriate details.

Electronic submissions (attached in WORD or RTF format) should be emailed to competitions@australianhorror.com. Please put “Competition entry” in the subject line, and include author name, contact details and story word length in the body of the email.

Mail submissions will ONLY be accepted as a last resort (we would prefer email submissions to save the trees); please contact us before sending anything through.

Competition closes 31^st May 2010.

Please edit your manuscripts before sending them through to us!

Contact competitions@australianhorror.com if you have any further questions.

For details of previous winners, visit www.australianhorror.com.

Source: Dr. Marty Young, AHWA President

News: Antichrist extended season at Chauvel Cinema

Sydney's Chauvel Cinema are screening Lars von Trier's controversial film ANTICHRIST, with the extended season commencing today (31.12.09).

Antichrist is a horror film ... about a couple who, after the death of their child, retreat to a cabin in the woods where they encounter strange and terrifying occurrences. The film stars only two actors, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe. The narrative is made up of a prologue, four chapters, and an epilogue.

Since premiering at Cannes, where Gainsbourg won the festival's award for Best Actress, the film has come under attack for what some critics view as misogny, as well as for featuring explicit sexual violence; at the same time many critics have also praised the film for its visuals and serious approach.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

'I absolutely was on the edge of my seat for the whole of this film. I was incredibly moved by it. I think she (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is quite wonderful.'
- Margaret Pomeranz

Source: Chauvel Cinema & Wikipedia

News: A Night Of Horror Final Entry Deadline

Just a reminder for filmmakers and screenwriters that the final entry deadline for the 2010 A Night Of Horror International Film Festival is today, December 31 (postmarked).

A Night of Horror prides itself in showcasing the work of independent horror filmmakers to enthusiastic audiences and industry professionals.

Festival judge Antony I. Ginnane (head of the Screen Producers Association of Australia and IFM World Releasing) discovered the indie Australian feature film FAMILY DEMONS when it world premiered at the 2009 festival. Ginnane's international sales company IFM World Releasing acquired worldwide rights to the film.

The top ten finalists in the festival's 2010 screenplay competition will be read by Sonny Mallhi, the Executive VP of Vertigo Entertainment (THE RING, THE GRUDGE, THE STRANGERS).

John Elfers, director of FINALE, winner of the fest's Independent Spirit Award in 2009, speaks glowingly of his festival experience: “ A Night of Horror is committed to helping independent horror filmmakers find their audience and get noticed. They put our film in the hands of distributors, reviewers, and got us on the radio. The personal attention was unlike anything I've experienced at other festivals.”

You can still submit your film or screenplay to the 2010 festival. The festival's final extended deadline of December 31, 2009 is available if you submit through our online submission partner Withoutabox.

More details are available at the official A Night of Horror website.

Source: A Night Of Horror International Film Festival

Review: Best Horror Films of 2009

In a year when 3D horror returned to the big screen, masters came back to the genre and low budget ghost stories made big money, 2009 shaped up as a good year for horror films. So here are my picks for the best of the year. Although some of the film may have been made or released earlier, these are my top picks of horror films I saw in 2009. What are yours?

5. Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Welcome back Mr Raimi.

4. Martyrs (2008)

Just when you thought French horror couldn't get any more extreme!

3. The House of the Devil (2009)

Ti West is the horror director to watch out for in the future.

2. Paranormal Activity (2007)

If you got into it, this was scary stuff.

1. Zombieland (2009)

Also has to win Best Cameo Ever!

And some of the worst;

Halloween 2 (2009)
Although it maybe contain the best ever cow/van crash scene. But what is with that white horse? Homeless Michael with mummy issues was not working for me. And why would a girl, previous terrorised by a serial killer, have a Charles Manson poster above her bed?

It’s Alive (2008)
So boring, so stupid.

Friday the 13th (2009)
Hmmm… these were all remakes.

Honorable Mentions;

Most Disturbing Film – The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

Surprisingly Good Movie of the Year – Orphan (2009) - Not only the surprise ending, but just when you thought this might be another boring evil child movie, it turns out to be a well acted and directed thriller.

Best TV Series – True Blood – Season 1 (2008) - Possibly the best first season of any TV show ever!

Best Remake – Last House on the Left (2009)

Best 3D Horror – My Bloody Valentine (2009) – OK not many to choose from, but deserves a mention for bringing back 3D horror in a cool way that actually looks good.

Best Aussie Horror – Lake Mungo (2008) – Again, not many to choose from.

Best Short Story Compilation - Trick ‘r Treat (2008) – And probably the best since Creepshow.

Reviewed by Troy King

Review: Monochromacy by Troy Barnes

Welcome to Raven Beach.

So begins Troy Barnes second self-published effort in bringing our attention to his fertile imagination. With Deadlight, Troy gave us a Dean Koontz-ish style thriller that was quite hard on the eyes but occasionally bled through moments of brilliance. The tradition continues with Monochromacy. Deadlight was hard labor, obviously brought into the world with many late nights and hardship, but Monochromacy has come out more fluid and slickly, possibly with the aid of an epidural.

Harrison Cowley has lived in Raven Beach for six months after coming across a bit of luck with the inheritance of a small cabin from his Aunt Molly. His life is comfortable if somewhat mundane and uninteresting. But then the dreams start: dreams of carnage; fields of death containing the bodies of strange, angel like beings. The epilogue of a war. As time goes on the dreams get more intense and slowly come to figure the people in Harry’s life … blending together until the dreams and the real world are seamless. Here, as in Deadlight, we have a protagonist that can ‘see’ what others can’t. The evil behind the human façade; the ruse behind the ordinary. Think Dean Koontz’s Twilight Eyes.

I liked this first part of the novel; although critics and writers constantly advise against this, we are obviously looking at the world through Troy’s eyes, seeing his own hometown brought to fictional life. Some of the moments as Harry enters the world of kidnapping are genuinely disturbing and bring to mind some of the torture films of the last couple of years. Then we are thrust into the realms supernatural and an ancient battle between inter-dimensional creatures that use the shores of Raven Beach as their playground. The metaphysics are clumsy but fun, and at times it’s like taking a ride through a Buffy or Supernatural episode with Zombies laying waste to the population. We can certainly see the effects these particular creations have on Troy.

But there are many pitfalls … and the typos are everywhere again. Also paragraph breaks where there shouldn’t be and others times were they should be but aren’t. And this can ultimately make a person put a book down. However, I personally know what this is like. We’ve just finished something we’ve put our souls into. We want the world to see it, a damn the consequences. Surely numerous read-throughs and a spell check are enough? Unfortunately not. Not only must your eye appraise it but many others as well. Until it has been ravaged by them. Until you can quote huge potions of it and eventually just want the damn thing to go away …Troy has the right ideas for a rollicking good read, but the prose needs considerable work. For this reason I probably would have put off self-publishing … at least for a few years. Troy is yet to come into his own, and it wouldn’t be fair to let what will one day be a future readership be turned away by what are obviously trial-runs for some mammoth and entertaining books in the future.

That said, I can say with all honesty that he is quite the master at finishing off his tales. On both occasions I’m not ashamed to say I felt a small tear come to the forefront as symmetry is served. And although due to circumstances the book was lost for a while, I am ultimately glad it came back into my life and I was able to finish it off.

Copies of Monochromacy can be ordered from the authors website.

News: Terra Incognita Podcast #014

Terra Incognita SF podcast wishes you all a Merry Christmas with the TISF Christmas Special featuring a bumper selection of speculative fiction stories read by the authors who created them!

• Trent Jamieson reads Always
• Keith Stevenson reads ... They First Make Mad
  
• Brendan Duffy reads a suitably Christmasy tale of familial joy, Come To Daddy, complete with rap and beatbox artistry from Matthew Chrulew!

Free for streaming and download at www.tisf.com.au, or on itunes.

Source: Keith Stevenson

News: Contributors sought for The Book Show blog

The Book Show, ABC Radio National, has a new blog and they want you to write for it.

It’s about reading, writing, books and publishing. It’s about the book launch you went to last night, or the writers’ festival event you really enjoyed. It’s your top 10 book-to-movie adaptations or the books you’ve spotted people reading on trains.

The Book Show and Express Media are in partnership to find a team of young Australian writers to contribute. If you’ve got an internet connection you can be part of it.

The fine print

• You must be able to blog at least once a week;
• You must be passionate about books, writers’ festivals, writing, reading – anything literary and cultural really.
• You are on the younger side of 30.

Applications close January 25^th; for full submission details, visit The Book Show blog.

Source: Ryan Paine

News: 2009 Chronos Awards nominations open

Nominations for the 2009 Chronos Awards, for excellence in Victorian SF, fantasy and horror in 2009, are now open. Nominations are being accepted for the following categories:

Professional

• Best Long Fiction (including collected works)
• Best Short Fiction
• Best Artwork

Fan

• Best Fan Writer
• Best Fan Artist
• Best Fan Written Work
• Best Fan Art Work
• Best Fan Publication in any Medium

Special Award for works not eligible in existing categories

• Best Achievement

All nominated works must have been published during the 2009 calendar year. Please refer to the complete Chronos Awards rules for details.

Nominations can be made by:

1. email to awards@continuum.org.au;
2. Lodging a comment here using the "Fire A Broadside" link. All comments are screened
3. Post to:

Chronos Awards Committee
65A Limestone Ave
BRADDON ACT 2612

All nominations must be received by final post on 10 January 2010 and the Chronos Awards Committee is not responsible for any delays in mail.

Winners of the Chronos Awards will be announced at Continuum 6: Future Tense.

Source: Danny Oz

Review: Dead Set

Channel 4 UK, 2008, script by Charlie Brooker, dir. Yann Demage

When the dead begin to rise and attack the living, when civilisation begins to crumble, a small number of people remain completely unconcerned. This is understandable, however, as these folks are the last remaining contestants in the UK Big Brother house. Safely cocooned from the outside world, and blissfully ignorant of the impending apocalypse, the BB housemates continue to go about their daily, meaningless routines. Then eviction night arrives...

To begin with a possible spoiler, Dead Set is undoubtedly the most dark and nihilistic outing into zombie-apocalypse territory I've ever seen. It's also one of the very best I've ever seen. Shot on a low budget, the five-episode TV series nonetheless benefits from high production values (including some shockingly realistic SFX). The relatively small cast all turn in wonderful performances guaranteed to make the viewer invest in the fates of the characters they play. Scripting is excellent, and the much-touted satirical element of the series is handled with a surprising amount of subtlety; sadly, I suspect that most Australian viewers won't truly appreciate the cameo roles played by UK BB host Davina McCall and various real-life former housemates.

The true genius of the concept behind this series isn't simply the 'unique' location of the BB household: it's the fact that this location allows scriptwriter Charlie Brooker to take the standard zombie-apocalypse plot - small band of mismatched folk seeking shelter in order to survive - and turn it on its head. Our survivors actually begin their journey in the safest place on earth, and rely for their survival upon their ability to not merely get along with one another, but to transcend the fact that they have all been specifically selected to not get along with one another. To put it another way, these are the sort of people who would already have been eaten in the first reel of any other zombie outing, and there's an horrific fascination in watching the usual banal behaviour of Big Brother housemates play out in a manner that has consequences beyond in-house bitchery.

For fans of horror, zombies, or even just a damn good teledrama, Dead Set is required viewing. The DVD is currently available in Australia from most applicable retailers.

News: 2009 Aurealis Awards finalists

The finalists for the 2009 Aurealis Awards have been announced! The Aurealis Awards celebrate the best of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror publications.

2009 FINALISTS (works published in 2009)

best science fiction novel

• Andrew McGahan, Wonders of a Godless World, Allen & Unwin
• Sean Williams, The Grand Conjunction, Astropolis Book Three, Orbit

best science fiction short story

• Peter M. Ball, ‘Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens’, Apex Magazine May 2009
• Peter M. Ball, ‘To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer's Lament’, Apex Magazine October 2009
• Christopher Green, ‘A Hundredth Name’, Abyss & Apex Magazine #31
• Greg Mellor, ‘Defence of the Realm’, Cosmos #25
• Mike Resnick & Lezli Robyn, ‘Soulmates’, Asimov's September 2009

best fantasy novel

• Peter M. Ball, Horn, Twelfth Planet Press
• Trudi Canavan, The Magician's Apprentice, Orbit
• Glenda Larke, The Last Stormlord, HarperVoyager
• K.E. Mills, Witches Incorporated, HarperVoyager
• K.J. Taylor, The Dark Griffin, HarperVoyager

best fantasy short story

• Christopher Green, ‘Father’s Kill’, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #24
• Ian McHugh, 'Once a Month, On a Sunday’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, ‘Siren Beat’, Roadkill/Siren Beat, Twelfth Planet Press
• Angela Slatter, ‘Words’ The Lifted Brow #5
• Lucy Sussex, ‘Something Better than Death’, Aurealis #42, Chimaera Publications

best horror novel

• Peter M. Ball, Horn, Twelfth Planet Press
• Honey Brown, Red Queen, Penguin Australia
• Stephen M. Irwin, The Dead Path, Hachette Australia
• Tracey O’Hara, Night's Cold Kiss, HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Kaaron Warren, Slights, Angry Robot Books

best horror short story

• Felicity Dowker, ‘Jesse's Gift’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
• Christopher Green, 'Having Faith', Nossa Morte, February 2009
• Paul Haines, 'Wives', X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing
• Paul Haines, 'Slice of Life - A Spot of Liver', Slice of Life, The Mayne Press
• Andrew J. McKiernan, 'The Message', Midnight Echoes, Australian Horror Writers Association

best anthology

• Alisa Krasnostein & Tehani Wessely (editors), New Ceres Nights, Twelfth Planet Press
• Keith Stevenson (editor), X6, Coeur de Lion Publishing
• Jonathan Strahan (editor), Eclipse 2, Night Shade Books
• Jonathan Strahan (editor), Eclipse 3, Night Shade Books
• Jonathan Strahan & Gardner Dozois (editors), The New Space Opera 2, Harper Eos

best collection

• Deborah Biancotti (author) & Alisa Krasnostein (editor), A Book of Endings, Twelfth Planet Press
• Greg Egan, Oceanic, Gollancz
• Paul Haines (author) & Geoff Maloney (editor), Slice of Life, The Mayne Press
• Robbie Matthews (author) & Donna Hanson (editor), Johnny Phillips Werewolf Detective, Australian Speculative Fiction

best illustated book/graphic novel

• Nathan Jurevicius, Scarygirl, Allen & Unwin
• Bruce Mutard, The Silence, Allen & Unwin
• Emily Rodda & Marc McBride, Secrets of Deltora, Scholastic Australia
• Madeleine Rosca, Hollow Fields, Seven Seas Entertainment

best young adult novel

• Kate Forsyth, The Puzzle Ring, Pan Macmillan
• Cassandra Golds, The Museum of Mary Child, Puffin Books
• Glenda Millard, A Small Free Kiss in the Dark, Allen & Unwin
• Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan Trilogy: Book One, Penguin
• Sean Williams, Scarecrow, HarperCollins Publishers Australia

best young adult short story

• Joanne Anderton, ‘Dragon Bones’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #39, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
• Sue Isle, ‘Paper Dragons’, Shiny #5, Twelfth Planet Press
• Ian McHugh, ‘Once a Month, on a Sunday’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #40, Andromeda Spaceways Publishing Co-operative Ltd
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, ‘Like Us, Shiny #5, Twelfth Planet Press
• Cat Sparks, ‘Seventeen’, Masques, CSFG

best children’s novel

• Deborah Abela, The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen, Random House Australia
• Kate Constable, Cicada Summer, Allen & Unwin
• Jen Storer, Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children, Penguin/Viking
• Gabrielle Wang, A Ghost in My Suitcase, Puffin Books

best children’s illustrated work/picture book

• Graeme Base, Enigma, Penguin/Viking
• Anna Fienberg (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator), Tashi and the Golem, Allen & Unwin
• Pamela Freeman (author), Kim Gamble (illustrator), Victor's Challenge, Walker Books Australia
• Dan McGuiness, Pilot and Huxley, Omnibus Books
• Gregory Rogers, The Hero of Little Street, Allen & Unwin

About the Aurealis Awards

The Aurealis Awards have a significant history; since the Awards' first ceremony, both the field of literature and the vibrancy of the Australian speculative fiction community have grown substantially. This list of past winners and finalists is not only a great guide to a basic bookshelf selection of the best Australian works, it is also a useful survey of more than a decade's worth of signficant topics and themes, a who's who of the genre locally, and a record of the growth of the Australian publishing industry's commitment to the speculative genres.

Winners will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 23 January 2010. Tickets for the ceremony will be available from the Judith Wright Centre box office.

Source: www.aurealisawards.com

News: '100 Lightnings' anthology seeks submissions

100 Lightnings is a new anthology edited by Stephen Studach, to be published by iconic cult publishers Paroxysm Press; this will be a one hundred work anthology, featuring some of the best new flash fiction from Australia and around the world.

Submitted pieces should be up to 1000 words in length. Accepting genre writing across Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Realism and Slipstream. Award winners and reprints are welcome.

The submission period is now open and will remain so until the editor has 100 brilliant works, and that announcement is made. From the editor: ‘I am the lightning collector. The lid is off the jar. Come thee and fork lightning...’

Please see the publisher website for MS format guidelines. Payment is in contributor’s copies. Please send up to three flashes to paroxysm@paroxysmpress.com

One hundred writers, one hundred outstanding flashes of brilliant plasma – literary lightning bolts captured in the mason jar of this volume!

Paroxysm Press rose from the gutter of the Australian music scene in 98’. It’s been fighting tooth and nail ever since to publish the type of hard edge, honest and high impact writing we all love and live for ourselves.

Source: Stephen Studach

News: Your Big Break film competition

Tourism New Zealand is offering aspiring filmmakers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get their work in front of director, producer, and screenwriter Peter Jackson. The short film competition 100% Pure New Zealand Presents Your Big Break will give the top five entrants time working with the Academy Award-winning team responsible for the The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Finalists will shoot and direct their own short films on location in New Zealand, with the assistance of executive producer Barrie Osborne and world-class post-production facility Park Road Post. They will then have their completed films personally viewed and judged by Peter Jackson.

Submissions and voting opened on 9 December, 2009.

Source: www.your-big-break.com

Book Review: Slice of Life

Paul Haines, Mayne Press, 2009

Slice of Life - Paul Haines' second collection of short fiction - comprises 17 examples of Haines' finest short stories (including one original), which makes this a very fine collection indeed.

Truth be told, I don't think think one can ever actually admit to 'enjoying' Haines' work; his tales are simply too bleak and twisted for that, and rendered darker still by his wonderful use of both prose and dialogue, which gives what should be quite surreal fiction an unpleasantly realistic tone. Add to this the fact that his tales often revolve around a character named 'Paul Haines' - a tactic that has been previously employed by other authors, but rarely to such effect - and the discomfort of the reader becomes complete; it's difficult not to imagine that the Paul Haines whose work comprises this collection is absolutely the same Paul Haines who murders, screws, masturbates, and engages in cannibalism in these tales. So, 'enjoy'? No. Not really. But I sure do appreciate the absolute hell out of Haines' writing.

I'm just not sure that I ever want to shake the author's hand; rightly or wrongly, I have the sneaking suspicion that I know where it's been...

In a nutshell, Slice of Life is brilliantly nasty and engrossing. Haines may very well be the best writer of dark fiction in Australia today, and genre readers cannot afford not to pick up a copy of this collection.

Book Review: A Book of Endings

Deborah Biancotti, Twelth Planet Press, 2009

A Book of Endings collects 21 tales by award-winning Australian author Deborah Biancotti, six of them written specifically for this publication, and amply showcases a talent that has made Biancotti a firm favourite with specfic readers and editors alike over much of the past decade.

That Biancotti has gravitated somewhat towards speculative fiction specifically is a definite boon to the genre, as one gets the distinct feeling that this author could be winning awards in any genre she might turn her hand to. Oddly enough, one of the major defining characteristics of Biancotti's work is that it usually defies easy genre classification, despite including elements of horror, fantasy and SF, as well as crime and literary fiction; this, however, in turn contributes to one of the major strengths of Biancotti's writing (other than her beautiful use of prose), which is her ability to consistently surprise the reader. One can never, ever quite see what's just around the bend in a Biancotti tale: tragedy, hope, death, redemption, or none (or all) of the above. Will the story contain any paranormal elements, or not? Impossible to tell. And the journey undertaken by the reader in order to find out makes for an engrossing, tense, entertaining trip every single time.

It's unfair to compare Biancotti's style to that of any other writer; Deborah Biancotti writes, very identifiably, like Deborah Biancotti, which is perhaps the highest praise I can give her work. That said, if I draw comparisons with Flannery O'Connor, Terry Dowling and Paul Haines, readers unfamiliar with Biancotti's work may get at least a vague idea as to what they're in for.

A Book of Endings is quite simply a brilliant collection. I greatly look forward to seeing more fiction, of any length, from this great Australian author.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for November ‘09

Dymocks Southland is general bookshop in Chltenham, Victoria, boasting a great range of speculative fiction. Below are listed the Top 10 bestselling horror tiltles for November 2009.

1. Under the Dome - Stephen King
2. Vampire Diaries (series) - L. J. Smith
2. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre - Amanda Grange
3. Immortals (series) - Alyson Noel
4. Twilight (series) - Stephanie Meyer
5. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
6. Evernight (series) - Claudia Gray
7. Vampire Academy (series) - Richele Mead
8. Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
9. The Vampire Stories of Arthur Conan Doyle
10. Dracula - Bram Stoker