Collects 33 stories of horror and dark fantasy that acknowledge the undead as ineradicable members of Australian society. The best selections twine the vampire incursion with Australian history, as in Shona Husk’s “Mutiny on the Scarborough,” whose vampire narrator reveals himself to have been one of the earliest convicts transported Down Under. Angela Slatter’s “Sun Falls,” about a luckless vamp dependent upon his smart-aleck human slave, and “The Tide,” a multi-authored story that charts vampires’ rise from second-class citizen to the nation’s ruling elite, mix horror with humor.

The stories

• “The Tide”, Martin Livings and friends*
• “Mutiny on the Scarborough”, Shona Husk
• “Sun Falls”, Angela Slatter
• “Such is Life”, Jeremy Sadler
• “Apologetoi”, Chris Lawson
• “Punishment of the Sun”, Alan Baxter
• “Red Delicious”, Felicity Dowker
• “Just a Matter of Economics”, Yvonne Eve Walus
• “Quarantine”, Patty Jansen
• “Out of the Grave”, Amanda Pillar
• “Desert Blood”, Marty Young
• “Thin Air”, Simon Brown
• “Kissed by the Sun”, Jodi Cleghorn
• “Bats”, Jane Routley
• “Black Heart”, Joanna Fay
• “Renfield’s Wife”, Damon Cavalchini
• “Listening to Tracy”, Jen White
• “Breaking the Drought”, Jay Caselberg
• “Children of the Cane”, Jason Nahrung
• “The Sea at Night”, Joanne Anderton
• “Sky in the Morning”, Sonia Marcon
• “Taking it for the Team”, Tracie McBride
• “All that Glisters”, Pete Kempshall
• “The Rider”, Martin Livings
• “Vitality”, George Ivanoff
• “Coming Home”, Kathryn Hore
• “The Little Red Man”, Ray Gates
• “Deathborn Light”, Helen Stubbs
• “The Life Stealer”, Donna Maree Hanson
• “Behind the Black Mask”, Jacob Edwards
• “Interview with the Jiangshi”, Anne Mok
• “White and Red in the Black”, Lisa L Hannett
• “Lady Yang’s Lament”, Penelope Love

*Carol Ryles, Lezli Robyn, Kaaron Warren, Patty Jansen, Alan Baxter, Devin Jeythurai, Felicity Dowker, Andrew J McKiernan, Gillian Pollack, Chuck McKenzie

In the first volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2010, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 33 stories selected are

• RJ Astruc: “Johnny and Babushka”
• Peter M Ball: “L’esprit de L’escalier”
• Alan Baxter: “The King’s Accord”
• Jenny Blackford: “Mirror”
• Gitte Christensen: “A Sweet Story”
• Matthew Chrulew: “Schubert By Candlelight”
• Bill Congreve: “Ghia Likes Food”
• Rjurik Davidson: “Lovers In Caeli-Amur”
• Felicity Dowker: “After the Jump”
• Dale Elvy: “Night Shift”
• Jason Fischer: “The School Bus”
• Dirk Flinthart: “Walker”
• Bob Franklin: “Children’s Story”
• Christopher Green: “Where We Go To Be Made Lighter”
• Paul Haines: “High Tide At Hot Water Beach”
• Lisa L. Hannett: “Soil From My Fingers”
• Stephen Irwin: “Hive”
• Gary Kemble: “Feast Or Famine”
• Pete Kempshall: “Brave Face”
• Tessa Kum: “Acception”
• Martin Livings: “Home”
• Maxine McArthur: “A Pearling Tale”
• Kirstyn McDermott: “She Said”
• Andrew McKiernan: “The Memory Of Water”
• Ben Peek: “White Crocodile Jazz”
• Simon Petrie: “Dark Rendezvous”
• Lezli Robyn: “Anne-droid of Green Gables”
• Angela Rega: “Slow Cookin’ “
• Angela Slatter: “The Bone Mother”
• Angela Slatter & Lisa L. Hannett: “The February Dragon”
• Grant Stone: “Wood”
• Kaaron Warren: “That Girl”
• Janeen Webb: “Manifest Destiny”

In the second volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2011, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers. Includes Angela Slatter’s British Fantasy Award-winning story “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter”.

The 32 stories selected are

• Peter M Ball “Briar Day” (Moonlight Tuber)
• Lee Battersby “Europe After The Rain” (After the Rain, Fablecroft Press)
• Deborah Biancotti “Bad Power” (Bad Power, Twelfth Planet Press)
• Jenny Blackford “The Head in the Goatskin Bag” (Kaleidotrope)
• Simon Brown “Thin Air” (Dead Red Heart, Ticonderoga Publications)
• David Conyers and David Kernot “Winds Of Nzambi” (Midnight Echo #6, AHWA)
• Stephen Dedman “More Matter, Less Art” (Midnight Echo #6, AHWA)
• Sara Douglass & Angela Slatter “The Hall of Lost Footsteps” (The Hall of Lost Footsteps, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Felicity Dowker “Berries & Incense” (More Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Terry Dowling “Dark Me, Night You” (Midnight Echo #5, AHWA)
• Jason Fischer “Hunting Rufus” (Midnight Echo #5, AHWA)
• Christopher Green “Letters Of Love From The Once And Newly Dead” (Midnight Echo #5, AHWA)
• Paul Haines “The Past Is A Bridge Best Left Burnt” (The Last Days of Kali Yuga, Brimstone Press)
• Lisa L Hannett “Forever, Miss Tapekwa County” (Bluegrass Symphony, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Richard Harland “At The Top Of The Stairs” (Shadows and Tall Trees #2, Undertow Publications)
• John Harwood “Face To Face” (Ghosts by Gaslight, HarperCollins)
• Pete Kempshall “Someone Else To Play With” (Beauty Has Her Way, Dark Quest Books)
• Jo Langdon “Heaven” (After the Rain, Fablecroft Press)
• Maxine McArthur “The Soul of the Machine” (Winds of Change, CSFG)
• Ian McHugh “The Wishwriter’s Wife” (Daily Science Fiction)
• Andrew J McKiernan “Love Death” (Aurealis #45, Chimaera Publications)
• Kirstyn McDermott “Frostbitten” (More Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Margaret Mahy “Wolf Night” (The Wilful Eye – Tales From the Tower #1, Allen & Unwin)
• Anne Mok “Interview with the Jiangshi” (Dead Red Heart, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Jason Nahrung “Wraiths” (Winds of Change, CSFG)
• Anthony Panegyres “Reading Coffee” (Overland, OL Society)
• Tansy Rayner Roberts “The Patrician” (Love and Romanpunk, Twelfth Planet Press)
• Angela Rega “Love In the Atacama or the Poetry of Fleas” (Crossed Genres, CGP)
• Angela Slatter “The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter” (A Book of Horrors, Jo Fletcher Books)
• Lucy Sussex “Thief of Lives” (Thief of Lies, Twelfth Planet Press)
• Kyla Ward “The Kite” (The Land of Bad Dreams, P’rea Press)
• Kaaron Warren “All You Can Do Is Breathe” (Blood and Other Cravings, Tor)

In the third volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2012, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 34 stories selected are

• Joanne Anderton, “Tied To The Waste”, Tales Of Talisman
• R.J. Astruc, “The Cook of Pearl House, A Malay Sailor by the Name of Maurice”, Dark Edifice 2
• Lee Battersby, “Comfort Ghost”, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56
• Alan Baxter, “Tiny Lives”, Daily Science Fiction
• Jenny Blackford, “A Moveable Feast”, Bloodstones
• Eddy Burger, “The Witch’s Wardrobe”, Dark Edifice 3
• Isobelle Carmody, “The Stone Witch”, Under My Hat
• Jay Caselberg, “Beautiful”, The Washington Pastime
• Stephen Dedman, “The Fall”, Exotic Gothic 4, Postscripts
• Felicity Dowker, “To Wish On A Clockwork Heart”, Bread And Circuses
• Terry Dowling, “Nightside Eye”, Cemetary Dance
• Tom Dullemond, “Population Management”, Danse Macabre
• Thoraiya Dyer, “Sleeping Beauty”, Epilogue
• Will Elliot, “Hungry Man”, The One That Got Away
• Jason Fischer, “Pigroot Flat”, Midnight Echo 8
• Dirk Flinthart, “The Bull In Winter”, Bloodstones
• Lisa L. Hannett, “Sweet Subtleties”, Clarkesworld
• Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, “Bella Beaufort Goes To War”, Midnight And Moonshine
• Narrelle M. Harris, “Stalemate”, Showtime
• Kathleen Jennings, “Kindling”, Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear
• Gary Kemble, “Saturday Night at the Milkbar”, Midnight Echo 7
• Margo Lanagan, “Crow And Caper, Caper And Crow”, Under My Hat
• Martin Livings, “You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet”, Living With The Dead
• Penelope Love, “A Small Bad Thing”, Bloodstones
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “Torch Song”, From Stage Door Shadows
• Karen Maric, “Anvil Of The Sun”, Aurealis
• Faith Mudge, “Oracle’s Tower”, To Spin A Darker Stair
• Nicole Murphy, “The Black Star Killer”, Damnation And Dames
• Jason Nahrung, “The Last Boat To Eden”, Surviving The End
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “What Books Survive”, Epilogue
• Angela Slatter, “Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”, This Is Horror Webzine
• Anna Tambour, “The Dog Who Wished He’d Never Heard Of Lovecraft”, Lovecraft Zine
• Kyla Ward, “The Loquacious Cadaver”, The Lion And The Aardvark: Aesop’s Modern Fables
• Kaaron Warren, “River Of Memory”, Zombies Vs. Robots

In the fifth volume of this award-winning series, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have compiled an impressive list of fantastic stories first published in 2014, from New Zealand’s and Australia’s finest writers.

The 28 stories selected are

• Alan Baxter, “Shadows of the Lonely Dead” [Suspended in Dusk]
• James Bradley, “The Changeling” [Fearsome Magics]
• Imogen Cassidy, “Soul Partner” [Aurealis 74]
• David Conyers & David Kernot, “The Bullet & The Flesh” [World War Cthulhu]
• Terry Dowling, “The Corpse Rose” [Nightmare Carnival]
• Thoraiya Dyer, “The Oud” [Long Hidden Anthology]
• Jason Franks, “Metempsychosis” [SQ Mag]
• Michelle Goldsmith, “Of Gold and Dust” [Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 60]
• Michael Grey, “1884” [Cthulhu Lives: An Eldrich Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft]
• Stephanie Gunn, “Escapement” [Kisses by Clockwork]
• Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, “Vox” [The Female Factory]
• Gerry Huntman, “Of The Colour Tumeric, Climbing on Fingertips” [Night Terrors III]
• Rick Kennett, “Dolls for Another Day” [The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows: Vol 2]
• Charlotte Kieft, “Chiaroscuro” [Disquiet]
• SG Larner, “Kneaded” [Phantazein]
• Claire McKenna, “Yard” [Use Only As Directed]
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “A Prayer for Lazarus” [Last Year, When We Were Young]
• Faith Mudge, “Signature” [Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi]
• Jason Nahrung, “The Preservation Society” [Dimension6]
• Emma Osborne, “The Box Wife” [Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre & Twisted #9]
• Angela Rega, “Shedding Skin” [Crossed Genres]
• Tansy Rayner Roberts, “The Love Letters of Swans” [Phantazein]
• Angela Slatter, “The Badger Bride” [Strange Tales IV]
• Cat Sparks, “New Chronicles of Andras Thorn” [Dimension6 Annual Collection 2014]
• Anna Tambour, “The Walking-stick Forest” [Tor.com]
• Kyla Ward, “Necromancy” [Spectral Realms #1]
• Kaaron Warren, “Bridge of Sighs” [Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror]
• Janeen Webb, “Lady of the Swamp” [Death at the Blue Elephant]