The Australian Shadows Awards are annual literary awards established by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) in 2005 to honour the best published works of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian/New Zealand/Oceania resident in the previous calendar year.
Works are judged on their overall effect within the horror genre based on the author's skill, delivery, and the work's lasting resonance. Each year, a director is appointed by the AHWA to administer the award. Shortlists for each category are determined by a panel of judges, and the shortlisted nominees are announced in March/April every year.
From 2005 to 2008, the Australian Shadows Award evaluated novels, anthologies, and short stories against each other in a single category. In 2009, the award was expanded into three categories: Short Fiction, Long Fiction, and Edited Publication.
From 2011, the award was restructured to consist of five categories: Novel; Long Fiction (novellas and novelettes); Short Fiction (short stories); Collection (single author collections); and Edited Publication (anthologies and magazine issues). In 2013, the 'Long Fiction' award category was renamed 'Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction' in honour of New Zealand/Australian author Paul Haines.
The Australian Shadows Awards were sponsored by Altair Australia Books in its first two years, through the donation of two statuettes created by dark fantasy artist Brom (supplied by The Franklin Mint). Currently, winners of the awards receive a hand crafted trophy from the masters of the horror special effects industry, Nightshade FX.
Awards Winners and Nominees
In the below list, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the awards are always announced the following year. If the short story was originally published in an anthology with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the anthology title and anthology publisher's name is included.
Guest judge: Kim Wilkins
Award Director: Marty Young
"Father Muerte and the Flesh", Lee Battersby, Aurealis #36
"Pater Familias", Lee Battersby, Shadowed Realms #3
Shadow Box, Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Angela Challis (eds) (Brimstone Press)
"The Red Priest's Homecoming", Dirk Flinthart, 'Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #17
The Grinding House, Kaaron Warren (CSFG Publishing)
Judging panel: David Schembri, Miranda Siemienowicz, Mark Smith-Briggs
Guest judge: Robert Hood
Award Director: Marty Young
The Pilo Family Circus, Will Elliott (ABC Books)
"Father Renoir's Hands", Lee Battersby, Through Soft Air (Prime Books)
"The Dying Light", Deborah Biancotti, Eidolon I (Eidolon Books)
"The Blow-Off", Stephen Dedman, Brutarian #47
"The Bridal Bier", Carol Ryles, Eidolon I (Eidolon Books)
"Silk and Pearls", K. J. Bishop, Shadowed Realms #9
"The Cup of Nestor", Simon Brown (Ticonderoga Publications)
Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear, Terry Dowling (Cemetery Dance Publications)
The Mother, Brett McBean (Lothian Books)
Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Gary Kemble, Mark Smith-Briggs
Guest judge: Richard Harland
Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott
"Toother", Terry Dowling, Eclipse 1 (Night Shade Books)
"Between the Memories", Matthew Chrulew, Aurealis #38/39
"Subtle Invasion", David Conyers, The Black Book of Horror (Mortbury Press)
"The Dark and What It Said", Rick Kennett, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #28
"There Was Darkness", Martin Livings, Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
The Darkness Within, Jason Nahrung (Hachette Livre)
The Spiraling Worm, David Conyers & John Sunseri (Chaosium)
"Cooling the Crows", Kaaron Warren, In Bad Dreams (Eneit Press)
"The Wildflowers", Marty Young, Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Brett McBean, Chuck McKenzie
Guest judge: Sarah Endacott
Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott
"The Claws of Native Ghosts", Lee Battersby, The Beast Within (Graveside Books)
"This Way To The Exit", Sara Douglass, Dreaming Again (HarperVoyager)
"Rick Gets A Job", Jason Fischer, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37
"Lakeside", Christopher Green, Dreaming Again (HarperVoyager)
"Her Collection of Intimacy", Paul Haines, Black: Australian Dark Culture #2
Judging panel: Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn, Chuck McKenzie
Guest judges: Bill Congreve (Short Fiction), James Doig (Edited Publication), Martin Livings (Long Fiction)
Award Director: Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)
A Book of Endings, Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press)
Red Queen, Honey Brown (Penguin Australia)
"Wives", Paul Haines, X6 (Coeur de Lion Publishing)
The Dead Path, Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette Australia)
Grants Pass, Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books)
Festive Fear, Stephen Clark (Tasmaniac Publications)
Aurealis #42, Stuart Mayne, (Chimaera Publications)
"Six Suicides", Deborah Biancotti, A Book of Endings (Twelfth Planet Press)
"The Emancipated Dance", Felicity Dowker, Midnight Echo #2
"Busking", Jason Fischer, Midnight Echo #3
"The Message", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #2
"The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfalls", Kaaron Warren, Exotic Gothic 3, Ash-Tree Press
Judging panel: Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn, Jeff Ritchie
Guest judges: Kaaron Warren (Short Fiction), Rocky Wood (Edited Publication), Chuck McKenzie (Long Fiction)
Award Director: Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Under Stones, Bob Franklin (Affirm Press)
Bleed, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healy (Allen & Unwin)
Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Picador Australia)
The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)
Macabre: A Journey through Australia's Darkest Fears, Angela Challis & Marty Young (eds) (Brimstone Press)
Midnight Echo #4, Lee Battersby (ed) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
Scary Kisses, Liz Grzyb (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
Scenes From The Second Storey, Amanda Pillar & Pete Kempshall (eds) (Morrigan Books)
"She Said", Kirstyn McDermott, Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)
"Bread and Circuses", Felicity Dowker, Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)
"Brisneyland by Night", Angela Slatter, Sprawl (Twelfth Planet Press)
"All The Clowns In Clowntown", Andrew J. McKiernan, Macabre: A Journey through Australia's Darkest Fears (Brimstone Press)
"Dream Machine", David Conyers, Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)
Judging Panel: Marty Young, James A. Moore
No award
The Broken Ones, Stephen M. Irwin (Random House)
"The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt", Paul Haines, The Last Days of Kali Yuga (Brimstone Press)
"And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living", Deborah Biancotti, Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
"Sleeping and the Dead", Cat Sparks, Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
"From the Teeth of Strange Children", Lisa L. Hannett, Bluegrass Symphony (Ticonderoga Publications)
"Shovel Man Joe", Amanda J. Spedding, Shades of Sentience
Nominees
"Out Hunting for Teeth", Joanne Anderton, Midnight Echo #6
"The Sea at Night", Joanne Anderton, Dead Red Heart (Ticonderoga Publications)
"Taking It for the Team", Tracie McBride, Dead Red Heart (Ticonderoga Publications)
"The Wanderer in Darkness", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #6
Dead Red Heart, Russell B. Farr (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
More Scary Kisses, Liz Grzyb (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
Midnight Echo #6, David Kernot, David Conyers and Jason Fischer (eds) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds) (Ticonderoga Publications)
Tales of Sin and Madness, Brett McBean (Thunderstorm Books/Legume Man Books)
Bluegrass Symphony, Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications)
The Last Days of Kali Yuga, Paul Haines (Brimstone Press)
Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies, Lucy Sussex (Ticonderoga Publications)
Apocrypha Sequence, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (self-published)
Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works Panel: Steve Gerlach, Greg Chapman, Stephen Clark
Novels/Novellas Panel: Gerry Huntman, Jenny Blackford, B. Michael Radburn
Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum Publishing)
The Corpse Rat King, Lee Battersby (Angry Robot Books)
Blood and Dust, Jason Nahrung (Xoum Publishing)
"Sky", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
"Critique", Daniel I. Russell (Dark Continents Publishing)
"Escena de un Asesinato", Robert Hood, Exotic Gothic 4 (PS Publishing)
"Birthday Suit", Martin Livings, Living with the Dead (Dark Prints Press)
"To Wish On A Clockwork Heart", Felicity Dowker, Bread and Circuses (Ticonderoga Publications)
"Pigroot Flat", Jason Fischer, Midnight Echo #8
"Birthday Suit", Martin Livings, Living with the Dead (Dark Prints Press)
"They Don't Know That We Know What They Know", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #8
"Creek", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
"Mountain", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
"Road", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
"A Monstrous Touch", Marty Young, Dangers Untold (Alliteration Ink)
Surviving The End, Craig Bezant (Dark Prints Press)
Cthulhu Unbound 3, David Conyers and Brian M. Sammons (eds) (Permuted Press)
The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds) (Ticonderoga Publications)
Through Splintered Walls, Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet Press)
Bread and Circuses, Felicity Dowker (Ticonderoga Publications)
Living With The Dead, Martin Livings (Dark Prints Press)
Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works Panel: Steve Gerlach, Gitte Christensen, Lee Pletzers
Novels/Novellas Panel: Gerry Huntman, Geoff Brown, Chuck McKenzie
809 Jacob Street, Marty Young (Black Beacon Books)
Undead Kelly, Timothy Bowden (Severed Press)
Topsiders, Scott Tyson (Legume Man Books)
"The Unwanted Women of Surrey", Kaaron Warren, Queen Victoria's Book of Spells (Tor Books)
"Soul Killer", Robert Hood, Zombies vs Robots: Diplomacy (IDW Publishing)
"The Home For Broken Dolls", Kirstyn McDermott, Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)
"Caterpillars", Debbie Cowens, Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror (Paper Road Press)
"Nip, Tuck, Zip, Pluck", John Paul Fitch, Psychopomp Volume 4 (Artifice Comics)
"Fence Lines", Joanne Anderton, The Bone Chime Song and other stories (FableCroft Publishing)
"The Nest", C. S. McMullen, Nightmare Magazine #12
"The Dead Way", J. C. Hart, Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror (Paper Road Press)
Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror, Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (eds) (Paper Road Press)
Midnight Echo #9, Geoff Brown (ed) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
A Killer Among Demons, Craig Bezant (ed) (Dark Prints Press)
Star Quake 1, Sophie Yorkston (ed) (IFWG Publishing)
The Bone Chime Song and other stories, Jo Anderton (FableCroft Publishing)
There was no nominee shortlist in 2013.
Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works Panel: Christine Ferdinands, Natalie Satakovski, B. R. de Loryn
Novels/Novellas Panel: Jay Caselberg (novellas only), Kathy Williams-DeVries, Lee Pletzers, B. R. de Loryn
Wolf Creek: Origin, Aaron Sterns and Greg McLean (Penguin)
Suicide Forest, Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein Books)
Book of the Dead, Greig Beck (Momentum Books)
Dark Deceit, Lauren Dawes (Momentum Books)
Davey Ribbon, Matthew Tait (HodgePodge Press)
Dreams of Destruction, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (self-published)
Ghost Camera, Darcy Coates (self-published)
"The Shark God Covenant", Robert Hood, Dimension6 #3
"Shadows of the Lonely Dead", Alax Baxter, Suspended in Dusk (Books of the Dead Press)
"Mephisto", Alan Baxter, Daily Science Fiction
"Mummified Monk", Rebecca Fung, Daylight Dims Volume 2
"Bones", Michelle Jager, SQ Mag #14
"Last Year When We Were Young", Andrew J. McKiernan, Last Year When We Were Young (Satalyte Publishing)
SQ Mag #14, Sophie Yorkston (ed) (IFWG Publishing)
SNAFU, Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding (eds) (Cohesion Press)
Suspended in Dusk, Simon Dewar (ed) (Books of the Dead Press)
Last Year When We Were Young, Andrew J. McKiernan (Satalyte Publishing)
There was no nominee shortlist in 2014.
