Talie Helene

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers’ Association website.

Coeur de Lion announce X6
Australian independent press Coeur de Lion Publishing is proud to announce its latest project!

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for June ‘08
Dymocks Southland is a general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting a fairly extensive range of genre stock. The top 10 bestselling horror titles for June 2008 are…

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #35
Andromeda Spaceways, specialists in intergalactic passenger misplacement, pioneers of rude interstellar inflight service, justly acclaimed for the inventiveness of their fine-print responsibility disclaimers, and credited with having provided the five best textbook examples of spaceliner crash landings, are not content to rest on their laurels. Or anybody else’s, for that matter.

Changes to Victoria Police Film & Television Office assistance
The Victoria Police Film & Television Office, Media & Corporate Communications Division have announced that due to the changes in the Act, all industry practioners will need to officially apply to the Victoria Police Film and Television Office, (Media and Corporate Communications Department) for research assistance, checking scripts, providing advice on props and supplying police equipment.

Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival June 08
This month’s Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival is brought to you by the wonderful Wendy Waring…

Locus Awards Winners
Winners of this year’s Locus Awards, voted by readers of Locus Magazine in the annual Locus Poll, were were announced yesterday (21st June) at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Seattle, at an event led by Master of Ceremonies Connie Willis.

AntipodeanSF #121
AntipodeanSF #121 is available for your enjoyment at www.antisf.com

2009 Magic Carpet Ride Mentorship
Tamara Sellman, director of MRCentral, announces the opening of the 2009 Magic Carpet Ride Mentorship application period.

Crime and Justice Festival 2008 full program
The full program to the Crime and Justice Festival 2008, is published in the Age newspaper, A2 section. It is also available on the festival website.

Aurealis Awards now open
The judges have been selected and nominations now appear to be open for this year’s Aurealis Awards.

Australian horror classics essay
Over at Hellnotes, Ron Breznay has recently posted part 1 of an essay on classic Australian horror fiction as part of his ‘Old Masters of Horror’ series.

Black magazine exposes Australia’s dark side!
Today, Black Friday (June 13), Western Australian publisher Brimstone Press launches a major new national magazine – aptly titled BLACK: Australian Dark Culture – that explores Australia’s attraction to the dark side.

Graphic Novel Competition and Queenie Chan Instore Appearance
Borders Melbourne Central is conducting a Graphic Novel Competition. Simply create a Graphic Novel illustration for your chance to WIN prizes from Madman!

2008 Realise Your Dream Award
The British Council is once again calling for Australia’s best young creatives to enter the 2008 Realise Your Dream Award!

Midnight Echo Magazine Art Guidelines
Midnight Echo is open to submissions for Full Colour cover and Black & White internal illustrations. We are seeking all forms of artistic expression – your art form, your medium, your way – as long the submission is a finished piece. No rough sketches or outlines of ideas, just your best and finest work!

Generating Online Buzz for Creative Projects Workshop
AFTRS present a must-attend workshop for writers, designers, filmmakers, producers, gamers and marketers or anyone who wants to build and maintain a presence online – Generating Online Buzz for Creative Projects.

2008 Crime and Justice Festival
The Crime and Justice Festival is an annual event where the public, writers, social commentators, judicial luminaries and the legal profession come together to both celebrate and promote contemporary writings in the fields of justice and human rights, and to overlay these discussions with guest writers in the genre of crime fiction.

Dark Animus Awards and News
The Dark Animus double-sized anthology edition (10/11) is now out, and in the post for most contributors and subscribers. Dark Animus is officially open for general submissions — Voting for the Dark Animus Awards is also open.

MUFF09 Open For Entries
MUFF is a large festival screenings-wise, which plays a lot of work – not just shorts, but many excellent features

Kryptographik #24
Kryptographik is a trans-continental podcast featuring Brian (in the U.S.) and Damian (in Australia), providing news, reviews, commentary and interviews covering horror, dark fantasy and science-fiction.

DigiSPAA 2008 Competition
DigiSPAA is an initiative designed to encourage digital feature film production. Now in its fourth year, DigiSPAA provides a forum for Australian and New Zealand filmmakers to showcase their work in a competitive environment.

Infinitas Newsletter June 2008
The Infinitas Newsletter – published by Infinitas Bookshop – is now available for June 2008 at www.infinitas.com.au.

Voiceworks Call For Submissions
Voiceworks magazine is seeking submissions for issue #74, INNUENDO (deadline Sunday 6 July 2008).

Registrations for The Age 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival
Being part of a major international festival like The Age 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival means that your art will be viewed in an intriguing and incredible context by an audience ready to be challenged and amazed.

Brimstone Press publishing survey results
In April, Brimstone Press conducted a survey of independent dark fiction and speculative fiction publishing in Australia.

Transcript Of The AHWA Chat With Mort Castle Now Available
The Australian Horror Writers’ Association hosted a chat in the AHWA Chatroom, with special guest Mort Castle; the chat was held on the 27th of May 2008 – to great success! The association thanks Mort for generously contributing his time and expertise. A transcript of the AHWA chat with Mort Castle is now available online; this is available for everyone to read – you do not need to be a member to read the transcript.

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for May ‘08
Dymocks Southland is a general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting a fairly extensive range of genre stock. The top 10 bestselling horror titles for May 2008…

Australia in 2010 seeks volunteers at Denvention
Australia in 2010 is looking for volunteers (preferably Aussies), to help with Site Selection, and help out at the Bid Table and at bid parties during Denvention.

Transcript Of The AHWA Chat With Jonathan Maberry Now Available
The Australian Horror Writers’ Association hosted a chat in the AHWA Chatroom, with special guest Jonathan Maberry; the chat was held on the 29th of April 2008 – to great success! The association thanks Jonathan for generously contributing his time and expertise. A transcript of the AHWA chat with Jonathan Maberry is now available online; this is available for everyone to read – you do not need to be a member to read the transcript.

Kryptik Musings Episode #2 – Beyond The Dunwich Horror
1 Hour of Kryptography in only 28 MB; available as streaming audio online, via direct download (iPod not required), or visit the homepage for show notes, links and iTunes/Zune/Podcatcher feeds.

2008 Halloween Ghast Fest
Paula Berinstein, host and founder of the Californian-based The Writing Show, is pleased to announce the line-up of the 2008 Halloween Ghast Fest, presented in conjunction with the Australian Horror Writers Association.

Global Short Story Competition
The latest monthly Global Short Story Competition is open for entries now – and the management has contacted the AHWA enthusing, “We would love your members to be involved – and we would love some horror stories!”

Gen Con Australia 2008
Gen Con Australia brings gamers – both new and experienced – together under the one roof to enjoy four days of the best gaming in the Oceanic region.

Cine Fantástico at the Spanish Film Festival
The 2008 Spanish Film Festival presents another season of award-winning, entertaining, provocative and beautiful films.

Arts Law Week Victoria
The Arts Law Centre of Australia (Arts Law), in partnership with the Victorian Arts Law Consortium, and with the support of Arts Victoria and the Victoria Law Foundation, presents a series of free seminars and legal advice sessions for artists, arts organisations and creative people.

Southland Tales screening and live link-up Q&A with Richard Kelly
Popcorn Taxi is positively ecstatic to present the one and only theatrical screening of Richard Kelly’s follow-up to Donnie Darko – Southland Tales.

Storm Warning Screening and Q&A with Jamie Blanks
Popcorn Taxi is proud to present a first-look at new extreme Aussie horror film Storm Warning – winner of the Best Score and Best Special Effects categories at ScreamFest07.

Melbourne Zombie Shuffle
“What do we want?”
“BRAAIINS!”
“When do we want it?”
“BRAAAIINS!”

Next Wave Festival
Next Wave presents a jam-packed program of exhilarating new dance, music and theatre performances at its Festival this May.

2008 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards open for nominations
The 2008 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards are open to students, production companies, independent filmmakers, educational bodies and educational producers, and celebrate the very best of Australian and New Zealand product.

Studies in Australian Weird Fiction Subscription Packages
Equilibrium Books announces the introduction of specially priced subscription packages for Benjamin Szumskyj’s series of publications, which study the various aspects of Australian weird fiction.

Australian dark fiction promotion project
From Chuck McKenzie: “About a month back, I put out an invitation to Australian authors, editors and publishers of horror and dark fiction to supply details of their respective publications for inclusion in an upcoming project.”

Kryptographik #23
Kryptographik is a trans-continental podcast featuring Brian (in the U.S.) and Damian (in Australia), providing news, reviews, and commentary regarding science-fiction, dark fantasy and horror, in and out of comics.

New Ceres Anthology open for submissions
Twelfth Planet Press announces the forthcoming publication New Ceres: the Anthology.

Neil Gaiman’s Australian Appearances in May
A schedule of Neil Gaiman‘s trip to Australia at the end of April and beginning of May, has been published at journal.neilgaiman.com


The Mornington Peninsula Prize 2008
The Fellowship of Australian Writers (Vic) Peninsula Region has announced details of the Mornington Peninsula Prize for 2008.

Eclecticism #4
Issue #4 of Eclecticism – The Eclectic E-zine for Creative Minds has now be released!

Dying Breed to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival
New Australian movie Dying Breed is on the verge of a major international breakthrough – securing its world premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

Modern Love DVD Release
Accent Underground are poised to release the DVD of Alex Frayne’s Australian cult psychodrama Modern Love.

Masques anthology guidelines
Submissions for the next CSFG Publishing anthology, Masques, are welcome between 20 April-31 October 2008.

Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to  Antipodean publishing is preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers’ Association, visit australianhorror.com

This digest has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian Horror Haunts by Talie Helene.