Peter Tennant reviewed a significant amount of Australian horror in the latest edition of UK-based magazine Black Static (TTA Press); he kindly gave a very detailed story-by-story review of The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2012.
As an overview of the volume, he said the following:
“One of the things that always strikes me about the Australian genre scene is how prevalent women writers and editors appear to be … that strong female presence is reflected both in the makeup of this feature, with six of the eight books under consideration either written or edited by women, and the contents of THE YEAR’S BEST AUSTRALIAN FANTASY & HORROR 2012 (Ticonderoga Publications paperback, 488pp, £16.99), with twenty of the thirty four pieces it contains coming with a female by-line.
The book appears to follow a similar format to the Datlow/Windling helmed Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror of several years back. It opens with the editors, Liz Grzyb (Fantasy) and Talie Helene (Horror), giving an overview of the year in genre from an Australian perspective, then continues with a brief necrology and a tribute to the writer Paul Haines by Cat Sparks. It ends with contributors’ notes, a recommended reading list and a roundup of the various awards within the community. Sandwiched between those two slices of reality is the fiction, and a very substantial filling it is indeed … that demonstrates the genres of Horror and Fantasy are in good health on the other side of the world.
Another thing that strikes me about the Australian scene is that there is more overlap between the genres, with writers happy to flit between Horror and Fantasy, avoiding the kind of labelling and pigeonholing that passes for the norm elsewhere.”
For the full review, and many other excellent reviews, interviews, and fiction, purchase your copy of Black Static #39 from TTA Press; also available from selected newsstands and booksellers, in the UK and internationally.
Black Static #39 includes a review of:
Title : The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2012
Format : Hardback Book (ISBN 978-1921857485) RRP AU $55.00
Format : Trade Paperback (ISBN 978-1921857492) RRP AU $35.00
- Finalist – the Aurealis Award for Best Anthology
