Australian Shadows Awards

The Australian Shadows Awards, also known as the Australasian 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.

Awards criteria and history
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.

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.

Judges

 * Guest judge: Kim Wilkins
 * Award Director: Marty Young

Winner

 * "Father Muerte and the Flesh", Lee Battersby, Aurealis #36

Nominees

 * "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)

Judges

 * Judging panel: David Schembri, Miranda Siemienowicz, Mark Smith-Briggs
 * Guest judge: Robert Hood
 * Award Director: Marty Young

Winner

 * The Pilo Family Circus, Will Elliott (ABC Books)

Nominees

 * "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)

Honourable mentions

 * "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)

Judges

 * Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Gary Kemble, Mark Smith-Briggs
 * Guest judge: Richard Harland
 * Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott

Winner

 * "Toother", Terry Dowling, Eclipse 1 (Night Shade Books)

Nominees

 * "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)

Honourable mentions

 * 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)

Judges

 * Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Brett McBean, Chuck McKenzie
 * Guest judge: Sarah Endacott
 * Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott

Winner

 * "The Claws of Native Ghosts", Lee Battersby, The Beast Within (Graveside Books)

Nominees

 * "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

Judges

 * 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

Winner

 * Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * Grants Pass, Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books)

Nominees

 * Festive Fear, Stephen Clark (Tasmaniac Publications)
 * Aurealis #42, Stuart Mayne (Chimaera Publications)

Winner

 * "Six Suicides", Deborah Biancotti, A Book of Endings (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees

 * "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

Judges

 * 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

Winner

 * Under Stones, Bob Franklin (Affirm Press)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * Macabre: A Journey through Australia's Darkest Fears, Angela Challis & Marty Young (eds) (Brimstone Press)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * "She Said", Kirstyn McDermott, Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)

Nominees

 * "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)

Judges

 * Judging panel: Marty Young, James A. Moore

Winner

 * No award

Honourable mention

 * The Broken Ones, Stephen M. Irwin (Random House)

Winner

 * "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt", Paul Haines, The Last Days of Kali Yuga (Brimstone Press)

Nominees

 * "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)

Winner

 * "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

Winner

 * Dead Red Heart, Russell B. Farr (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * Tales of Sin and Madness, Brett McBean (Thunderstorm Books/Legume Man Books)

Nominees

 * 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)

Judges

 * Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Greg Chapman, Stephen Clark
 * Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Jenny Blackford, B. Michael Radburn

Winner

 * Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum Publishing)

Nominees

 * The Corpse Rat King, Lee Battersby (Angry Robot Books)
 * Blood and Dust, Jason Nahrung (Xoum Publishing)

Winner

 * "Sky", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees

 * "Critique", Daniel I. Russell (Dark Continents Publishing)
 * "Escena de un Asesinato", Robert Hood, Exotic Gothic 4 (PS Publishing)

Winner

 * "Birthday Suit", Martin Livings, Living with the Dead (Dark Prints Press)

Nominees

 * "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)

Winner

 * Surviving The End, Craig Bezant (Dark Prints Press)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * Through Splintered Walls, Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees

 * Bread and Circuses, Felicity Dowker (Ticonderoga Publications)
 * Living With The Dead, Martin Livings (Dark Prints Press)

Judges

 * Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Gitte Christensen, Lee Pletzers
 * Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Geoff Brown, Chuck McKenzie

Winner

 * 809 Jacob Street, Marty Young (Black Beacon Books)

Nominees

 * Undead Kelly, Timothy Bowden (Severed Press)
 * Topsiders, Scott Tyson (Legume Man Books)

Winner

 * "The Unwanted Women of Surrey", Kaaron Warren, Queen Victoria's Book of Spells (Tor Books)

Nominees

 * "Soul Killer", Robert Hood, Zombies vs Robots: Diplomacy (IDW Publishing)
 * "The Home For Broken Dolls", Kirstyn McDermott, Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)

Winner

 * "Caterpillars", Debbie Cowens, Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror (Paper Road Press)

Nominees

 * "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)

Winner

 * Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror, Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (eds) (Paper Road Press)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * The Bone Chime Song and other stories, Jo Anderton (FableCroft Publishing)

Nominees

 * There was no nominee shortlist in 2013.

Judges

 * 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

Winner

 * Wolf Creek: Origin, Aaron Sterns and Greg McLean (Penguin)

Nominees

 * 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)

Winner

 * Dreams of Destruction, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (self-published)

Nominees

 * Ghost Camera, Darcy Coates (self-published)
 * "The Shark God Covenant", Robert Hood, Dimension6 #3

Winner

 * "Shadows of the Lonely Dead", Alan Baxter, Suspended in Dusk (Books of the Dead Press)

Nominees

 * "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)

Winner

 * SQ Mag #14, Sophie Yorkston (ed) (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * SNAFU, Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding (eds) (Cohesion Press)
 * Suspended in Dusk, Simon Dewar (ed) (Books of the Dead Press)

Winner

 * Last Year When We Were Young, Andrew J. McKiernan (Satalyte Publishing)

Nominees

 * There was no nominee shortlist in 2014.

Winner

 * In Vaulted Halls Entombed, Alan Baxter

Nominees

 * The Haunting of Gillespie House, Darcy Coates
 * Night Shift, Dirk Flinthart
 * The Whimper, Robert Hood

Winner

 * Blurring the Line, Marty Young

Nominees

 * Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar
 * Lighthouses, Cameron Trost
 * Midnight Echo 11, Kaaron Warren

Winner

 * Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Rob Hood

Nominees

 * The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings
 * Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin

Winner

 * "Mine Intercom", Kaaron Warren

Nominees

 * "The Bone Maiden", Greg Chapman
 * "Eight Seconds", Pandora Hope
 * "El Caballo Muerte", Martin Livings
 * "Perfect Little Stitches", Deborah Sheldon

Winner

 * The Road to Golgotha, G. N. Braun & Amanda J. Spedding

Nominees

 * Troll, Michael Michalandos
 * The Monster, Ben Rosenthal
 * Undad, Shane W. Smith

Winner

 * The Literary Gothic, Marija Elektra Rodriguez

Winner

 * The Catacombs, Jeremy Bates

Nominees

 * The Haunting of Blackwood House, Darcy Coates
 * The Transgressions Cycle: The Mother, Mike Jones
 * The Transgressions Cycle: The Reparation, Mike Jones
 * The Big Smoke, Jason Nahrung

2016
Award Director: Claire Fitzpatrick

Winner

 * "His Shining Day", Richard Harland (Dreaming in the Dark)

Nominees

 * "D Is for Death", Pete Aldin (C is for Chimera)
 * "Midnight in the Graffiti Tunnel", Terry Dowling (Dreaming in the Dark)
 * "Protege", Anthony Ferguson (Monsters Among Us)
 * "No Other Men in Mitchell", Rose Hartley (Nightmare 2/16)
 * "Selfie", Lee Murray (SQ Mag 5/16)
 * "What the Sea Wants", Deb Sheldon (SQ Mag 2/16)
 * "Uncontainable", Helen Stubbs (Apex Magazine 12/16)
 * "All Roll Over", Kaaron Warren (In Your Face)
 * "Fade to Grey", Janeen Webb (Dreaming in the Dark)

Winner

 * Crow Shine, Alan Baxter (Ticonderoga)

Nominees

 * Concentration, Jack Dann (PS)
 * Everything Is Fine, Grant Stone (Racket House)

Winner

 * Dead of Night, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, ed. (Australian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees

 * Dreaming in the Dark, Jack Dann, ed. (PS Australia)
 * At the Edg'e, Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray, eds. (Paper Road)

Winner

 * The Grief Hole, Kaaron Warren (IFWG)

Nominees

 * Hollow House, Greg Chapman (Omnium Gatherum)
 * The Devil’s Prayer, Luke Gracias (self-published)
 * Presumed Dead, Rick Kennett (self-published)
 * The Invasion, Brett McBean (Sinister Grin)
 * Into the Mist, Lee Murray (Cohesion)
 * Unbidden, TJ Park (HarperImpulse)
 * Devil Dragon, Deborah Sheldon (Severed)

Winner

 * "Tipuna Tapu", Dan Rabarts (And Then…: The Great Big Book of Awesome Adventure Tales, Vol I)

Nominees

 * "Box Of Bones", Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein)
 * "Served Cold", Alan Baxter (Dreaming in the Dark)
 * "The Eschatologist", Greg Chapman (Voodoo)
 * "The Heart of the Mission", Matthew R. Davis (Oz Horror Con)
 * "Burnt Sugar", Kirstyn McDermott (Dreaming in the Dark)

2017
Award Director: J. Ashley Smith

Winner

 * The Body Horror Book, Claire Fitzpatrick (Oscillate Wildly Press)

Nominees

 * "101 Weird Writers #46 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa", Kat Clay (Weird Fiction Review)
 * Literary Serial Killer Fiction: The Evolution of a Genre, William Cook (Victoria University, Wellington NZ)
 * It Follows is the Millennial STD Parable of Our Time, Maria Lewis (SBS)
 * "A Shared Ambition: Horror Writers in Horror Fiction", Kyla Lee Ward (AHWA, Midnight Echo #12)

Written Work in a Comic/Graphic Novel
No award.

Winner

 * Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 1, Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira & Bryce J. Stevens (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * Midnight Echo #12, Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Anthony P. Ferguson (AHWA)
 * Below the Stairs – Tales from the Cellar, Steven Dillon (Things in the Well)

Winner

 * Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)

Winner

 * "The Banksia Boys", Matthew J. Morrison (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #66)

Nominees

 * "Outside a Drifter", Lisa L. Hannett (Looming Low Vol.1, Dim Shores Press)
 * "The Hand Walker", Rue Karney (Pacific Monsters, Fox Spirit Press)
 * "The Circle Line", Martin Livings (Between the Tracks, Things in the Well)
 * "The Little Mermaid", in Passing, Angela Slatter (The Review of Australian Fiction, April 2017)
 * "The Big Reveal", David Stevens (Kaleidotrope)

Winner

 * "Ismail's Expulsion", Brian Craddock (Between the Tracks, Things in the Well)

Nominees

 * "Hope and Walker", Andrew Cull (Vermillion2One)
 * "This Impossible Gift", Matthew R. Davis (Midnight Echo #12, AHWA)
 * "No Good Deed", Angela Slatter (New Fears, Titan Books)
 * "Furtherest", Kaaron Warren (Dark Screams Vol. 7, Cemetery Dance)
 * "Eden in the End", Ashlee Scheuerman (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing)

Winner

 * Corpselight (Verity Fassbinder Book 2), Angela Slatter (Jo Fletcher Books)

Nominees

 * Aletheia, J. S. Breukelaar (Crystal Lake Publishing)
 * Slithers, W. W. Mortensen (Self Published)
 * Soon, Lois Murphy (Transit Lounge)
 * Providence Place, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib Publications)

2018
Award Director: Silvia Brown

Winner

 * "Revenants of the Antipodes", Kyla Lee Ward (HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume V)

Nominees

 * "Polarity", Jay Caselberg (The Literary Hatchet 8-9/18)
 * "The Middle of the Night", Rebecca Fraser (Breach #09)
 * "Your Mortician Knows", Bee Nielsen (A Little Ray of Obsidian Black)
 * "Matinee", Hester J. Rook (Chrome Baby 4/12/18)

Winner

 * The Demon: Hell is Earth, Andrew Constant, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy & Chris Sotomayor (DC)

Winner

 * Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Horror, Lee Murray, ed. (Adrenaline)

Nominees

 * Behind the Mask, Steve Dillon, ed. (Oz Horror Con)
 * Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud and Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2, Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira & Bryce J. Stevens, eds. (IFWG)

Winner

 * Shadows on the Wall, Steven Paulsen (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
 * Bones, Andrew Cull (Vermillion2One)
 * The Dalziel Files, Brian Craddock (Broken Puppet Books)
 * Exploring Dark Fiction #2: A Primer to Kaaron Warren, Eric J. Guignard, ed. (Dark Moon)
 * Beneath the Ferny Tree, David Schembri (Close-Up)

Winner

 * "Riptide", Dan Rabarts (Suspended in Dusk II)

Nominees

 * "The House of Jack’s Girls", Lee Battersby (PseudoPod 10/12/18)
 * "The Ward of Tindalos", Debbie Cowens & Matt Cowens (Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud)
 * "Planned and Expected", Piper Mejia (Breach #09)
 * "Slither", Jason Nahrung (Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2)

Winner

 * "The Black Sea", Chris Mason (Beneath the Waves: Tales from the Deep)

Nominees

 * "Time and Tide", Robert Hood (Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2)
 * "Thylacines", Deborah Sheldon (Severed)
 * "Love Thee Better", Kaaron Warren (Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein)

Winner

 * Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (Omnium Gatherum)

Nominees

 * Devouring Dark, Alan Baxter (Grey Matter)
 * Teeth of the Wolf, Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray (Raw Dog Screaming)
 * Contrition, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

2019
The winners were announced in June 2019:

Winner

 * "Taxonomy of Captured Roses", Hester J. Rook (Kaleidotrope, Autumn '19)

Nominees

 * "Separation", Jay Caselberg (The Literary Hatchet #23)
 * "Please Do Not Feed the Animals", Anne Casey (out of emptied cups)
 * "Ode to a Black Hole", Charles Lovecraft (Spectral Realms Winter '19)
 * "Brine and Vanishings", Hester J. Rook (Luminality #21)
 * "Boat of a Million Years", Kyla Lee Ward (The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities)

Winner

 * The Demon: Hell is Earth, Andrew Constant, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy & Chris Sotomayor (DC)

Winner

 * Midnight Echo Volume 14, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (Australasian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees

 * Beside the Seaside: Tales from the Day-Tripper, Steve Dillon, ed. (self-published)
 * Trickster's Treats, Volume 3: The Seven Deadly Sins Edition, Marie O'Regan & Lee Murray, eds. (self-published)

Winner

 * Served Cold, Alan Baxter (Grey Matter)

Nominees

 * Collision: Stories, J. S. Breukelaar (Meerkat)
 * Figments and Fragments, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

Winner

 * "Steadfast Shadowsong", Matthew R. Davis (Dig Two Graves)

Nominees

 * "The Ocean Hushed the Stones", Alan Baxter (Served Cold)
 * "Ave Rune", J. S. Breukelaar (Collision: Stories)
 * "Vivienne & Agnes", Chris Mason (Beside the Seaside: Tales from the Daytripper)

Winner

 * "Supermassive Black Mass", Matthew R. Davis

Nominees

 * "1862", C. J. Halbard (Man on Fire)
 * "Enemy of My Enemy", Rick Kennett (War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia)
 * "Out of Darkness", Chris Mason (Tales of the Lost, Volume 1)
 * "The Neverwhere Line", Matthew J. Morrison (Midnight Echo #14)

Winner

 * Shepherd, Catherine Jinks (Text)

Nominees

 * The Flower and the Serpent, Madeleine D'Este (self-published)
 * Fusion, Kate Richards (Raw Dog Screaming)
 * Contrition, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

Winner

 * "The Danse Macabre", Kyla Lee Ward (The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities)

Nominees

 * "Suffer the Little Children", Kris Ashton (Aurealis #119)
 * "Horror and the paranormal", Eugen Bacon (Writing Speculative Fiction)
 * "Horror Movies That Mean Something and Childhood Trauma Manifested", Maria Lewis (flicks.com.au)

Winner

 * "This Soundless Murk", Hester J. Rook (The Future File)

Nominees

 * "Separation", K.S. Nikakis (Journey: Seeking the Sacred, Spirit and Soul in the Australian Wilderness)
 * "The King of Eyes", P. S. Cottier (Monstrous)
 * "Ode to a Black Hole", P. S. Cottier (Monstrous)
 * "The Tongueless Dead", Leigh Blackmore (Spectral Realms #13)

Winner

 * "Exploration of Menstruation in Horror and Dark Fiction", Tabatha Wood

Nominees

 * Queer Vampires in Modern Cinema, Tabatha Wood
 * Cthulu in California, Emmet O’Cuana
 * What Makes Good Horror, Tim Hawken
 * Phantasmagoria and the Earliest Forms of Horror Storytelling, Maria Lewis
 * Sandalwood and Jade: The Weird and Fantastic Verse of Lin Carter, Leigh Blackmore

Winner

 *  Hellblazer: Rise and Fall, Tom Taylor

Nominees

 * DCeased: Unkillables, Tom Taylor and Karl Mostert (DC Comics)
 * The Mycelium Complex, Daniel Reed
 * Redback Armageddon, Nathan Grixti (Self-published)
 * Undad Volume Three, Katie Walsh-Smith, Miranda Richardson, Tim Stiles, Ryan Lindsay, Shane W Smith, Mitchell Collins and Simon Robins (Self-published)

Winner

 * Midnight Echo Volume 15, Lee Murray, ed. (Australasian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees

 * Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn, eds. (Omnium Gatherum)
 * Hadithi & the State of Black Speculative Fiction, Eugen Bacon and Milton Davis, eds. (Luna Press Publishing)
 * Black Dogs, Black Tales – Where the Dogs Don’t Die, Tabatha Wood and Cassie Hart, eds. (Things in the Well)
 * Trickster’s Treats 4 – Coming, Buried or Not!, Louise Zedda-Sampson and Geneve Flynn, eds. (Things in the Well)

Winner

 * The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners, Angela Slatter (PS Publishing)

Nominees

 * Behind the Midnight Blinds, Marty Young (Things in the Well)
 * Red New Day, Angela Slatter (Brain Jar Press)
 * Bleak Precision, Greg Chapman (self-published)
 * Grotesque, Lee Murray (Things in the Well)

Winner

 * "Brumation", Anthony Ferguson (Midnight Echo Volume 15)

Nominees

 * “Vision Thing”, Matthew R. Davis (Black Dogs, Black Tales)
 * “Let Shadows Slip Through”, Kali Napier (New Gothic Review 2)
 * “The Bone Fairy”, Martin Livings (Midnight Echo Volume 15)
 * “Hideous Armature”, Joanne Anderton (Midnight Echo Volume 15)
 * “Needles”, Kali Napier (The Dark #62)

Winner

 * "By Touch and By Glance", Lisa L Hannett (Songs for Dark Seasons)

Nominees

 * “New Wine”, Angela Slatter (Cursed)
 * The Attic Tragedy, Joseph Ashley-Smith
 * “Barralang, pop. 63”, Deborah Sheldon (Dimension6 #19)
 * “Kua Hinga Te Kauri”, Dan Rabarts (Outback Horrors Down Under)

Winner

 * Deception Pass, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib)

Nominees

 * The Crying Forest, Venero Armanno (IFWG Publishing)
 * Gutterbreed, Marty Young (Eclectic Trio)
 * Flyaway, Kathleen Jennings (Picador)

Winner

 * I’m Looking Right At You, HP Lovecraft, Jack Dann (IFWG)

Nominees

 * Vampire Poetry, Kyla Lee Ward (Hippocampus Press)
 * The Curious Reclassification of Peter Benchley’s Jaws, Kris Ashton (Aurealis Magazine)
 * Capturing Ghosts on the Page, Kaaron Warren (Brain Jar Press)
 * Murder Down Under, Anthony Ferguson (Exposit Books)

Winner

 * "Cheongsam", Lee Murray (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken)

Nominees

 * “When The Girls Began To Fall”, Geneve Flynn (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)
 * “Sonnet for a Scarecrow”, Rebecca Fraser (Curioser Magazine, issue 1)
 * “Guest of Honour”, Geneve Flynn (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)
 * “Snip”, P.S. Cottier (Midnight Echo #16)
 * “Exquisite”, Lee Murray (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)

Winner

 * The Mycelium Complex Issue 2, Daniel Reed (Nautilus Illustrations)

Nominees

 * Frankie’s Drive-In Ozploitation Double Feature, Aaron Harvie (Badharvie)
 *  Goetia, Robert Buratti (Sub Rosa Publishing)

Winner

 * Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * SNAFU: Holy War, Amanda J. Spedding and Geoff Brown, eds. (Cohesion Press)
 * Midnight Echo #16, Tim Hawken, ed. (AHWA)

Winner

 * Tool tales, Kaaron Warren (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees

 * The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales, Angela Slatter (Tartarus Press)
 * Seeds, Tabatha Wood (Wild Wood Books)
 * Inanimates, Joanne Anderton (Brain Jar Press)
 * Danged Black Thing, Eugen Bacon (Transit Lounge Publishing)

Winner

 * “A Good Big Brother”, Matt Tighe (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies)

Nominees

 * “Bad Apple” by Louise Pieper (Good Southern Witches)
 * “Tagged” by Chuck McKenzie (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine)
 * “The Best Medicine” by Pauline Yates (Midnight Echo #16)
 * “The Steering Wheel Club” by Kaaron Warren (Giving the Devil His Due)

Winner

 * Ariadne, I Love You, J. Ashley-Smith (Meerkat Press)

Nominees

 * “The Waiting Room”, Matthew Davis (It Calls from the Doors)
 * Cryptid Killers, Alister Hodge
 * “The Little One”, Rebecca Fraser (Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract)
 * Dirty Heads, Aaron Dries

Winner

 * The Girls Left Behind, J.P. Townley

Nominees

 * Butcherbird, Cassie Hart
 * An Ill Wind, Martin Livings
 * Papa Lucy and the Boneman, Jason Fischer
 * The Airways, Jennifer Mills
 * Merfolk, Jeremy Bates

Winner

 * "The Slow Burn Brilliance of Midnight Mass", Kris Ashton (Aurealis Magazine)

Nominees

 * "I Don’t Read Horror (and other weird tales)" by Lee Murray (Interstellar Flight Magazine)
 * "Vampire, the Ageless Monster", Tim Hawken (Aurealis Magazine)
 * No Horror Without the Body, Tabatha Wood (Self-published)

Winner

 * "Hip Gnomes", P. S. Cottier (Antipodean SF)

Nominees

 * Night Terrors, L. E. Daniels
 * "How Does Your Garden Grow?", Gene Flynn (Hybrid: Misfits, Monsters and Other Phenomena)
 * "If I Touch You, You’ll Know", Rebecca Fraser (Nightmare Fuel Magazine)

Winner

 * Gorilla My Dreams Team-Up #1: When Freaks Collide, Big Tim Stiles (Big Tim’s Funny Books)

Nominees

 * How to Win a Raid, Emmet O’Cuana (Bird’s Eye Comics)
 * Batrisha and the Creepy Caretaker, Dillon Naylor (Comicoz)

Winner

 * Death in the Mouth: An Anthology of Original Horror by People of Colour, Cassie Hart and Sloane Leong, eds. (self-published)

Nominees

 * Found: An Anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories, Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias, eds. (Vermillion2One Press)
 * Midnight Echo #17, Greg Chapman, ed. (AHWA)

Winner

 * Hard Places, Kirstyn McDermott (Trepidation Publishing)

Nominees

 * Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts, Aaron Dries (IFWG Australia)
 * Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Australia)
 * The Devil Took Her: Tales of Horror, Michael Botur (The Sager Group)
 * Reflections, Tabatha Wood (Wild Wood Books)

Winner

 * "Little Balloons", Aaron Dries (Cut To Care: A Collection of Little Hurts)

Nominees

 * "Break the Skin If You Have To", Emma Osborne, Cadwell Turnbull and Jess Essey (Nightmare Magazine)
 * "They Call Me Mother", Geneve Flynn (Classic Monsters Unleashed)
 * "The Tub", J. Ashley Smith (Midnight Echo #17)

Winner

 * And Then I Woke Up, Malcolm Devlin (Tor.com)

Nominees

 * "Among The Faded Woods", Faith Mudge (The Art of Being Human)
 * "Kookaburra Cruel" by Aaron Dries (Damnation Games)

Winner

 * The Path of Thorns, Angela Slatter (Titan Books)

Nominees

 * The Stone Road, Trent Jamieson (Erewhon Books)
 * Denizen, James McKenzie Watson (Viking)
 * Red Ruin, Ian J. Middleton and Denver Grenell (Self-published)

Nominees

 * A Vindication of Monsters, Claire Fitzpatrick, ed. (IFWG Publishing International)
 * "Displaced Spirits: Ghosts of the Diaspora" by Lee Murray (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror)
 * "Holy Revelations", Grace Chan (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror)

Nominees

 * "The Broonie", Deborah Sheldon (Nightmare Fuel Magazine)
 * Dancers on the Road, K. S. Nikakis (SOV Media)
 * "Guiding Star", Tim Jones (Remains to be Told Dark Tales of Aotearoa)
 * "Never Leave the Path", Kyla Lee Ward (Eternal Haunted Summer)
 * "What It Means to be With You", Pauline Yates (HWA Poetry Showcase Volume X)

Nominees

 * Fables of Fear, Karl Brandt (KB Comics)
 * Monomyth, David Hazan (Mad Cave Studios)
 * Splitting Sides 2, David Schembri (North Forest Books)
 * Yuletide Flame, Hayden Fryer (Siberian Productions)

Nominees

 * Black Beacon Book of Horror, Cameron Trost, ed. (Black Beacon Books)
 * Killer Creatures Down Under, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (IFWG Publishing)
 * Remains to be Told, Lee Murray, ed. (Clan Destine Press)
 * SNAFU Punk’d, Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding, eds. (Cohesion Press)

Nominees

 * Bites Eyes, Matthew R. Davis (Brain Jar Press)
 * Midnight Masquerades, Greg Chapman (IFWG Publishing International)
 * Precarious Waters, Pamela Jeffs (Four Ink Press)
 * Stingers, Noel Osualdini & T.M. McLean (Self-published)

Nominees

 * "All the Eyes That See", Alan Baxter (Cosmic Horror Monthly #42)
 * Camp Never, J. S. Bruekelaar
 * Death Interrupted, Pamela Jeffs
 * "What Bones These Tides Bring", Nikky Lee (Remains to be Told Dark Tales of Aotearoa)

Nominees

 * "After I Found Her", Claire Low (This Fresh Hell)
 * Bitters, Kaaron Warren (Cemetery Dance Books)
 * Those That Pursue Us Yet, Kyla Ward (Independent Legion Publishing)
 * "We Called it Graffitiville", Aaron Dries (Vandal: Stories of Damage)

Nominees

 * Cretaceous Canyon, Deborah Sheldon (Severed Press)
 * The Graveyard Shift, Maria Lewis (Angry Robot/Datura)
 * Polyphemus, Zachary Ashford (Darklit Press)
 * When Ghosts Call Us Home, Katya de Becerra (Page Street Publishing (US), Pan Macmillan (UK/AU/NZ))