The Australasian Shadows Awards, formerly known as the Australian Shadows Awards, are annual literary awards established by the Australasian 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 the 'Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction' in honour of New Zealand/Australian author Paul Haines. In 2015, two additional categories were added: Best Comic/Graphic Novel and The Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism.
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 gravestone-shaped trophy hand-crafted by Sydney-based artist, Adam Galea.
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.
2005 Judges Guest judge: Kim Wilkins Award Director: Marty Young
Winner Father Muerte and the Flesh, Lee Battersby, Aurealis #36Nominees 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)
2006 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)
2007 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)
2008 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
2009 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
Long Fiction 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)
Edited Publication Winner Grants Pass, Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books)Nominees Festive Fear, Stephen Clark (Tasmaniac Publications) Aurealis #42, Stuart Mayne (Chimaera Publications)
Short Fiction 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
2010 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
Long Fiction 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)
Edited Publication 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)
Short Fiction 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)
2011 Judges Judging panel: Marty Young, James A. Moore
Novel Winner No award
Honourable Mention The Broken Ones, Stephen M. Irwin (Random House)
Long Fiction 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)
Short Fiction 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
Edited Publication 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)
Collection 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)
2012 Judges Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Greg Chapman, Stephen Clark Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Jenny Blackford, B. Michael Radburn
Novel Winner Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum Publishing)
Nominees The Corpse Rat King, Lee Battersby (Angry Robot Books) Blood and Dust, Jason Nahrung (Xoum Publishing)
Long Fiction 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)
Short Fiction 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 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)
Edited Publication 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)
Collection 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)
2013 Judges Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Gitte Christensen, Lee Pletzers Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Geoff Brown, Chuck McKenzie
Novel Winner 809 Jacob Street, Marty Young (Black Beacon Books)
Nominees Undead Kelly, Timothy Bowden (Severed Press) Topsiders, Scott Tyson (Legume Man Books)
Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction 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)
Short Fiction 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)
Edited Publication 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)
Collection Winner The Bone Chime Song and other stories, Jo Anderton (FableCroft Publishing)
Nominees There was no nominee shortlist in 2013
2014 Judges Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Christine Ferdinands, Natalie Satakovski, B. R. de Loryn