The duo behind Australia’s most terrifying film franchise and a best-selling dark fantasy author are among the latest winners of Australia’s premier fiction awards.
The Australian Shadows Awards, run by the Australian Horror Writers Association, are the country’s only annual awards dedicated solely to horror and dark fiction. They are open to Australian and New Zealand writers and editors.
Winners for the 2014 awards – for works first published in 2014 – have just been announced with Wolf Creek director Greg McLean, Wolf Creek 2 screenwriter Aaron Sterns, and Alex Caine trilogy author Alan Baxter among the recipients.
Australian Shadows 2014 winners are:
Novel: Aaron Sterns (Balwyn, VIC) and Greg McLean (Caulfield South, VIC) – Wolf Creek: Origin
Short Fiction: Alan Baxter (Jamberoo, NSW) – Shadows of the Lonely Dead
Edited Works: SQ Mag: Issue 14 – edited by Sophie Yorkston
Collected works: Andrew McKiernan (Narara, NSW) – Last Year When We Were Young
Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction (novella): Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Miranda, NSW) – Dreams of Destruction
The winners join a distinguished list of past recipients including Kaaron Warren, Terry Dowling, Bob Franklin and Will Elliott.
Australia Horror Writers Association president Mark Smith-Briggs said the 2014 award winners represented the very best in horror fiction.
“In a strong field these are the stories that stood out for their amazing characters, fantastic stories and ability to scare the pants off the reader,” he said.
To learn more about the AHWA or the awards visit australianhorror.com