Reviews

Australian Horror Stories by Judah Waten, J. B. Henderson, Barbara Baynton, Olaf Ruhen, Marcus Clarke, Bill Wannan, John H. Ramsay, Joyce M. Nankivell, Vera Dwyer, Charles Shaw, Emmett O'Keefe, Marjorie Oughton, Henry Lawson, Bartlett Adamson, Louis Becke, Gavin Casey, Edward George Dyson, John K. Ewers, Alan Marshall, Eric Lambert, Dowell O'Reilly, John Baxter, John Morrison, William Dick, Roland Robinson, Sarah Maitland, J. Le Gay Brereton, J. Gaby, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Michael Wilding, Elinor Mordaunt, Dal Stivens

camerontrost's review

3.0

The title, Australian Horror Stories, doesn't really describe this anthology. For the most part, the tales herein are colonial adventures and observations on rural hardship. Many of them demonstrate the eloquence and poesy of the colonial era, and the best evoke the hostility and strangeness of existence in this ancient and mysterious land. We are introduced to native rituals and beliefs, convict anarchists, outlaws and misfits, and even some mundane suburbanites. It's quite a decent anthology, but, if you're specifically looking for Australian horror tales, I'd suggest starting with Terror Australis, Macabre, and In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep.