Australia has a long tradition of weird fiction, stretching back to colonial times. The stories in this anthology showcase the richness and variety of Australia horror and supernatural stories in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among the authors included are: Mary Fortune, Lionel Sparrow, Marcus Clarke, Guy Boothby, B. L. Farjeon, J. E. P. Muddock, Ernest Favenc, Hume Nisbet, Rosa (Mrs. Campbell) Praed, Fergus Hume, James Francis Dwyer, and Dulcie Deamer. Editor James Doig has unearthed a rare and compelling collection of Australian horror classics that have remained largely undisturbed in the pages of old books and periodicals. With settings that range from the Australian Outback to Europe, India, and the South Pacific, these 23 unique and imaginative tales feature horrors and hauntings that are sure to appeal to lovers of the macabre everywhere

Twenty stories of horror, the supernatural, and ghostly hauntings. These tales show the way in which the Gothic form has been transposed to a new, alien environment--Australia The outback, the desert, the bush are imbued with strange forces and beings that European explorers and fossickers must fathom and overcome. The colonists struggle to cope with the harsh landscape and climate, and are frequently claimed by it. The land itself seems almost a malignant force that exacts a terrible revenge on those who challenge it or wander thoughtlessly into its desert wastes. Thus, in many of the stories reprinted here, characters range across a landscape in which the supernatural can reach out and snatch the unwary at any time. Characters frequently fall victim to the bush; indeed, often it is the children, symbols of innocence and European na vet , who fall victim to the evil spirits lurking just beyond human ken. Doig has resurrected these marvelous haunts from rare magazines and equally scarce collections, and has provided hard-to-find information about the authors and the times in which they lived. For any aficionado of the classic macabre tale, this anthology will be a treasure trove of chilling reading

The history of early Australian science fiction has been well chronicled by literary historians. In searching for a synthesis of colonial Australian science fiction, they generally identify three genres into which most Australian science fiction of the period can be placed: lost civilisation novels, (including Lemurian and utopian novels); historical fantasies, which re-imagined Australia's colonial past (particularly the history of Australian exploration); and future invasion or future political novels (which dramatized fears of racial invasion or social chaos resulting from political upheaval or natural disasters like plague).

In the short form, early Australian science fiction is more heterogeneous. There were more outlets for the short form and more short stories were published, so we would expect a wider range of themes and subject matter, and indeed this is the case. The stories collected here indicate something of the richness and variety of science fiction written by Australian authors up the mid-1930s. We see some of the themes mentioned above, for example the lost civilisation story (Phil Collas's The Inner Domain) and the future invasion story (Ernest Favenc's What the Rats Brought), but they offer something new and original, while other stories are built on the consequences of technological discoveries or advancements, for example Ernest Favenc's The Land of the Unseen, H.B. Marriott Watson's The Instrument, and Beatrice Grimshaw's Lost Wings.

Literary scholar James Doig has assembled a thrilling new collection of rare and previously uncollected horror and dark fantasy stories by Australian authors, all from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Here are-

THE BLIGHTED MEADOW, by Mary FortuneTHE SILENT SEPULCHRE, by Charles Junor

WHAT THE RATS BROUGHT, by Ernest Favenc

ON THE ISLAND OF SHADOWS, by Ernest Favenc

THE ODIC TOUCH, by Hume Nisbet

TOLD IN THE 'CORONA'S' CABIN ON THREE EVENINGS, by J.A. Barry

THE HOUSE OF ILL OMEN, by Rosa Praed

A THING OF WAX, by Morley Roberts

THE PROPHETIC HORROR OF THE GREAT EXPERIMENT, by James Edmund

THE PRECIPITOUS DETAILS OF THE HIGH MOUNTAIN AND THE THREE SKELETONS, by James Edmund

THE STRANGE CASE OF ALAN HERIOT, by Lionel Sparrow

THE BLANKET FIEND, by Beatrice Grimshaw

THE PHANTOM SHIP OF DIRK VAN TROMP, by James Francis Dwyer

THE DEVIL'S BALL, by Dulcie Deamer

THE PLEDGE, by Helen Simpson

THE WATCH, by Vernon Knowles

THE HOUSE THAT TOOK REVENGE, by Vernon Knowles

THE UNDYING ONE, by Roger Dard