Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror

Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Vol. 1 (2006)

From the Brimstone Press website: “the dark age is here. For years, Australian dark fiction writers have toiled in the shadows at their craft. Australian dark fiction is now stronger than ever. This anthology features the very best Australian short stories, novelettes, and essays published in 2005 — including many award winners and nominees.”

Includes stories and articles by Lee Battersby, Lyn Battersby, Adam Browne, Rjurik Davidson, James Doig, Dirk Flinthart, Anthony Fordham, Paul Haines, Richard Harland, Robert Hood, Trent Jamieson, Chris Lawson, David Levell, Martin Livings, Chuck McKenzie, Kaaron Warren and The Dark Shadow of Fantasy, an essay on fantasy fiction by Josephine Pennicott.

Edited by Angela Challis & Shane Jiraiya Cummings. Published by Brimstone Press

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Praise for Poet’s Cottage

Praise for Poet’s Cottage (Please see Poet’s Cottage section for more reviews.)’ ‘It’s testimony to Pennicott’s exquisite prose that just as you think you understand where the characters and stories are heading, your expectations are overturned. I loved this about the novel. What I also loved is that I could see these characters; what they wore, ate, how they walked. I could feel the wind on my face, walk through the misty streets of Pencubitt, and feel the cold embrace of Poet’s Cottage. Pennicott evokes time and place with a light and meaningful touch: a word, a mood, a gesture all bring the past and present lives of those dwelling in the village into acute focus. This is a gorgeous, sometimes harrowing but always moving and deep story that remains with you long after the last page. Simply lovely. A triumph.’ Thank you, Karen Brooks, Australian Author, columnist, journalist, corporate and educational speaker, academic and social commentator.

From Meredith Jaffe Editor of the Hoopla Bookshelf

Inspired by the deeply flawed relationship Enid Blyton had with her own daughters, Josephine Pennicott has created a tale rich with dark goings on worthy of comparison to Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca and vintage Agatha Christie. Pennicott has built her reputation as a writer of dark fantasy and even nastier crime but this, her first foray into mainstream fiction, is a cracker read. I read this book in one weekend and I promise you this book deserves all the accolades heaped upon it. thank you, Meredith.

‘Sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover’

'Gothic mystery a purler Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.' Thanks to Barbara Farrelly of the South Coast Register for her praise for Poet’s. Please see Poet’s Cottage section for longer versions of this and other reviews.

‘An Imaginative and intricate work of detective fiction’

‘an imaginative and intricate work of detective fiction. It is set in Tasmania which certainly evokes a beautiful and poignant setting. This is a thoroughly captivating mystery tale’ Thank you, F.J.O'Dwyer from the Chronicle (Toowoomba), Toowoomba QLD 07 Apr 2012

From Lisa Sinclair Woman’s Day

“…a haunting tale unfolds. We loved this evocative, gothic debut which flicks between past and present Tasmania. A satisfying read to curl up with on a Saturday afternoon.”

quotes Josephine likes

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."— Robert Frost

Goodreads Quotes

Thank you, Elisabeth Storrs – historical fiction author of The Wedding Shroud

Poet’s Cottage is an accomplished, engrossing novel with fine language and powerful descriptions of the small town inhabitants of Pencubbit in both past and modern times. Most of all, in creating the damaged and damaging Pearl, the author has created a character so compelling and complex that the image of her lingers just as surely as the strains of music from her gramophone drifted through Poet’s Cottage both before and after her death. Thank you, Elisabeth Storrs – historical fiction author of The Wedding Shroud