The Best of the Scream Factory
Fantastic news! The William Atheling Jr. Award winning article “The Hunt for Australian Horror” that I wrote in collaboration with Bill Congreve and Sean McMullen has been reprinted in a beautiful, limited edition hardcover titled The Best of the Scream Factory (edited by Peter Enfantino, Robert Morrish and John Scoleri). At 600 pages long, the book reprints more than 70 articles from the magazine’s golden age. It is published by Cemetry Dance Publications, “widely-considered the world’s leading specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense”. The entire print run quicklysold out, but not before I got hold of my contributor copy.
“Hakwork: An Appreciation of John Brosnan”
Studies in Australian Weird Fiction Volume 3, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj, 2009
An article on the pseudonymous horror novels of John Brosnan, based on an earlier essay published in Bloodsongs #3, 1994, which has been completely rewritten to bring it up to date and correct some errors and omissions contained in the original article. Sadly, John Brosnan passed away in 2005, but hopefully this piece will honour his memory and revive interest in his wonderful tongue-in-cheek horror novels. You can read it here.
“Golden Age or New Dawn?”
Aussiecon 3 Souvenir Book, edited by Marc Ortlieb, 1999
An overview of Australian SF for the 57th World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, Australia in 1999, for the glossy souvenir book published to celebrate the event.
“Fantastique et horreur made in Australie” (with Bill Congreve)
Ténèbres #3, edited by Daniel Conrad (France), July 1998
The title of this piece translates as “Fantasy & Horror Made in Australia“, a French language article commissioned by the editor to accompany a story by and an interview with Terry Dowling.
“Scoop: Australian SF News #5”
Eidolon 24, 1997
A news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
The Quest for Australian Fantasy – Continues (with Sean McMullen)
Fantasy Annual 1, edited by Philip Harbottle & Sean Wallace (USA), 1997
“Scoop: Australian SF News #4“
Eidolon 22/23, 1997
A news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy
The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy, edited by Paul Collins, assistant editors Sean McMullen and Steven Paulsen, Melbourne University Press, 1998 (Hardcover).
This project brought together the Australian SF bibliographic work of Graham Stone and Sean McMullen, supported by a range of contributors, each a recognised expert in their field, who wrote supporting essays and author profiles.
St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers (St. James Press), edited by David Pringle, 1997
In collaboration with Sean McMullen I contributed author entries for:
- Conrad Aiken
- Gary Crew
- Terry Dowling
- G. M. Hague
- Robert Hood
- Victor Kelleher
- Rick Kennett
- Isaac Bashevis Singer
- Rosemary Timperley
“Australian Fantasy” (with Sean McMullen)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1st UK edition), edited by John Clute and John Grant, London, Orbit Books, 1997. (Hardcover)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1997. (Hardcover)
The articles Sean McMullen and myself had written about Australian Fantasy had gained us a reputation as subject matter experts in the field, nevertheless we were honoured to be asked by John Clute to write the Australian Fantasy section of the prestigious and definitive The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.
This article won us the 1998 William Atheling Jr. Award while the book itself went on to win the 1998 Hugo Award at the World Science Fiction Convention for Best Non-Fiction Book.
“Scoop: Australian SF News #3”
Eidolon 21, 1996
A news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
“Cowboys and Atmosfear”
Bloodsongs #7, 1996
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
This was a feature column on Australians Brett Clements and Phillip Tanner and their A Couple ‘A Cowboys company, which developed the Nightmare/Atmosfear video board game originally released in 1991.
“Scoop: Australian SF News #2“
Eidolon 20, 1996
A news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia
“A History of Australian Horror” (with Bill Congreve and Sean McMullen)
Bonescribes: Year’s Best Australian Horror (MirrorDanse), edited by Bill Congreve and Robert Hood, 1995
An updated version of our award winning Scream Factory article as the end piece for the ground-breaking anthology Bonescribes.
“Scoop: Australian SF News #1“
Eidolon 19, 1995
A news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
“A Touch of Darkness – Gary Crew”
Bloodsongs #6, 1995
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
This column examines the threads of horror, weird and the macabre that are woven through Gary Crew’s work for children and young adults. Crew is a rare talent with few writers matching his accomplishments in this genre. You can read it here.
“Australian Children’s TV” (with Sean McMullen)
Sirius #10, 1995
We watched a lot of video tape for this article on Fantasy and Science Fiction in Australian children’s television. Australia has produced some great shows, but there’s some shockers in there as well.
“The Hunt for Australian Horror Fiction” (with Sean McMullen & Bill Congreve)
The Scream Factory#16, 1995
Here Bill Congreve took the successful Aurealis article Sean McMullen and I had written, and collaborated with us to include additional research as a cover feature story for a US magazine called The Scream Factory. The article won the 1996 William Atheling Jr. Award.
“Kid’s Stuff: Australian Children’s Horror Fiction”
Bloodsongs #5, 1995
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
In this article I demonstrate that horror writing is flourishing in Australian YA writing, exploring the work of writers such as Gary Crew, Victor Kelleher, Paul Jennings, Garry Disher and Isobelle Carmody among others.
“Pulp Fiction in Oz”
Bloodsongs #4, 1995
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
Here I unearth some of the pulp horror fiction published in Australia in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
“The Art of HAK”
Bloodsongs #3, 1994
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
This column celebrates the work of expatriate Australian writer John Brosnan particularly his horror novels written under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight (HAK) and Simon Ian Childers (SIC). Find them if you can, they’re a lot of fun.
“The Hunt for Australian Horror” (with Sean McMullen)
Aurealis #14, 1994
The Aurealis Mega Oz SF Anthology, edited by Stephen Higgins and Dirk Strasser (Chimaera Publications) 1999.
We followed the feature on Australian Fantasy with a feature on Australian Horror, this time mostly based on my horror research supplemented with Sean’s movie research. The article looks at novels, anthologies, YA writing, small press, magazines and movies.
“The Search for Early Australian Horror”
Bloodsongs #2, 1994
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
This article unearths the horror fiction of early Australian writers such as Guy Boothby, Tom Collins, Edward Dyson, Henry Lawson, Barbara Baynton and others who used genre elements in their writing.
“The Quest for Australian Fantasy” (with Sean McMullen)
Aurealis #13, 1994
When Sean McMullen and I realised that we had done complementary research into Australian Fantasy fiction and film, we joined forces and began a successful collaboration on related articles for a number of books and magazines.
“The State of the Australian Horror Fiction Magazine”
Bloodsongs #1, 1993
SF Fan Resource Book, 1995
The Australian Horror Writers Association website, 2017
My interest and research into Australian Fantasy and Horror fiction began to pique the interest of others with numerous requests for articles on the topic. This article about the history of small press horror publishing in Australia was commissioned for the launch of Bloodsongs. You can read it here.
Steven Paulsen 