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Terror Australis

Terror Australis: the Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine (1988–1992) was Australia's first mass market horror magazine. It succeeded the Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine (1984–87) edited by Barry Radburn The Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine#Barry Radburn and Stephen Studach. AH&FM was the first semi-professional magazine of its kind in Australia to pay authors. After working on the production crew of AH&FM, when Radburn eventually suspended publication, Leigh Blackmore took over the subscription base and with co-editors Chris G.C. Sequeira and Bryce J. Stevens founded Terror Australis. Kevin Dillon, a longtime Australian sf fan who had belonged to the Australian Futurians had the role of 'Special Consultant' for financial support and proofreading work on the magazine.

Content
In addition to fiction, some of which was by writers best known for their mainstream work (such as Beth Yahp and Coral Hull), each issue featured non-fiction columns including "The Black Stump" (editorial by Leigh Blackmore); "In the Bad Books" (horror reviews by Blackmore, 'David Kuraria' (Bryce J. Stevens) and 'Carl Uda' (Christopher Sequeira); "Out of Space and Time" (book releases in brief); "Views from Emerald City" (Fantasy Reviews by Phillip Knowles); "Dark Enchantments" (Horror and Fantasy Magazines); "Post-Mortem" (readers' letter column) and "The Chaos Club" (contributor biographies). Author Maurice Xanthos was the only author to have a story selected for each of the three issues. The column "Personal Terrors" by Christopher Sequeira appeared only in Issue 1, and that by Bryce Stevens, "Every Time the Candle Burns", in Issues 1 and 3 only. Mark Morrison's "Keeping Time" (column on horror gaming) appeared only in Issues 1 and 3. (Morrison notably went on to write various roleplaying game scenarios for Chaosium, including one as collaboration with Thomas Ligotti, "In a City of Bells and Towers" (based on Ligotti's story "The Journal of J.P. Drapeau") for the Horror on the Oriental Express gaming module for the 5th edition of Call of Cthulhu (1991)). Keith Curtis 's column "Bibliocide" (horror and true crime reviews) appeared only in Issue 1. The magazine also featured interviews with several international writers such as Clive Barker and Whitley Strieber, and stories by such international writers as Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley and Nicholas Royle. A wide range of Australian genre artists also featured in its pages. These included Gavin O'Keefe, Steve 'Carnage' Carter, Tony Baron, Karen Ravenlore, Brad Ellis, Mike McGann, Rama Mithiran, Physch, David Richardson, Jon Sequeira, Bryce J. Stevens, Kurt Stone, Catherine Waters, Philip Cornell, Igor Spajic, Neil Walpole, Kerry Kennedy and Bodine Amerikah. Ravenlore and Mithiran had previously had artwork featured in Terror Australis' predecessor, The Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine. ==Influence==
Influence
Although its circulation was comparatively small, the magazine had a significant impact on the horror scene in Australia in the late eighties and early nineties. Issue 3 was reviewed outside Australia by Don D'Ammassa (Science Fiction Chronicle, Nov 1992). The success of Terror Australis magazine led directly to the publication of the mass-market horror anthology Terror Australis: Best Australian Horror (edited by Blackmore alone) (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), a companion volume to Terry Dowling and Van Ikin's Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993). Launches for the anthology were held at Sydney's Galaxy Bookshop and Melbourne's Minotaur Books. Author Robert Bloch said Terror Australis: Best Aust Australian Horror was 'a landmark venture - a testament to the advancement of the genre'. Author Leanne Frahm's story "Catalyst" from the volume won the Ditmar Award for Best Australian Short Fiction, 1993. Russell Blackford, Van Ikin & Sean McMullen (eds). Although the Australian magazines Eidolon and Aurealis frequently published horror stories along with their sf and fantasy contents, Terror Australis remained Australia's only professional all-horror magazine until the advent of the Australian Horror Writers Association magazine Midnight Echo in the 21st century. ==Issues==
Issues
• 1, No 1 (Autumn 1988) Cover art by Gavin O'Keefe • 1, No 2 (Winter 1988) Cover art by Kurt Stone. Contents: Fiction and Verse • "The Mistake" by Graeme Parsons • "Castle Elacteu" by S.R. Schultz • "He Had a Soul" (verse) by 'Carl Uda' (Chris G. C. Sequeira) • "How Long Will It Be" by Sheila Morehead • "Phantom of the Night" by Jonathan Krause • "Am I Not Asleep?" (verse) by Shane Doheny • "Willie's Struggle" by Kurt von Trojan • "Strange Fruit" by Rick Kennett • "Guitar Man" by Maurice Xanthos • "Suck Your Guts Out" (verse) by Coral Hull (as by 'Coral E. Hull') • "The Gift" by Frances Burke • "Old Wood" by Steven Paulsen • 2, No 1 (whole number 3) (Summer 1992): The Jack the Ripper special Cover art by Phillip Cornell. Gregory Cheeseman's essay "Portrait of the Ripper" deals with the painter Walter Richard Sickert and the Ripper crimes. ==See also==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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