Works are judged on their overall effect within the horror genre based on the author's skill, delivery, and the work's lasting resonance. Each year, a director is appointed by the AHWA to administer the award. Shortlists for each category are determined by a panel of judges, and the shortlisted nominees are announced in March/April every year.

From 2005 to 2008, the Australian Shadows Award evaluated novels, anthologies, and short stories against each other in a single category. In 2009, the award was expanded into three categories: Short Fiction, Long Fiction, and Edited Publication.

From 2011, the award was restructured to consist of five categories: Novel; Long Fiction (novellas and novelettes); Short Fiction (short stories); Collection (single author collections); and Edited Publication (anthologies and magazine issues). In 2013, the 'Long Fiction' award category was renamed 'Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction' in honour of New Zealand/Australian author Paul Haines.

The Australian Shadows Awards were sponsored by Altair Australia Books in its first two years, through the donation of two statuettes created by dark fantasy artist Brom (supplied by The Franklin Mint). Currently, winners of the awards receive a hand crafted trophy from the masters of the horror special effects industry, Nightshade FX.

In the below list, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the awards are always announced the following year. If the short story was originally published in an anthology with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the anthology title and anthology publisher's name is included.

Judges edit

• Guest judge: Kim Wilkins
• Award Director: Marty Young

Winner edit

• "Father Muerte and the Flesh", Lee Battersby, Aurealis #36

Nominees edit

• "Pater Familias", Lee Battersby, Shadowed Realms #3
• Shadow Box, Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Angela Challis (eds) (Brimstone Press)
• "The Red Priest's Homecoming", Dirk Flinthart, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #17
• The Grinding House, Kaaron Warren (CSFG Publishing)

Judges edit

• Judging panel: David Schembri, Miranda Siemienowicz, Mark Smith-Briggs
• Guest judge: Robert Hood
• Award Director: Marty Young

Winner edit

• The Pilo Family Circus, Will Elliott (ABC Books)

Nominees edit

• "Father Renoir's Hands", Lee Battersby, Through Soft Air (Prime Books)
• "The Dying Light", Deborah Biancotti, Eidolon I (Eidolon Books)
• "The Blow-Off", Stephen Dedman, Brutarian #47
• "The Bridal Bier", Carol Ryles, Eidolon I (Eidolon Books)

Honourable mentions edit

• "Silk and Pearls", K. J. Bishop, Shadowed Realms #9
• "The Cup of Nestor", Simon Brown (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear, Terry Dowling (Cemetery Dance Publications)
• The Mother, Brett McBean (Lothian Books)

Judges edit

• Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Gary Kemble, Mark Smith-Briggs
• Guest judge: Richard Harland
• Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott

Winner edit

• "Toother", Terry Dowling, Eclipse 1 (Night Shade Books)

Nominees edit

• "Between the Memories", Matthew Chrulew, Aurealis #38/39
• "Subtle Invasion", David Conyers, The Black Book of Horror (Mortbury Press)
• "The Dark and What It Said", Rick Kennett, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #28
• "There Was Darkness", Martin Livings, Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
• The Darkness Within, Jason Nahrung (Hachette Livre)

Honourable mentions edit

• The Spiraling Worm, David Conyers & John Sunseri (Chaosium)
• "Cooling the Crows", Kaaron Warren, In Bad Dreams (Eneit Press)
• "The Wildflowers", Marty Young, Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)

Judges edit

• Judging panel: Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Brett McBean, Chuck McKenzie
• Guest judge: Sarah Endacott
• Award Director: Kirstyn McDermott

Winner edit

• "The Claws of Native Ghosts", Lee Battersby, The Beast Within (Graveside Books)

Nominees edit

• "This Way To The Exit", Sara Douglass, Dreaming Again (HarperVoyager)
• "Rick Gets A Job", Jason Fischer, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37
• "Lakeside", Christopher Green, Dreaming Again (HarperVoyager)
• "Her Collection of Intimacy", Paul Haines, Black: Australian Dark Culture #2

Judges edit

• Judging panel: Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn, Chuck McKenzie
• Guest judges: Bill Congreve (Short Fiction), James Doig (Edited Publication), Martin Livings (Long Fiction)
• Award Director: Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Long fiction edit

Winner edit

• Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)

Nominees edit

• A Book of Endings, Deborah Biancotti (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Red Queen, Honey Brown (Penguin Australia)
• "Wives", Paul Haines, X6 (Coeur de Lion Publishing)
• The Dead Path, Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette Australia)

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• Grants Pass, Jennifer Brozek & Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books)

Nominees edit

• Festive Fear, Stephen Clark (Tasmaniac Publications)
• Aurealis #42, Stuart Mayne (Chimaera Publications)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Six Suicides", Deborah Biancotti, A Book of Endings (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees edit

• "The Emancipated Dance", Felicity Dowker, Midnight Echo #2
• "Busking", Jason Fischer, Midnight Echo #3
• "The Message", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #2
• "The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfalls", Kaaron Warren, Exotic Gothic 3, Ash-Tree Press

Judges edit

• Judging panel: Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn, Jeff Ritchie
• Guest judges: Kaaron Warren (Short Fiction), Rocky Wood (Edited Publication), Chuck McKenzie (Long Fiction)
• Award Director: Shane Jiraiya Cummings

Long fiction edit

Winner edit

• Under Stones, Bob Franklin (Affirm Press)

Nominees edit

• Bleed, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healy (Allen & Unwin)
• Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Picador Australia)
• The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• Macabre: A Journey through Australia's Darkest Fears, Angela Challis & Marty Young (eds) (Brimstone Press)

Nominees edit

• Midnight Echo #4, Lee Battersby (ed) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
• Scary Kisses, Liz Grzyb (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Scenes From the Second Storey, Amanda Pillar & Pete Kempshall (eds) (Morrigan Books)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "She Said", Kirstyn McDermott, Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)

Nominees edit

• "Bread and Circuses", Felicity Dowker, Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "Brisneyland by Night", Angela Slatter, Sprawl (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "All The Clowns In Clowntown", Andrew J. McKiernan, Macabre: A Journey through Australia's Darkest Fears (Brimstone Press)
• "Dream Machine", David Conyers, Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)

Judges edit

• Judging panel: Marty Young, James A. Moore

Novel edit

Winner edit

• No award

Honourable mention edit

• The Broken Ones, Stephen M. Irwin (Random House)

Long fiction edit

Winner edit

• "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt", Paul Haines, The Last Days of Kali Yuga (Brimstone Press)

Nominees edit

• "And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living", Deborah Biancotti, Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
• "Sleeping and the Dead", Cat Sparks, Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
• "From the Teeth of Strange Children", Lisa L. Hannett, Bluegrass Symphony (Ticonderoga Publications)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Shovel Man Joe", Amanda J. Spedding, Shades of Sentience

Nominees edit

• "Out Hunting for Teeth", Joanne Anderton, Midnight Echo #6
• "The Sea at Night", Joanne Anderton, Dead Red Heart (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "Taking It for the Team", Tracie McBride, Dead Red Heart (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "The Wanderer in Darkness", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #6

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• Dead Red Heart, Russell B. Farr (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)

Nominees edit

• More Scary Kisses, Liz Grzyb (ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Midnight Echo #6, David Kernot, David Conyers and Jason Fischer (eds) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
• The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds) (Ticonderoga Publications)

Collection edit

Winner edit

• Tales of Sin and Madness, Brett McBean (Thunderstorm Books/Legume Man Books)

Nominees edit

• Bluegrass Symphony, Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications)
• The Last Days of Kali Yuga, Paul Haines (Brimstone Press)
• Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies, Lucy Sussex (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Apocrypha Sequence, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (self-published)

Judges edit

• Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Greg Chapman, Stephen Clark
• Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Jenny Blackford, B. Michael Radburn

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Perfections, Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum Publishing)

Nominees edit

• The Corpse Rat King, Lee Battersby (Angry Robot Books)
• Blood and Dust, Jason Nahrung (Xoum Publishing)

Long fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Sky", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees edit

• "Critique", Daniel I. Russell (Dark Continents Publishing)
• "Escena de un Asesinato", Robert Hood, Exotic Gothic 4 (PS Publishing)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Birthday Suit", Martin Livings, Living with the Dead (Dark Prints Press)

Nominees edit

• "To Wish On A Clockwork Heart", Felicity Dowker, Bread and Circuses (Ticonderoga Publications)
• "Pigroot Flat", Jason Fischer, Midnight Echo #8
• "Birthday Suit", Martin Livings, Living with the Dead (Dark Prints Press)
• "They Don't Know That We Know What They Know", Andrew J. McKiernan, Midnight Echo #8
• "Creek", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "Mountain", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "Road", Kaaron Warren, Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press)
• "A Monstrous Touch", Marty Young, Dangers Untold (Alliteration Ink)

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• Surviving The End, Craig Bezant (Dark Prints Press)

Nominees edit

• Cthulhu Unbound 3, David Conyers and Brian M. Sammons (eds) (Permuted Press)
• The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds) (Ticonderoga Publications)

Collection edit

Winner edit

• Through Splintered Walls, Kaaron Warren (Twelfth Planet Press)

Nominees edit

• Bread and Circuses, Felicity Dowker (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Living With The Dead, Martin Livings (Dark Prints Press)

Judges edit

• Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Steve Gerlach, Gitte Christensen, Lee Pletzers
• Novels/Novellas panel: Gerry Huntman, Geoff Brown, Chuck McKenzie

Novel edit

Winner edit

• 809 Jacob Street, Marty Young (Black Beacon Books)

Nominees edit

• Undead Kelly, Timothy Bowden (Severed Press)
• Topsiders, Scott Tyson (Legume Man Books)

Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "The Unwanted Women of Surrey", Kaaron Warren, Queen Victoria's Book of Spells (Tor Books)

Nominees edit

• "Soul Killer", Robert Hood, Zombies vs Robots: Diplomacy (IDW Publishing)
• "The Home For Broken Dolls", Kirstyn McDermott, Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Caterpillars", Debbie Cowens, Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror (Paper Road Press)

Nominees edit

• "Nip, Tuck, Zip, Pluck", John Paul Fitch, Psychopomp Volume 4 (Artifice Comics)
• "Fence Lines", Joanne Anderton, The Bone Chime Song and other stories (FableCroft Publishing)
• "The Nest", C. S. McMullen, Nightmare Magazine #12
• "The Dead Way", J. C. Hart, Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror (Paper Road Press)

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• Baby Teeth - Bite Sized Tales of Terror, Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (eds) (Paper Road Press)

Nominees edit

• Midnight Echo #9, Geoff Brown (ed) (Australian Horror Writers Association)
• A Killer Among Demons, Craig Bezant (ed) (Dark Prints Press)
• Star Quake 1, Sophie Yorkston (ed) (IFWG Publishing)

Collection edit

Winner edit

• The Bone Chime Song and other stories, Jo Anderton (FableCroft Publishing)

Nominees edit

• There was no nominee shortlist in 2013.

Judges edit

• Short Stories/Collections/Edited Works panel: Christine Ferdinands, Natalie Satakovski, B. R. de Loryn
• Novels/Novellas panel: Jay Caselberg (novellas only), Kathy Williams-DeVries, Lee Pletzers, B. R. de Loryn

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Wolf Creek: Origin, Aaron Sterns and Greg McLean (Penguin)

Nominees edit

• Suicide Forest, Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein Books)
• Book of the Dead, Greig Beck (Momentum Books)
• Dark Deceit, Lauren Dawes (Momentum Books)
• Davey Ribbon, Matthew Tait (HodgePodge Press)

Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• Dreams of Destruction, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (self-published)

Nominees edit

• Ghost Camera, Darcy Coates (self-published)
• "The Shark God Covenant", Robert Hood, Dimension6 #3

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Shadows of the Lonely Dead", Alan Baxter, Suspended in Dusk (Books of the Dead Press)

Nominees edit

• "Mephisto", Alan Baxter, Daily Science Fiction
• "Mummified Monk", Rebecca Fung, Daylight Dims Volume 2
• "Bones", Michelle Jager, SQ Mag #14
• "Last Year When We Were Young", Andrew J. McKiernan, Last Year When We Were Young (Satalyte Publishing)

Edited Publication edit

Winner edit

• SQ Mag #14, Sophie Yorkston (ed) (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• SNAFU, Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding (eds) (Cohesion Press)
• Suspended in Dusk, Simon Dewar (ed) (Books of the Dead Press)

Collection edit

Winner edit

• Last Year When We Were Young, Andrew J. McKiernan (Satalyte Publishing)

Nominees edit

• There was no nominee shortlist in 2014.

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• In Vaulted Halls Entombed, Alan Baxter

Nominees edit

• The Haunting of Gillespie House, Darcy Coates
• Night Shift, Dirk Flinthart
• The Whimper, Robert Hood

Edited works edit

Winner edit

• Blurring the Line, Marty Young

Nominees edit

• Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar
• Lighthouses, Cameron Trost
• Midnight Echo 11, Kaaron Warren

Collected works edit

Winner edit

• Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Rob Hood

Nominees edit

• The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings
• Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Mine Intercom", Kaaron Warren

Nominees edit

• "The Bone Maiden", Greg Chapman
• "Eight Seconds", Pandora Hope
• "El Caballo Muerte", Martin Livings
• "Perfect Little Stitches", Deborah Sheldon

Comics/Graphic Novels edit

Winner edit

• The Road to Golgotha, G. N. Braun & Amanda J. Spedding

Nominees edit

• Troll, Michael Michalandos
• The Monster, Ben Rosenthal
• Undad, Shane W. Smith

The Rocky Wood Award for Non-fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• The Literary Gothic, Marija Elektra Rodriguez

Novels edit

Winner edit

• The Catacombs, Jeremy Bates

Nominees edit

• The Haunting of Blackwood House, Darcy Coates
• The Transgressions Cycle: The Mother, Mike Jones
• The Transgressions Cycle: The Reparation, Mike Jones
• The Big Smoke, Jason Nahrung

Award Director: Claire Fitzpatrick

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "His Shining Day", Richard Harland (Dreaming in the Dark)

Nominees edit

• "D Is for Death", Pete Aldin (C is for Chimera)
• "Midnight in the Graffiti Tunnel", Terry Dowling (Dreaming in the Dark)
• "Protege", Anthony Ferguson (Monsters Among Us)
• "No Other Men in Mitchell", Rose Hartley (Nightmare 2/16)
• "Selfie", Lee Murray (SQ Mag 5/16)
• "What the Sea Wants", Deb Sheldon (SQ Mag 2/16)
• "Uncontainable", Helen Stubbs (Apex Magazine 12/16)
• "All Roll Over", Kaaron Warren (In Your Face)
• "Fade to Grey", Janeen Webb (Dreaming in the Dark)

Collected works edit

Winner edit

• Crow Shine, Alan Baxter (Ticonderoga)

Nominees edit

• Concentration, Jack Dann (PS)
• Everything Is Fine, Grant Stone (Racket House)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Dead of Night, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, ed. (Australian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees edit

• Dreaming in the Dark, Jack Dann, ed. (PS Australia)
• At the Edg'e, Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray, eds. (Paper Road)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Grief Hole, Kaaron Warren (IFWG)

Nominees edit

• Hollow House, Greg Chapman (Omnium Gatherum)
• The Devil’s Prayer, Luke Gracias (self-published)
• Presumed Dead, Rick Kennett (self-published)
• The Invasion, Brett McBean (Sinister Grin)
• Into the Mist, Lee Murray (Cohesion)
• Unbidden, TJ Park (HarperImpulse)
• Devil Dragon, Deborah Sheldon (Severed)

Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Tipuna Tapu", Dan Rabarts (And Then…: The Great Big Book of Awesome Adventure Tales, Vol I)

Nominees edit

• "Box Of Bones", Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein)
• "Served Cold", Alan Baxter (Dreaming in the Dark)
• "The Eschatologist", Greg Chapman (Voodoo)
• "The Heart of the Mission", Matthew R. Davis (Oz Horror Con)
• "Burnt Sugar", Kirstyn McDermott (Dreaming in the Dark)

Award Director: J. Ashley Smith

The Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• The Body Horror Book, Claire Fitzpatrick (Oscillate Wildly Press)

Nominees edit

• "101 Weird Writers #46 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa", Kat Clay (Weird Fiction Review)
• Literary Serial Killer Fiction: The Evolution of a Genre, William Cook (Victoria University, Wellington NZ)
• It Follows is the Millennial STD Parable of Our Time, Maria Lewis (SBS)
• "A Shared Ambition: Horror Writers in Horror Fiction", Kyla Lee Ward (AHWA, Midnight Echo #12)

Written Work in a Comic/Graphic Novel edit

No award.

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 1, Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira & Bryce J. Stevens (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• Midnight Echo #12, Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Anthony P. Ferguson (AHWA)
• Below the Stairs – Tales from the Cellar, Steven Dillon (Things in the Well)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "The Banksia Boys", Matthew J. Morrison (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #66)

Nominees edit

• "Outside a Drifter", Lisa L. Hannett (Looming Low Vol.1, Dim Shores Press)
• "The Hand Walker", Rue Karney (Pacific Monsters, Fox Spirit Press)
• "The Circle Line", Martin Livings (Between the Tracks, Things in the Well)
• "The Little Mermaid", in Passing, Angela Slatter (The Review of Australian Fiction, April 2017)
• "The Big Reveal", David Stevens (Kaleidotrope)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Ismail's Expulsion", Brian Craddock (Between the Tracks, Things in the Well)

Nominees edit

• "Hope and Walker", Andrew Cull (Vermillion2One)
• "This Impossible Gift", Matthew R. Davis (Midnight Echo #12, AHWA)
• "No Good Deed", Angela Slatter (New Fears, Titan Books)
• "Furtherest", Kaaron Warren (Dark Screams Vol. 7, Cemetery Dance)
• "Eden in the End", Ashlee Scheuerman (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Corpselight (Verity Fassbinder Book 2), Angela Slatter (Jo Fletcher Books)

Nominees edit

• Aletheia, J. S. Breukelaar (Crystal Lake Publishing)
• Slithers, W. W. Mortensen (Self Published)
• Soon, Lois Murphy (Transit Lounge)
• Providence Place, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib Publications)

Award Director: Silvia Brown

Poetry edit

Winner edit

• "Revenants of the Antipodes", Kyla Lee Ward (HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume V)

Nominees edit

• "Polarity", Jay Caselberg (The Literary Hatchet 8-9/18)
• "The Middle of the Night", Rebecca Fraser (Breach #09)
• "Your Mortician Knows", Bee Nielsen (A Little Ray of Obsidian Black)
• "Matinee", Hester J. Rook (Chrome Baby 4/12/18)

Written Work in a Comic/Graphic Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Demon: Hell is Earth, Andrew Constant, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy & Chris Sotomayor (DC)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Horror, Lee Murray, ed. (Adrenaline)

Nominees edit

• Behind the Mask, Steve Dillon, ed. (Oz Horror Con)
• Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud and Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2, Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira & Bryce J. Stevens, eds. (IFWG)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• Shadows on the Wall, Steven Paulsen (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
• Bones, Andrew Cull (Vermillion2One)
• The Dalziel Files, Brian Craddock (Broken Puppet Books)
• Exploring Dark Fiction #2: A Primer to Kaaron Warren, Eric J. Guignard, ed. (Dark Moon)
• Beneath the Ferny Tree, David Schembri (Close-Up)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Riptide", Dan Rabarts (Suspended in Dusk II)

Nominees edit

• "The House of Jack’s Girls", Lee Battersby (PseudoPod 10/12/18)
• "The Ward of Tindalos", Debbie Cowens & Matt Cowens (Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud)
• "Planned and Expected", Piper Mejia (Breach #09)
• "Slither", Jason Nahrung (Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "The Black Sea", Chris Mason (Beneath the Waves: Tales from the Deep)

Nominees edit

• "Time and Tide", Robert Hood (Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2)
• "Thylacines", Deborah Sheldon (Severed)
• "Love Thee Better", Kaaron Warren (Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (Omnium Gatherum)

Nominees edit

• Devouring Dark, Alan Baxter (Grey Matter)
• Teeth of the Wolf, Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray (Raw Dog Screaming)
• Contrition, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

The winners were announced in June 2019:^[1]

Poetry edit

Winner edit

• "Taxonomy of Captured Roses", Hester J. Rook (Kaleidotrope, Autumn '19)

Nominees edit

• "Separation", Jay Caselberg (The Literary Hatchet #23)
• "Please Do Not Feed the Animals", Anne Casey (out of emptied cups)
• "Ode to a Black Hole", Charles Lovecraft (Spectral Realms Winter '19)
• "Brine and Vanishings", Hester J. Rook (Luminality #21)
• "Boat of a Million Years", Kyla Lee Ward (The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities)

Written Work in a Comic/Graphic Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Demon: Hell is Earth, Andrew Constant, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy & Chris Sotomayor (DC)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Midnight Echo Volume 14, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (Australasian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees edit

• Beside the Seaside: Tales from the Day-Tripper, Steve Dillon, ed. (self-published)
• Trickster's Treats, Volume 3: The Seven Deadly Sins Edition, Marie O'Regan & Lee Murray, eds. (self-published)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• Served Cold, Alan Baxter (Grey Matter)

Nominees edit

• Collision: Stories, J. S. Breukelaar (Meerkat)
• Figments and Fragments, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Steadfast Shadowsong", Matthew R. Davis (Dig Two Graves)

Nominees edit

• "The Ocean Hushed the Stones", Alan Baxter (Served Cold)
• "Ave Rune", J. S. Breukelaar (Collision: Stories)
• "Vivienne & Agnes", Chris Mason (Beside the Seaside: Tales from the Daytripper)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Supermassive Black Mass", Matthew R. Davis

Nominees edit

• "1862", C. J. Halbard (Man on Fire)
• "Enemy of My Enemy", Rick Kennett (War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia)
• "Out of Darkness", Chris Mason (Tales of the Lost, Volume 1)
• "The Neverwhere Line", Matthew J. Morrison (Midnight Echo #14)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Shepherd, Catherine Jinks (Text)

Nominees edit

• The Flower and the Serpent, Madeleine D'Este (self-published)
• Fusion, Kate Richards (Raw Dog Screaming)
• Contrition, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG)

Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• "The Danse Macabre", Kyla Lee Ward (The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities)

Nominees edit

• "Suffer the Little Children", Kris Ashton (Aurealis #119)
• "Horror and the paranormal", Eugen Bacon (Writing Speculative Fiction)
• "Horror Movies That Mean Something and Childhood Trauma Manifested", Maria Lewis (flicks.com.au)

Poetry edit

Winner edit

• "This Soundless Murk", Hester J. Rook (The Future File)

Nominees edit

• "Separation", K.S. Nikakis (Journey: Seeking the Sacred, Spirit and Soul in the Australian Wilderness)
• "The King of Eyes", P. S. Cottier (Monstrous)
• "Ode to a Black Hole", P. S. Cottier (Monstrous)
• "The Tongueless Dead", Leigh Blackmore (Spectral Realms #13)

Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• "Exploration of Menstruation in Horror and Dark Fiction", Tabatha Wood

Nominees edit

• Queer Vampires in Modern Cinema, Tabatha Wood
• Cthulu in California, Emmet O’Cuana
• What Makes Good Horror, Tim Hawken
• Phantasmagoria and the Earliest Forms of Horror Storytelling, Maria Lewis
• Sandalwood and Jade: The Weird and Fantastic Verse of Lin Carter, Leigh Blackmore

Graphic Novel edit

Winner edit

• Hellblazer: Rise and Fall, Tom Taylor

Nominees edit

• DCeased: Unkillables, Tom Taylor and Karl Mostert (DC Comics)
• The Mycelium Complex, Daniel Reed
• Redback Armageddon, Nathan Grixti (Self-published)
• Undad Volume Three, Katie Walsh-Smith, Miranda Richardson, Tim Stiles, Ryan Lindsay, Shane W Smith, Mitchell Collins and Simon Robins (Self-published)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Midnight Echo Volume 15, Lee Murray, ed. (Australasian Horror Writers Association)

Nominees edit

• Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn, eds. (Omnium Gatherum)
• Hadithi & the State of Black Speculative Fiction, Eugen Bacon and Milton Davis, eds. (Luna Press Publishing)
• Black Dogs, Black Tales – Where the Dogs Don’t Die, Tabatha Wood and Cassie Hart, eds. (Things in the Well)
• Trickster’s Treats 4 – Coming, Buried or Not!, Louise Zedda-Sampson and Geneve Flynn, eds. (Things in the Well)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners, Angela Slatter (PS Publishing)

Nominees edit

• Behind the Midnight Blinds, Marty Young (Things in the Well)
• Red New Day, Angela Slatter (Brain Jar Press)
• Bleak Precision, Greg Chapman (self-published)
• Grotesque, Lee Murray (Things in the Well)

Short fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Brumation", Anthony Ferguson (Midnight Echo Volume 15)

Nominees edit

• “Vision Thing”, Matthew R. Davis (Black Dogs, Black Tales)
• “Let Shadows Slip Through”, Kali Napier (New Gothic Review 2)
• “The Bone Fairy”, Martin Livings (Midnight Echo Volume 15)
• “Hideous Armature”, Joanne Anderton (Midnight Echo Volume 15)
• “Needles”, Kali Napier (The Dark #62)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "By Touch and By Glance", Lisa L Hannett (Songs for Dark Seasons)

Nominees edit

• “New Wine”, Angela Slatter (Cursed)
• The Attic Tragedy, Joseph Ashley-Smith
• “Barralang, pop. 63”, Deborah Sheldon (Dimension6 #19)
• “Kua Hinga Te Kauri”, Dan Rabarts (Outback Horrors Down Under)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• Deception Pass, Matthew Tait (Dark Crib)

Nominees edit

• The Crying Forest, Venero Armanno (IFWG Publishing)
• Gutterbreed, Marty Young (Eclectic Trio)
• Flyaway, Kathleen Jennings (Picador)

Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• I’m Looking Right At You, HP Lovecraft, Jack Dann (IFWG)

Nominees edit

• Vampire Poetry, Kyla Lee Ward (Hippocampus Press)
• The Curious Reclassification of Peter Benchley’s Jaws, Kris Ashton (Aurealis Magazine)
• Capturing Ghosts on the Page, Kaaron Warren (Brain Jar Press)
• Murder Down Under, Anthony Ferguson (Exposit Books)

Poetry edit

Winner edit

• "Cheongsam", Lee Murray (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken)

Nominees edit

• “When The Girls Began To Fall”, Geneve Flynn (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)
• “Sonnet for a Scarecrow”, Rebecca Fraser (Curioser Magazine, issue 1)
• “Guest of Honour”, Geneve Flynn (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)
• “Snip”, P.S. Cottier (Midnight Echo #16)
• “Exquisite”, Lee Murray (Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.)

Graphic Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Mycelium Complex Issue 2, Daniel Reed (Nautilus Illustrations)

Nominees edit

• Frankie’s Drive-In Ozploitation Double Feature, Aaron Harvie (Badharvie)
• Goetia, Robert Buratti (Sub Rosa Publishing)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• SNAFU: Holy War, Amanda J. Spedding and Geoff Brown, eds. (Cohesion Press)
• Midnight Echo #16, Tim Hawken, ed. (AHWA)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• Tool tales, Kaaron Warren (IFWG Publishing)

Nominees edit

• The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales, Angela Slatter (Tartarus Press)
• Seeds, Tabatha Wood (Wild Wood Books)
• Inanimates, Joanne Anderton (Brain Jar Press)
• Danged Black Thing, Eugen Bacon (Transit Lounge Publishing)

Short Fiction edit

Winner edit

• “A Good Big Brother”, Matt Tighe (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies)

Nominees edit

• “Bad Apple” by Louise Pieper (Good Southern Witches)
• “Tagged” by Chuck McKenzie (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine)
• “The Best Medicine” by Pauline Yates (Midnight Echo #16)
• “The Steering Wheel Club” by Kaaron Warren (Giving the Devil His Due)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• Ariadne, I Love You, J. Ashley-Smith (Meerkat Press)

Nominees edit

• “The Waiting Room”, Matthew Davis (It Calls from the Doors)
• Cryptid Killers, Alister Hodge
• “The Little One”, Rebecca Fraser (Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract)
• Dirty Heads, Aaron Dries

Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Girls Left Behind, J.P. Townley

Nominees edit

• Butcherbird, Cassie Hart
• An Ill Wind, Martin Livings
• Papa Lucy and the Boneman, Jason Fischer
• The Airways, Jennifer Mills
• Merfolk, Jeremy Bates

Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Winner edit

• "The Slow Burn Brilliance of Midnight Mass", Kris Ashton (Aurealis Magazine)

Nominees edit

• "I Don’t Read Horror (and other weird tales)" by Lee Murray (Interstellar Flight Magazine)
• "Vampire, the Ageless Monster", Tim Hawken (Aurealis Magazine)
• No Horror Without the Body, Tabatha Wood (Self-published)

Poetry edit

Winner edit

• "Hip Gnomes", P. S. Cottier (Antipodean SF)

Nominees edit

• Night Terrors, L. E. Daniels
• "How Does Your Garden Grow?", Gene Flynn (Hybrid: Misfits, Monsters and Other Phenomena)
• "If I Touch You, You’ll Know", Rebecca Fraser (Nightmare Fuel Magazine)

Graphic Novel edit

Winner edit

• Gorilla My Dreams Team-Up #1: When Freaks Collide, Big Tim Stiles (Big Tim’s Funny Books)

Nominees edit

• How to Win a Raid, Emmet O’Cuana (Bird’s Eye Comics)
• Batrisha and the Creepy Caretaker, Dillon Naylor (Comicoz)

Edited Work edit

Winner edit

• Death in the Mouth: An Anthology of Original Horror by People of Colour, Cassie Hart and Sloane Leong, eds. (self-published)

Nominees edit

• Found: An Anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories, Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias, eds. (Vermillion2One Press)
• Midnight Echo #17, Greg Chapman, ed. (AHWA)

Collected Work edit

Winner edit

• Hard Places, Kirstyn McDermott (Trepidation Publishing)

Nominees edit

• Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts, Aaron Dries (IFWG Australia)
• Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Australia)
• The Devil Took Her: Tales of Horror, Michael Botur (The Sager Group)
• Reflections, Tabatha Wood (Wild Wood Books)

Short Fiction edit

Winner edit

• "Little Balloons", Aaron Dries (Cut To Care: A Collection of Little Hurts)

Nominees edit

• "Break the Skin If You Have To", Emma Osborne, Cadwell Turnbull and Jess Essey (Nightmare Magazine)
• "They Call Me Mother", Geneve Flynn (Classic Monsters Unleashed)
• "The Tub", J. Ashley Smith (Midnight Echo #17)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Winner edit

• And Then I Woke Up, Malcolm Devlin (Tor.com)

Nominees edit

• "Among The Faded Woods", Faith Mudge (The Art of Being Human)
• "Kookaburra Cruel" by Aaron Dries (Damnation Games)

Novel edit

Winner edit

• The Path of Thorns, Angela Slatter (Titan Books)

Nominees edit

• The Stone Road, Trent Jamieson (Erewhon Books)
• Denizen, James McKenzie Watson (Viking)
• Red Ruin, Ian J. Middleton and Denver Grenell (Self-published)

Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism edit

Nominees edit

• A Vindication of Monsters, Claire Fitzpatrick, ed. (IFWG Publishing International)
• "Displaced Spirits: Ghosts of the Diaspora" by Lee Murray (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror)
• "Holy Revelations", Grace Chan (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror)

Poetry edit

Nominees edit

• "The Broonie", Deborah Sheldon (Nightmare Fuel Magazine)
• Dancers on the Road, K. S. Nikakis (SOV Media)
• "Guiding Star", Tim Jones (Remains to be Told Dark Tales of Aotearoa)
• "Never Leave the Path", Kyla Lee Ward (Eternal Haunted Summer)
• "What It Means to be With You", Pauline Yates (HWA Poetry Showcase Volume X)

Graphic Novel edit

Nominees edit

• Fables of Fear, Karl Brandt (KB Comics)
• Monomyth, David Hazan (Mad Cave Studios)
• Splitting Sides 2, David Schembri (North Forest Books)
• Yuletide Flame, Hayden Fryer (Siberian Productions)

Edited Work edit

Nominees edit

• Black Beacon Book of Horror, Cameron Trost, ed. (Black Beacon Books)
• Killer Creatures Down Under, Deborah Sheldon, ed. (IFWG Publishing)
• Remains to be Told, Lee Murray, ed. (Clan Destine Press)
• SNAFU Punk’d, Geoff Brown and Amanda J. Spedding, eds. (Cohesion Press)

Collected Work edit

Nominees edit

• Bites Eyes, Matthew R. Davis (Brain Jar Press)
• Midnight Masquerades, Greg Chapman (IFWG Publishing International)
• Precarious Waters, Pamela Jeffs (Four Ink Press)
• Stingers, Noel Osualdini & T.M. McLean (Self-published)

Short Fiction edit

Nominees edit

• "All the Eyes That See", Alan Baxter (Cosmic Horror Monthly #42)
• Camp Never, J. S. Bruekelaar
• Death Interrupted, Pamela Jeffs
• "What Bones These Tides Bring", Nikky Lee (Remains to be Told Dark Tales of Aotearoa)

The Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction edit

Nominees edit

• "After I Found Her", Claire Low (This Fresh Hell)
• Bitters, Kaaron Warren (Cemetery Dance Books)
• Those That Pursue Us Yet, Kyla Ward (Independent Legion Publishing)
• "We Called it Graffitiville", Aaron Dries (Vandal: Stories of Damage)

Novel edit

Nominees edit

• Cretaceous Canyon, Deborah Sheldon (Severed Press)
• The Graveyard Shift, Maria Lewis (Angry Robot/Datura)
• Polyphemus, Zachary Ashford (Darklit Press)
• When Ghosts Call Us Home, Katya de Becerra (Page Street Publishing (US), Pan Macmillan (UK/AU/NZ))

General

• Australian Horror Writers Association "Australian Shadows Awards" (Accessed 2 May 2015).
• Australian Horror Writers Association Facebook page (Accessed 2 May 2015).
• Crabb, Brendan. (30 April 2015). "Shadows of the Lonely Dead picks up award for Jamberoo author Alan Baxter" Kiama Independent.
• 2009 Australian Shadows Award: Finalists (Accessed 16 May 2010).
• "News: Australian Shadows Award Expands". HorrorScope^{[permanent dead link]} (Accessed 12 September 2009).
• "News: Australian Shadows finalists". HorrorScope (Accessed 14 February 2009).
• Kemble, Gary. (17 March 2007). "Elliott wins Australian Shadows award". ABC online news (Articulate).
• Kemble, Gary. (13 March 2009). "Lee Battersby Snares 2nd Australian Shadows Award" ABC News (Articulate). (Accessed 21 March 2009).
• Siemienowicz, Miranda (16 March 2007). "News: Australian Shadows winner announced". HorrorScope
• (10 June 2019) "2018 Australian Shadows Awards Winners". Locus Mag

Specific

• Australian Shadows Awards page of AHWA website
• Australian Shadows Facebook page