Dead Red Heart

Dead Red Heart is an anthology of Australian vampire short stories edited by Russell B. Farr, published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2011.

Contents

• “The Tide”, Martin Livings and friends
• “Mutiny on the Scarborough”, Shona Husk
• “Sun Falls”, Angela Slatter
• “Such is Life”, Jeremy Sadler
• “Apologetoi”, Chris Lawson
• “Punishment of the Sun”, Alan Baxter
• “Red Delicious”, Felicity Dowker
• “Just a Matter of Economics”, Yvonne Eve Walus
• “Quarantine”, Patty Jansen
• “Out of the Grave”, Amanda Pillar
• “Desert Blood”, Marty Young
• “Thin Air”, Simon Brown
• “Kissed by the Sun”, Jodi Cleghorn
• "Bats", Jane Routley
• “Black Heart”, Joanna Fay
• “Renfield's Wife”, Damon Cavalchini
• “Listening to Tracy”, Jen White
• “Breaking the Drought”, Jay Caselberg
• “Children of the Cane”, Jason Nahrung
• “The Sea at Night”, Joanne Anderton
• “Sky in the Morning”, Sonia Marcon
• “Taking it for the Team”, Tracie McBride
• “All that Glisters”, Pete Kempshall
• “The Rider”, Martin Livings
• “Vitality”, George Ivanoff
• “Coming Home”, Kathryn Hore
• “The Little Red Man”, Ray Gates
• “Deathborn Light”, Helen Stubbs
• “The Life Stealer”, Donna Maree Hanson
• “Behind the Black Mask”, Jacob Edwards
• “Interview with the Jiangshi”, Anne Mok
• “White and Red in the Black”, Lisa L Hannett
• “Lady Yang's Lament”, Penelope Love

Critical reception

Publishers Weekly noted: "there are still many solid tales to satisfy vampire fans".

Writing on SFSite, Mario Guslandi noted: "The hefty volume... assembles thirty-three stories where diversity is the main feature. Some tales have a distinct Aussie taste in terms of location and local sub-culture, which contributes to shed a new light on vampires, their habits and their personalities."

Nalini Haynes writing for Dark Matter Zine noted: "an interesting, mostly engaging, assortment of short stories seeking to portray varying interpretations of vampire mythology. The sense of place, this is Australia, is the one consistent flavour of this anthology."

Awards

The anthology won the Australasian Shadows Award for Edited Publication in 2011.

References