What do you think?
Rate this book
Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories With Bite
Australia: the land where everything wants to kill you. A continent filled with some of the deadliest animals in the world. From creepy-crawlies to crocodiles, you'll have plenty to fear in this anthology penned by Australian authors. Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite offers disturbing tales that range from the action-packed and visceral, through the historical and futuristic, to the phantasmagorical and supernatural. Prepare to confront your animal phobias... And perhaps develop some new ones.
Featuring work by: Geraldine Borella - Tim Borella - Renee De Visser - Anthony Ferguson - Jason Fischer - Fox Claret Hill - Robert Mammone - Ben Matthews - J.M. Merryt - Helena O'Connor - Steven Paulsen - Antoinette Rydyr - Deborah Sheldon - Charles Spiteri - H.K. Stubbs - Matt Tighe - Keith Williams - Pauline Yates
Curated by Deborah Sheldon, editor of the multi-award-winning and multi-award-nominated anthology, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies.
Featuring work by: Geraldine Borella - Tim Borella - Renee De Visser - Anthony Ferguson - Jason Fischer - Fox Claret Hill - Robert Mammone - Ben Matthews - J.M. Merryt - Helena O'Connor - Steven Paulsen - Antoinette Rydyr - Deborah Sheldon - Charles Spiteri - H.K. Stubbs - Matt Tighe - Keith Williams - Pauline Yates
Curated by Deborah Sheldon, editor of the multi-award-winning and multi-award-nominated anthology, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies.
- GenresHorror
230 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2023
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Sheldon
78 books277 followersI'm a multi-award-winning author and anthology editor from Melbourne, Australia. I write poems, short stories, novelettes, novellas and novels across the darker spectrum of horror, crime and noir. My latest titles are the novel Nightmare Reef and the poetry collection The Broonie and Other Dark Poems.
My award-winning titles include the novella Redhead Town and the collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories. My award-nominated titles include the novels Bodily Harm, Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and the collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories.
My short fiction has appeared in many well-respected magazines, been shortlisted for numerous awards, translated, and included in various 'best of' anthologies such as Year's Best Hardcore Horror.
I've won the Australian Shadows 'Best Edited Work' Award three times: for Midnight Echo 14, and for the anthologies I conceived and edited, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, and Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite.
Other credits include TV scripts such as NEIGHBOURS, feature articles, non-fiction books published by Reed Books and Random House, stage plays, award-nominated poetry, and award-winning medical writing including Better Health Channel.
My award-winning titles include the novella Redhead Town and the collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories. My award-nominated titles include the novels Bodily Harm, Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and the collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories.
My short fiction has appeared in many well-respected magazines, been shortlisted for numerous awards, translated, and included in various 'best of' anthologies such as Year's Best Hardcore Horror.
I've won the Australian Shadows 'Best Edited Work' Award three times: for Midnight Echo 14, and for the anthologies I conceived and edited, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, and Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite.
Other credits include TV scripts such as NEIGHBOURS, feature articles, non-fiction books published by Reed Books and Random House, stage plays, award-nominated poetry, and award-winning medical writing including Better Health Channel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 7, 2023
In this Creature Feature, you can feast your eyes on the denture adventure of Australian animals that Bite! A contemporary horror anthology that will do little for Australian tourism and may even frighten the locals. This is an excellent collection of works selected by the award-winning author and editor, Deb Sheldon.
I was very impressed with the scope and creativity of the stories included in this anthology. With the theme of "Australian animals that Bite" the authors have bitten down hard on the challenge, and produced works that span numerous sub-genres of horror, including body horror, gore, supernatural, monsters, and underworld activities.
I would strongly recommend it a) for reading, b) for swatting insects that bite (you don't want to end up like the characters in these stories, do you? and c) for terrifying tourists.
I was very impressed with the scope and creativity of the stories included in this anthology. With the theme of "Australian animals that Bite" the authors have bitten down hard on the challenge, and produced works that span numerous sub-genres of horror, including body horror, gore, supernatural, monsters, and underworld activities.
I would strongly recommend it a) for reading, b) for swatting insects that bite (you don't want to end up like the characters in these stories, do you? and c) for terrifying tourists.
February 13, 2023
What a simple but great idea for an Aussie horror anthology. Given that our wide brown land probably hosts more creatures that are out to kill you than any other on the planet. That said, I was expecting a bevy of sharks, crocs, snakes, and spiders, and while there are a couple, the eclectic range of surprising killer creatures featured in this collection are quite unexpected.
It’s a very solid collection of tales from an excellent bunch of writers. Not talking about myself, I’ll leave my own story for others to judge, and mention a few of the stories that I personally enjoyed.
Jason Fischer’s imagined alternative future Australia, “Milk and Honey” is a classy piece of work, one of the few in which the creature in question merely forms a backdrop to a wider narrative. The somehow familiar traits of the lead character also brought out a wry smile at a clever piece of dark humour.
Speaking of, Renne de Visser’s “Twisted” has one of the best ending scenes to a story I’ve read in a good while. Deborah Sheldon’s “Species Endangered” builds up to a frenzied chase, and made me more afraid of cassowaries than I ever thought I would be. Matt Tighe’s “There are Things on Me” is a short sharp kick in the nuts and made me itch, as did Ben Matthews’ “Ixodes Holocyclus”.
Anntoinette Ryder’s “Every Part of Her” uses a very clever jump cut narrative to weave an excellent tale of revenge. Robert Mammone’s “The Seaside” is a classic nautical horror tale with a hint of Lovecraft about it. J.M Merryt’s flyblown tale, “Myiasis” is grossly satisfying.
This is an excellent anthology and one which I zipped through in a couple of sittings. I would wax lyrical about every story if space permitted because all of them are well written and shed light on the incredible range of nasties we encounter down under in unique ways.
It’s a very solid collection of tales from an excellent bunch of writers. Not talking about myself, I’ll leave my own story for others to judge, and mention a few of the stories that I personally enjoyed.
Jason Fischer’s imagined alternative future Australia, “Milk and Honey” is a classy piece of work, one of the few in which the creature in question merely forms a backdrop to a wider narrative. The somehow familiar traits of the lead character also brought out a wry smile at a clever piece of dark humour.
Speaking of, Renne de Visser’s “Twisted” has one of the best ending scenes to a story I’ve read in a good while. Deborah Sheldon’s “Species Endangered” builds up to a frenzied chase, and made me more afraid of cassowaries than I ever thought I would be. Matt Tighe’s “There are Things on Me” is a short sharp kick in the nuts and made me itch, as did Ben Matthews’ “Ixodes Holocyclus”.
Anntoinette Ryder’s “Every Part of Her” uses a very clever jump cut narrative to weave an excellent tale of revenge. Robert Mammone’s “The Seaside” is a classic nautical horror tale with a hint of Lovecraft about it. J.M Merryt’s flyblown tale, “Myiasis” is grossly satisfying.
This is an excellent anthology and one which I zipped through in a couple of sittings. I would wax lyrical about every story if space permitted because all of them are well written and shed light on the incredible range of nasties we encounter down under in unique ways.
April 21, 2023
'Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite' is an anthology of truly incredible stories that cover the whole spectrum of the horror genre. The brainchild of multi award-winning Australian author, Deborah Sheldon, who conceived, compiled and edited this volume, it will be released on 15 May by Australia’s IFWG Publishing. Add to this the Australian writers, the exclusive plot focus on Australian creatures, and the stories all located – you guessed it – Down Under, and you’ve got a book that’s one hundred percent ‘Made in Australia’. My advice? Grab it and read it, ASAP!
May 24, 2023
I highly recommend reading this anthology, it's a nightmare in words.
June 5, 2023
A mixed bag of stories. Some I really liked, others I wasn't so sure about. But they all highlighted the duology of Australian animals; their beauty and their danger.
May 9, 2023
I love a good horror anthology. Being able to dip in and out when I'm pressed for time is great. And it's a real bonus when I find a collection with different styles and flavours of scary. I really enjoyed Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite. Each tale had a unique perspective on Aussie critters, and why many of them are scary as hell (I didn't realise how many creatures I wasn't afraid of, but should be).
I liked the range of different stories, from supernatural ravens with long memories, as in Corvus, by Keith Williams, to the straight-up terrifying realism of Species Endangered, by Deborah Sheldon. There was mind-breaking horror, such as The Seaside, by Richard Mammone—ouchy instant regret, as in No Frills Holiday, by Geraldine Borella, and an alternate history of Australia in Milk and Honey, by Jason Fisher, which is totally foreign, but with creepily familiar echoes.
I mention these as some examples to describe the style of the anthology. Some stories resonated with me more than others, but there weren't any I disliked. If you are into horror and want something with an Aussie flavour, I don't see how you could find a better collection. I highly recommend checking this out.
I liked the range of different stories, from supernatural ravens with long memories, as in Corvus, by Keith Williams, to the straight-up terrifying realism of Species Endangered, by Deborah Sheldon. There was mind-breaking horror, such as The Seaside, by Richard Mammone—ouchy instant regret, as in No Frills Holiday, by Geraldine Borella, and an alternate history of Australia in Milk and Honey, by Jason Fisher, which is totally foreign, but with creepily familiar echoes.
I mention these as some examples to describe the style of the anthology. Some stories resonated with me more than others, but there weren't any I disliked. If you are into horror and want something with an Aussie flavour, I don't see how you could find a better collection. I highly recommend checking this out.
December 19, 2023
Such a brilliant collection of short stories all with a truly Australian feel! Not my usual genre of reading but I really enjoyed this book and all the amazing diversions each story took. I wanted to read it in one sitting, but also needed to pause between each story in order to savour the writing and stay in each author's created world for a little longer... well, when I say 'stay', I mean be happy I'm not actually experiencing it! Definitely a good read!
January 6, 2025
Stories were good. Some of them were weird. Some I will never look at the animals the same way again. And some were almost scary. I live in Australia and after reading this book, I have a few more animals that are on my scary list.
November 12, 2023
I read the first story and nearly threw up, had to stop reading halfway through the second story.
My husband loved it.
Excellent writing but may be viscerally challenging for some!
My husband loved it.
Excellent writing but may be viscerally challenging for some!
April 25, 2025
This more than scratched the itch I was looking for, creature features and animal attack stories set in my own backyard. Would love to see a part 2 published one day.
May 3, 2023
A thoroughly satisfying collection of stories featuring both the cliches of dangerous animals, as well as some very unexpected guests. It’s these unexpected creatures that made for the best stories in this collection. The ones that stood out appealed to the kind of stories I was hoping to get out of this - ones that really made me feel ick and gross.
My standouts were “Every Part of Her” (the star of the show), “The Seaside”, and “Myiasis.” They also had unusual premises, engaging hooks, dabbled in the Weird, and anything like Myiasis that can give me such revolting, visceral reactions is a winner for me. “Quoll Season” too played with classic horror tropes of the friendship group in the cabin, with an enjoyable payoff. “Milk and Honey” didn’t fit horror so much, but was an exceptional alternate history/what if? genre story.
Other standouts I enjoyed for their locations, particularly SEQ. The joy of discovering that “Boyfriend Material” was set in Mt Maroon, close to where I own property and hope to use for inspiration for my own bush horror story one day. (The story also had leeches, which is a bonus win for me too).
Other animals that turn up in these stories include cassowary, which confirmed my lack of desire to swim at Cape Tribulation 20 years ago, crocs, jack jumper ants, ticks, platypus, ravens, and goannas. Those readers who want Australian narrators would be well worth reading “Bait” and “Hell Gully” - Bait being one of the most ocker stories I’ve ever read. Includes one of my favourite Aussie phrases, “no funny buggers”.
The final story, “There are Things on me”, touched on a different nerve, and was quite a gross way of exploring a heartbreaking elegy that explored the decay of getting old. Really enjoyed that for a different tone altogether.
Deborah Sheldon also edited my recent favourite anthology Spawn, which I preferred - it rattled some really psychological, deep-seated horrors for me, whereas this anthology seemed to be veer more into action and thriller territory. She really has cemented her role in Australian publishing as someone who can slap together diverse stories exploring cohesive themes in genre fiction.
My standouts were “Every Part of Her” (the star of the show), “The Seaside”, and “Myiasis.” They also had unusual premises, engaging hooks, dabbled in the Weird, and anything like Myiasis that can give me such revolting, visceral reactions is a winner for me. “Quoll Season” too played with classic horror tropes of the friendship group in the cabin, with an enjoyable payoff. “Milk and Honey” didn’t fit horror so much, but was an exceptional alternate history/what if? genre story.
Other standouts I enjoyed for their locations, particularly SEQ. The joy of discovering that “Boyfriend Material” was set in Mt Maroon, close to where I own property and hope to use for inspiration for my own bush horror story one day. (The story also had leeches, which is a bonus win for me too).
Other animals that turn up in these stories include cassowary, which confirmed my lack of desire to swim at Cape Tribulation 20 years ago, crocs, jack jumper ants, ticks, platypus, ravens, and goannas. Those readers who want Australian narrators would be well worth reading “Bait” and “Hell Gully” - Bait being one of the most ocker stories I’ve ever read. Includes one of my favourite Aussie phrases, “no funny buggers”.
The final story, “There are Things on me”, touched on a different nerve, and was quite a gross way of exploring a heartbreaking elegy that explored the decay of getting old. Really enjoyed that for a different tone altogether.
Deborah Sheldon also edited my recent favourite anthology Spawn, which I preferred - it rattled some really psychological, deep-seated horrors for me, whereas this anthology seemed to be veer more into action and thriller territory. She really has cemented her role in Australian publishing as someone who can slap together diverse stories exploring cohesive themes in genre fiction.
April 29, 2023
When it comes to horror, we have talent with teeth in swarms down under, and this lethal anthology proves it!
"Killer Creatures from Down Under" delivers what the title promises. This anthology has what it takes to quench the thirst of all those bloodthirsty readers who love (or loathe!) the nasty slithering, flying, buzzing, crawling, swimming, and scampering creatures Australia has to offer. Rather than pack a punch, these tales sink jagged teeth deep into the flesh and rip out vital organs. Fair to say that most of the stories here deserve a star rating of between three and five, so there are no duds. It's always a buzz (poor choice of word?) for an author to get a personal mention, so here goes... My favourite was The Seaside by Robert Mammone for the sheer epic scale of the terror, and I also particularly enjoyed Bait by Anthony Ferguson, and the highly original The Best Omelette in Australia by Fox Claret Hill.
Let's not forget to congratulate the team behind this title from an excellent independent publisher, so hats off to the team at IFWG Publishing and particularly to Deborah Sheldon for picking these tasty morsels (and it was a pleasure to reread her contribution, Species Endangered) and Greg Chapman for designing a cover that really lets the reader know what to expect.
"Killer Creatures from Down Under" delivers what the title promises. This anthology has what it takes to quench the thirst of all those bloodthirsty readers who love (or loathe!) the nasty slithering, flying, buzzing, crawling, swimming, and scampering creatures Australia has to offer. Rather than pack a punch, these tales sink jagged teeth deep into the flesh and rip out vital organs. Fair to say that most of the stories here deserve a star rating of between three and five, so there are no duds. It's always a buzz (poor choice of word?) for an author to get a personal mention, so here goes... My favourite was The Seaside by Robert Mammone for the sheer epic scale of the terror, and I also particularly enjoyed Bait by Anthony Ferguson, and the highly original The Best Omelette in Australia by Fox Claret Hill.
Let's not forget to congratulate the team behind this title from an excellent independent publisher, so hats off to the team at IFWG Publishing and particularly to Deborah Sheldon for picking these tasty morsels (and it was a pleasure to reread her contribution, Species Endangered) and Greg Chapman for designing a cover that really lets the reader know what to expect.
July 1, 2024
This anthology of stories about real Australian killer animals is a hugely fun, gory and often terrifying read guaranteed to please all fans of Creature Feature and splatter horror. There isn't a single dud in this collection, although the standouts for me - based as much upon them featuring animals that I (as an Aussie) am personally freaked out by as by the excellent storytelling - were: 'Corvus' by Keith Williams (featuring vengeful ravens), 'Ixodes Holocyclus' by Ben Matthews (ticks), 'Bait' by Anthny Ferguson (sharks, but also...), 'Species Endangered' by Deborah Sheldon (cassowaries), 'Twisted' by Renee De Visser (goannas), and 'Boyfriend Material' by H.K. Stubbs (leeches). And if spiders, flies, crocodiles, dingoes, quolls, platypuses, crabs, octopi, snakes, bull-ants, termites or even extinct Australian megafauna give you the heebie-jeebies...well, there are stories here that will tick those boxes also. I really hope to see follow up anthologies to this one from editor Deborah Sheldon and IFWG Publishing.
May 3, 2023
An excerpt from my online review blog:
As a creature feature girl, this book made me very happy. Truth be told, I might have enjoyed a little more gruesome content. Not to say that there isn’t some in the collection! A few of the stories did give me the visceral reactions I love. Two in particular had me scratching a little while I was reading them! Beware, some of the creatures in the anthology have a way of getting under your skin!
To read the full spoiler free review:
https://robinknabel.squarespace.com/r...
As a creature feature girl, this book made me very happy. Truth be told, I might have enjoyed a little more gruesome content. Not to say that there isn’t some in the collection! A few of the stories did give me the visceral reactions I love. Two in particular had me scratching a little while I was reading them! Beware, some of the creatures in the anthology have a way of getting under your skin!
To read the full spoiler free review:
https://robinknabel.squarespace.com/r...
May 6, 2023
Deborah Sheldon has selected a fantastic range of stories for this brilliant anthology. Don’t expect cryptids or fantastical creatures, these tales feature real creatures native to Australia. But having said that, readers can expect the unexpected, with gripping stories that span the horror genre. This is a book you won’t want to put down. Highly recommended! And the fabulous cover by Greg Chapman is perfect. Disclaimer: I have a story “The Warrigals” included in this anthology, but my review ignores my yarn which I leave to others to judge.
May 5, 2023
Brilliant collection of short stories featuring Australian fauna spanning the breadth of the horror genre. Some stories are set it the here and now, while some are historical, supernatural, or even science fictional. All of them immaculately presented and razor sharp. This is one classy anthology.
April 18, 2023
Thanks to all the contributors for their terrific stories, and to Gerry Huntman of IFWG Publishing for having faith in my project!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews