Creatives convene for after dark efforts

WHILE often considered an unlucky day by some, this coming Friday the thirteenth will mark a fortunate occasion for local fans of vampiric horror prose.

Four Ballarat creatives will mark the evening with a collective launch and signing event centred around recent fiction releases.

Called After Dark, the occasion will showcase works from Jason Nahrung, Kirstyn McDermott, Dillon Naylor, and Steven Paulsen, the latter of whom will unearth his co-edited collection Nosferatu Unbound set to release three days following the event.

He said the book’s development is a key driver behind the launch and signing.

“I was asked by my publisher to co-edit an anthology based on Nosferatu, the original silent black-and-white movie,” he said.

“We gathered a bunch of writers from around the world, including David Stoker, [Dracula creator] Bram Stoker’s nephew, talking about the impact the movie had on the Stoker estate.

“We ended up with four Ballarat contributors including me as co-editor, Kirtsyn and Jason both wrote fabulous stories for it, and we asked Dillon to do some black-and-white art.

“It was talking about this book where we realised we had a bit of synchronicity with their own releases so it’s something of a joint launch.”

Featuring contributions from all four creatives as well as overseas writers, Nosferatu Unbound is an anthology of stories based on the eponymous vampire first brought to life by Max Schreck in 1922, and set to be published globally by IFWG International.

Alongside the collection, Nahrung’s Cruel Nights, a vampire novella set in 1990s-era Seattle and released in May, will also feature.

The third centrepiece publication is Naylor’s Batrisha and the Creepy Caretaker, which was released to celebrate 20 years of the titular comic-strip character who was a fixture in children’s magazine K-Zone since 2001.

Paulsen will MC the event which will feature presentations, Q&As, and meet and greet opportunities.

He said After Dark is an opportunity to showcase globally recognised literary talents living right here in Ballarat. “Even though each of us in our areas of writing are well-known in Australia, and to an extent, overseas, we’re basically unknown in Ballarat,” he said.

“It’s interesting the four of us here working together so this is a shoutout to our Ballarat horror writers. Jason’s [Nosferatu Unbound] story is actually set here post-Gold Rush.”

The After Dark event will take place at Collins Booksellers at Bridge Mall from 6.30pm on Friday 13 September.