Cirrus@Austlit

'Never, ever look directly into the eyes of a ghost. Because once you see it, once you see her, once you acknowledge her impossible existence, you can never un-see it. And that's how she gets you.

'When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast – Cashore House.

'In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil – her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip . . . until Layla disappeared.

'Now, Sophia must study the trail of clues Layla has left behind, returning to the very place where it all began. As she gets closer and closer to Cashore House’s haunted heart, she must once again confront the ghosts of her childhood. But the house won’t reveal its secrets without a fight.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible – and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to make it choke. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan – and who will suffer most if she does. But as the ghosts of her past become harder to control, Asher realises she has no choice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When a deadly pandemic sweeps the world, three-year-old Zoey is left alone, trapped in her house, wondering why Mummy won't wake up; why Daddy never came home; and why the world outside her window has stopped. But as the dead begin to rise, she won't be alone for long.

'Across the country, in a rural Australian community, sisters Merry and Claire think they're saved when the capable, but controlling, Mr Blake rescues them from a frenzied 'grinner'. But when Merry discovers the price she's paid for protection, she's forced to choose between her safety and her sanity.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Nick Wheeler’s subject matter has always been controversial. A venerated photographer motivated to capture the malign elements of human existence – suicide as illusion and artifice – his career is suddenly in tatters after a near-fatal work accident plunges him into a coma.

'A sleep paralysis victim, Nick’s descent into oblivion ushers him back to where it all began: winters spent in the rugged foothills of Deception Pass. It was here, among the secret grottos and old-growth forests, where ancient forces first showed their hand: Shadow Men capable of paralyzing the body and manipulating generations into serving an otherworldly agenda.

'To survive, Nick must confront the past ... and the Shadows, evermore monstrous disguised by human faces.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Fourteen-year-old convict Tom Clay lives in a shepherd’s hut in the bush, protecting his master’s sheep from wild dogs. When a vicious fellow shepherd returns to ensure there are no witnesses to his crimes, the bush-crafty Tom and his hapless mate Rowdy face a life-and-death battle to survive.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.