This work collects short stories by many of the leading writers of fantasy and science fiction in Australia. It covers various areas of contemporary wild-side fiction including fantasy, horror, magical realism, cyberpunk and science fiction.

Have you ever wondered about the land of Australia, where the wombats and wallabies do play? It's a place many go for adventures untold, to learn of wildly strange beasts found nowhere else in the world. This fond tale tells of a curiously unfriendly, very round and quite furry wombat by the name of Wilbert. He likes to stay in his burrow, always digging day in and day out between his warm lazy naps. He likes his burrow so much, he even likes it more than being around anyone else! Until one day when he ventures out with hunger in his belly and discovers a wallaby tripping at his paws! And that is where our story, one of heart-warming bravery, kindling of friendship and feeling of belonging to a community, begins. Where Wilbert the Wombat learns that life is lived better when you make the choice to help others in need. So go on, your Australian adventure awaits. Let's start reading it today.

What would things be like if there really were the unliving among us? It is suggested that you observe the following: Be an undead Confederate soldier in a British colony at the far end of the world. Meet the menace of the undead in the company of the Invisible Compass, an offshoot of Freemasonry or as a member of the Pinkerton Detective agency out of Chicago. Join the Rising Sun Group of modern day samurai and ninja as they strive to wipe out the walking cadaver. Delight in brutally eliminating a Big Aunty Twice Removed contestant show winner. Look into a demon's heart, find out what a treasure beyond price might happen to be and discover why someone wants to kill the Jocks. Be sure you have a candle to light the way and, if you can't play the game of empire, there's always cold comfort to be had.

In 1592, Donata is a noble girl living in a palazzo on the Grand Canal. Girls of her class receive no education and rarely leave the palazzo. In a noble family, only one daughter and one son will be allowed to marry; Donata, like all younger daughters, will be sent to a convent. Donata longs to be tutored like her brothers and to see the Venice she has glimpsed only on the map. What is the world beyond her balcony, beyond what she sees when she glides, veiled, in a gondola down the canal? She dresses as a boy and escapes the palazzo on the Grand Canal to see the world before she is shut away, and to try to find a way to escape her fate. Donata risks everything; she changes her life, and her family’s life, forever when she walks through the door and encounters a Venice she never knew existed.

"Real life stories of misadventure, accidental death and murder in Australia - mostly in the outback - mostly with the natural forces such as sharks, spiders, dingoes, etc."--Provided by publisher.

A collection of well-known fairy tales, folk tales, and stories, illustrated with scenes from Walt Disney films.