Devil Dolls and Duplicates in Australian Horror
Edited by Anthony Ferguson
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Our Price: AUD$29.95 (USD$)*
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 USD$4.99
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Synopsis
Since time immemorial, men have dreamed of creating beings in their own image, and for almost as long they have endured nightmare visions of being overthrown by the beings they create.
Dolls and effigies have always been a staple in the horror fiction genre, for what could be more frightening than seeing that which is inanimate move of its own volition, or hearing words emanate from fleshless lips while staring into glassy, lifeless eyes?
Presented here for the first time are the collected ruminations on the theme of dolls and duplicates by some of the biggest names in Australian horror and science fiction. There are tales on reanimated corpses, beautiful gynoids, alien impostors, clones, golems, doppelgangers, and of course, dolls - effigies that exist to serve and protect, and others that want to mess with your head in the worst possible way.
About The Editor
Anthony Ferguson was born in Surrey in the United Kingdom and migrated to Western Australia with his parents at the age of two, growing up in Perth. He was educated at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Philosophy.
Anthony has been interested in the horror and science fiction genres since an early age and has published a number of short stories and articles on the subject.
From The Book
...Why is it that dolls and other forms of replication are so unnerving? Why do we shudder when we look into the unblinking eyes of a doll? Perhaps it is because we are perplexed by their unnatural yet perfect replication of our own form. We marvel at the pallid complexion and stillness of the object, yet all the time we expect to see it move and come to life. Our gravest fear is that the thing which looks like us and is not alive will somehow move of its own volition, exhibiting independent thought and motion. If we can be so easily replicated, then this calls into question the certainty of our own uniqueness as a species.
...The notion of animation and self-determination in a replica forms the basis of one of our most persistent fears, and this is borne out by the consistent presence of dolls and androids in our literary and cinematic history.
...Dolls, dummies and other forms of replication have left their mark on the psyches of our own Australian authors, with many using the theme to convey a sense of the uncanny in their work ... Devil Dolls and Duplicates in Australian Horror aims to provide a reference guide to this particular genre of weird fiction in the Australian context.
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