''Bloodsongs'' magazine was created by Steve Proposch and Chris A. Masters in 1993 as a vehicle for original horror fiction. It was published by Bambada Press in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia from 1993 to 1997. ''The Melbourne University Press Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (1998), edited by Paul Collins considers ''Bloodsongs'' to be "Australia's first professional horror and dark fantasy magazine" (p. 143). The first three issues of the magazine were co-edited by Steve Proposch and Chris A. Masters. Issues four to seven were edited-in-chief by Steve Proposch and co-edited by Chris A. Masters and

Bryce J. Stevens Bryce John Stevens (born 1957) is a horror writer, illustrator and editor. He grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand and moved to Sydney in the mid-1980s. From childhood he was fascinated with the supernatural and terrifying consequences of even ...

. According to the MUP Encyclopaedia, issues 4-7 reflected a "swing away from graphic horror to a more balanced approach." (p 143). Writers who published stories in the magazine included

Ramsey Campbell Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...

Poppy Z. Brite Billy Martin (born May 25, 1967), formerly Poppy Z. Brite, is an American author. He initially achieved fame in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s by publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections. He i ...

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

, Sean Williams,

Richard Harland Richard Harland (born 15 January 1947 in Yorkshire) is an English fantasy and science fiction writer, living in New South Wales, Australia. He was born in 1947 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom and migrated to Australia in 1970. He has been an aca ...

Kyla Ward Kyla (Lee) Ward is an Australian writer of speculative fiction, poet and actor. Her work has been nominated multiple times for the Ditmar Award, the Aurealis Award , the Australian Shadows Award , the Bram Stoker Award and the Rhysling Award. Sh ...

Kaaron Warren Kaaron Warren is an Australian author of horror, science fiction, and fantasy short stories and novels. She is the author of the short story collections ''Through Splintered Walls'', ''The Grinding House'', and ''Dead Sea Fruit''. Her short st ...

and D.F. Lewis. Issue One contained an interview with

Leigh Blackmore Leigh (David) Blackmore (born 1959) is an Australian horror writer, critic, editor, occultist, musician and proponent of post-left anarchy. He was the Australian representative for the Horror Writers of America (1994–95) and served as the se ...

Bill Congreve Bill Congreve is an Australian writer, editor and reviewer of speculative fiction. He has also published the work of Australian science fiction and horror writers under his MirrorDanse imprint. Biography Congreve's first work was published in 1 ...

Sean McMullen Sean Christopher McMullen (born 21 December 1948 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author. Biography McMullen is one of Australia's leading science-fiction and fantasy authors and has written over 70 stories and 1 ...

and Steve Paulsen's William Atheling Jr award-winning essay, "A History of Australian Horror", notes that "Issue 1 received some criticism for tending towards the splatter end of the genre... A Category One Restricted rating by the Attorney General's department saw it restricted to readers 18 years and older, and banned altogether in the state of Queensland." (Bonescribes: Year's Best Australian Horror 1995, p. 135) During that time all published contributions to the magazine were paid for, and all submitters were offered detailed and prompt feedback on their fledgling work.

acted as NSW agent and advertising manager for the magazine. In 1997 ''Bloodsongs'' was taken over by Implosion Publishing, based in the USA. The Implosion Publishing issues (Nos 8-11) were given UK distribution through BBR Distribution of Sheffield. In the US it was sold through heavy metal record shops and other outlets. Steve Proposch remained fiction editor until issue 10 (1998), after which publication of the title was discontinued. Due to an agreement between Bambada Press and Implosion Publishing, copyright for the title and masthead design has now reverted to the original owners, being Steve Proposch and Chris A. Masters. Bambada Press also published one separate chapbook - ''Olympia'' by Francis Payne.

References

External links

Bloodsongs homepage
1993 establishments in Australia 1998 disestablishments in Australia Horror fiction magazines Magazines established in 1993 Magazines disestablished in 1998 Magazines published in Melbourne Defunct literary magazines published in Australia {{Fiction-mag-stub