Recently, adventure stories involving a legendary figure familiar to most Indonesians were included in an anthology or collection of Australian horror short stories.
The author of the story involving the character Nyi Roro Kidul, it was Annie McCann, a book enthusiast and writer of Indonesian descent, who was domiciled in Australia.
Annie likes to read a lot of fantasy and mystery books, ranging from Harry Potter, Twilight, and also watch series smelling of mysteries and fantasies like Grimm. Annie even founded a reading group called Read3r’z Re-Vu.
Read3r’z Re-Vu’s group activities are diverse, ranging from reading together, supporting charities and also presenting author figures as speakers.
In addition, Annie also inspired the ‘Own Voices Story’ movement, a movement or fact in which writers from different cultural backgrounds write stories that promote their own cultures.
“It’s a short story called Twisted Elegance of the Deep Green Sea, there’s a Nyai Roro Kidul story, mixed in my own story, my original story, starting in the Western Sydney area, but the characters have to go to Queen’s Harbour”
Annie McCann
The writer Katya de Becerra had the idea to create this short anthology.
According to Katya, the concept of This Fresh Hell is to twist classic horror stories so that they become uncliche or unpredictable. He is also looking for stories that are not fixated on European or western horror stories.
This Fresh Hell, a brand new horror anthology from the remarkable, innovative Clan Destine Press.
Narelle Harris, who co-edited 19 short stories in This Fresh Hell with Katya, said Annie’s story was interesting not only because of its Indonesian elements, but also because of its bold, adventurous main character, similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Annie is currently working on several other short stories as well as a novel that is also inspired by Indonesian legends.
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