The Black Crusade is a 2004 horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 novel by Richard Harland

Richard Harland

Richard Harland 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...

. It is a prequel to Harland's earlier novel The Vicar of Morbing Vyle. It describes the journey of the hapless Basil Smorta, a multi lingual bank clerk, who is forced into the company of a group of "fundamental Darwinists" by their imprisonment of the object of his undying love, Australian singer, Volusia, in a mobile iron box. The group travel across Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 during 1894, and encounter ghosts, blood donating vampires and other comic horror curiosities.

Background

The Black Crusade was first published in Australia in January 2004 by Chimaera Publications

Chimaera Publications

Chimaera Publications is a publisher based in Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia. The company currently publishes the speculative fiction magazine Aurealis as well as running the Aurealis Awards.-History:...

 in trade paperback format. It won the 2004 Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.-History:...

 for best horror novel

Aurealis Award for best horror novel

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...

and the 2004 Golden Aurealis for best novel.

External links

• The Black Crusade at richardharland.net