| Aurealis Award for best horror short story | |
| Awarded For: | Excellence in horror fiction short stories |
| Presenter: | Chimaera Publications, Continuum Foundation |
| Country: | Australia |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Holder: | Chris Mason (writer) |
| Website: | Official site |
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers".[1] To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year;[2] the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.[3]
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction.[1] The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.[4]
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists.[1] Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner.[5] The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.[6]
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best horror short story category, as well as short stories that have received honourable mentions or have been highly commended. A work of fiction is defined as a short story if it is fewer than 40,000 words long.[2] Since 2001, honourable mentions and high commendations have been awarded intermittently. Paul Haines has won the award four times, while three people have won the award twice – Simon Brown, Kaaron Warren and Sean Williams. Warren holds the record for most nominations, with nine. Robert Hood holds the record for most nominations without winning, having been a losing finalist four times.
In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the story's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
Winners and joint winners
Nominees on the shortlist
| Year | Author(s) | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bambada Press (Olympia) | [7] [8] | |||
| MirrorDanse (The Man Who Lost Red) | ||||
| Sybylla (She's Fantastical) | ||||
| Reed Books (Dark House) | ||||
| Penguin (Strange Fruit) | ||||
| Eidolon | [9] | |||
| F&SF (Vol 91 No 2) | ||||
| Eidolon | ||||
| Bloodsongs | ||||
| Bloodsongs | ||||
| Eidolon | [10] | |||
| MirrorDanse (Epiphanies of Blood) | ||||
| Aurealis (#18) | ||||
| Bloodsongs | ||||
| Bloodsongs | [11] | |||
| Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) | ||||
| Moonstone (Fantastic Worlds) | ||||
| Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) | ||||
| Aurealis (#22) | ||||
| & Simon Brown* | Ticonderoga (New Adventures in Sci-Fi) | [12] | ||
| Longman (SpinOuts) | ||||
| Gothic.net | ||||
| Harbinger | ||||
| Harbinger | ||||
| Altair | [13] | |||
| Eidolon | ||||
| Ticonderoga Online | ||||
| Hodder (Tales from the Wasteland) | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Potato Monkey | [14] | |||
| Orb | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Cosmos Books (Stalking Midnight) | ||||
| CSFG Publishing (Nor of Human...) | ||||
| Redsine | [15] | |||
| Agog! (Agog! Fantastic Fiction) | ||||
| Fables and Reflections | ||||
| Redsine | ||||
| HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) | [16] | |||
| HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) | ||||
| Orb | ||||
| Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) | ||||
| HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) | ||||
| NFG | [17] | |||
| DAW (Conqueror Fantastic) | ||||
| Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) | ||||
| Wakefield Press (Forever Shores) | ||||
| Dark Animus | ||||
| Shadowed Realms | [18] | |||
| Dark Krypt | ||||
| Dark Animus | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Ticonderoga Online | ||||
| Weird Tales | [19] | |||
| Allen & Unwin (Red Spikes) | ||||
| Eidolon Books (Eidolon I) | ||||
| Fantasy Magazine | ||||
| CSFG Publishing (The Outcast) | ||||
| Subterranean | [20] | |||
| Night Shade Books (Eclipse One) | [21] | |||
| Ash-Tree Press (At Ease with the Dead) | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#28) | ||||
| Lone Star Stories | ||||
| Greatest Uncommon Denominator | [22] | |||
| HarperVoyager (Dreaming Again) | ||||
| Midnight Echo | ||||
| Murky Depths | ||||
| Galaxy Press (L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIV) | ||||
| The Mayne Press (Slice of Life) | [23] | ||
| Coeur de Lion Publishing (X6) | |||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#40) | ||||
| Nossa Morte | ||||
| Midnight Echo | ||||
| Brimstone Press (Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears) | [24] | |||
| Affirm Press (Under Stones) | [25] | |||
| Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl) | ||||
| Constable & Robinson (Zombie Apocalypse!) | ||||
| Apex Publishing (Close Encounters of the Urban Kind) | ||||
| Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga) | [26] | ||
| Ticonderoga Publications (Bluegrass Symphony) | |||
| Gilgamesh Press (Ishtar) | [27] | |||
| Tor Books (Blood and Other Cravings) | ||||
| Quercus Books (A Book of Horrors) | ||||
| Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls) | [28] | |||
| Ticonderoga Publications (Bloodstones) | [29] | |||
| Review of Australian Fiction, Rabbit Hole Special Issue | ||||
| Ticonderoga Publications (Bread And Circuses) | ||||
| PS Publishing (Exotic Gothic 4) | ||||
| "" | Ticonderoga Publications (The Year of Ancient Ghosts) | [30] [31] | ||
| "Fencelines" | FableCroft Publishing (The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories) | |||
| "" | PS Publishing (Exotic Gothic 5) | |||
| "" | Twelfth Planet Press (Caution: Contains Small Parts) | |||
| "" | Miskatonic Press (The Grimscribe's Puppets) | |||
| "Home and Hearth" | Spectral Press (Home and Hearth) | [32] | ||
| "" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 11, No 6) | |||
| "Skinsuit" | Island Magazine (#137) | |||
| "By The Moon's Good Grace" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 12, No 3) | |||
| "Shay Corsham Worsted" | ChiZine Publications (Fearful Symmetries) | |||
| "Bullets" | AHWA (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep) | |||
| "Consorting With Fish" | Cohesion Press (Blurring the Line) | |||
| "Heirloom Pieces" | Apex Publications (Apex Magazine) | |||
| "" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cherry Crow Children) | |||
| "Breaking Windows" | Aurealis (#84) | |||
| "Self, Contained" | TDM Press (The Dark) | |||
| "Flame Trees" | Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2016 | |||
| "Non Zero Sum" | Cohesion Press (SNAFU: Hunters) | |||
| "Penny for a Match, Mister?" | Saga Press (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales | |||
| "" | PS Publishing (Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales) | |||
| "68 Days" | Broken Eye Books (Tomorrow's Cthulhu | |||
| "Life, or Whatever Passes For It" | Grey Matter Press (Peel Back the Skin) | |||
| "Old Growth" | IFWG Publishing Australia (SQ Mag 31) | |||
| "Reef" | IFWG Publishing Australia (SQ Mag 31) | |||
| "Outside, a Drifter" | Dim Shores (Looming Low) | |||
| "Angel Hair" | IFWG Publishing Australia (Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories) | |||
| "" | Breach (#2) | |||
| "On the Line" | Australasian Horror Writer's Association (Midnight Echo 12) | |||
| "Sub-Urban" | Breach (#7) | |||
| "" | Aurealis (#112) | |||
| "Slither" | IFWG Publishing Australia (Cthulhu Deep Down Under 2) | |||
| "By Kindle Light" | AntipodeanSF (#235) | |||
| "Hit and Rot" | Breach (#8) | |||
| "" | Bourbon Penn (#15) | |||
| "Vivienne and Agnes" | (self-published) Beside the Seaside – Tales from the Day Tripper | [33] | ||
| "Loose Stones" | Xoum (Infinite Threads) | [34] | ||
| "" | Monash University Publishing (Verge 2019, Uncanny) | |||
| "Pilgrimage" | Breach (#10) | |||
| "" | Saga Press (Echoes) | |||
| "Of Meat and Man" | Cohesion Press (SNAFU: Last Stand, Cohesion Press) | |||
| "" | Aurealis (#117) | |||
| "Phoenix Pharmaceuticals" | Deadset Press (Cancer, The Zodiac Series #7) | [35] | ||
| "" | Omnium Gatherum (Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women) | [36] | ||
| "" | Midnight Echo (#15) | |||
| "Many Mouths to Make a Meal" | Anchor Books (Final Cuts) | |||
| "How We Felt" | Aurealis (#136) | |||
| "Don’t Look!" | Wakefield Press (Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales) | [37] [38] [39] | ||
| "Traces of Us, Hot Enough for Dinner" | The Dread Machine (#1.3) | |||
| "" | Aurealis (#146) | |||
| "" | Midnight Echo (#16) | |||
| "Sins of the Mother" | IFWG (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies) | |||
| "Mother Dandelion" | IFWG (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies) | |||
| Geneve Flynn | "They Call Me Mother" | Classic Monsters Unleashed | ||
| Aaron Dries | "Nona Doesn't Dance" | Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts | [40] | |
| Geneve Flynn | "Lidless Eyes That See" | Tales from the Waste Land | ||
| Pamela Jeffs | "Dread Circus" | |||
| "The Hunt" | Light Falling from a Long Dead Star | |||
| Matt Tighe | "Beach Memories" |
In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a grey background have been noted as highly commended; those with a white background have received honourable mentions. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
Highly commended
Honourable mentions
| Year | Author | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redsine | ||||
| Interzone | ||||
| MirrorDanse (Immaterial) | ||||
| Redsine | ||||
| Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Simulacrum | ||||
| Borderlands | ||||
| Borderlands | ||||
| Shadowed Realms | ||||
| Coeur de Lion Publishing (C0ck) | [41] | |||
| Agog! (Agog! Ripping Reads) | ||||
| Allen & Unwin (Red Spikes) | ||||
| Fantasy Magazine | ||||
| Night Shade Books (Eclipse One) | ||||
| Ticonderoga (Fantastic Wonder Stories) | ||||
| Island |