# Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story

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". 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; 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.
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. 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.
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. Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
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. 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.

## Winners and nominees

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 |
| 1995 | Francis Payne* | "Olympia" | Bambada Press (Olympia) |
| 1995 | Terry Dowling | "Scaring the Train" | MirrorDanse (The Man Who Lost Red) |
| 1995 | Leanne Frahm | "Entropy" | Sybylla (She's Fantastical) |
| 1995 | Philip Neilsen | "Rock and Roll Has to Die" | Reed Books (Dark House) |
| 1995 | Kaaron Warren | "Skin Holes" | Penguin (Strange Fruit) |
| 1996 | Sean Williams* | "Passing the Bone" | Eidolon |
| 1996 | Stephen Dedman | "Never Seen by Waking Eyes" | F&SF (Vol 91 No 2) |
| 1996 | Terry Dowling | "Beckoning Nightframe" | Eidolon |
| 1996 | Patricia MacCormack | "The Bloom of Decay" | Bloodsongs |
| 1996 | Kaaron Warren | "The Hanging People" | Bloodsongs |
| 1997 | Terry Dowling* | "Jenny Come to Play" | Eidolon |
| 1997 | Bill Congreve | "The Mullet That Screwed John West" | MirrorDanse (Epiphanies of Blood) |
| 1997 | J. M. Earle | "Ten Minutes of Midnight" | Aurealis (#18) |
| 1997 | Sean Williams | "The Freezing of Sarah" | Bloodsongs |
| 1998 | Kaaron Warren* | "A Positive" | Bloodsongs |
| 1998 | Paul Brandon | "The Marsh Runners" | Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) |
| 1998 | Glyn Parry | "Dawn Chorus" | Moonstone (Fantastic Worlds) |
| 1998 | Aaron Sterns | "The Third Rail" | Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) |
| 1998 | Kaaron Warren | "The Glass Woman" | Aurealis (#22) |
| 1999 | Sean Williams & Simon Brown* | "Atrax" | Ticonderoga (New Adventures in Sci-Fi) |
| 1999 | Allan Baillie | "The Mouth" | Longman (SpinOuts) |
| 1999 | Stephen Dedman | "Honest Ghosts" | Gothic.net |
| 1999 | Kain Massin | "Escape from Stalingrad" | Harbinger |
| 1999 | Alison Venugoban | "Funeral Rights" | Harbinger |
| 2000 | Deborah Biancotti* | "The First and Final Game" | Altair |
| 2000 | Jack Dann | "Marilyn" | Eidolon |
| 2000 | Stephen Dedman | "A Sentiment Open to Doubt" | Ticonderoga Online |
| 2000 | Robert Hood | "That Old Black Graffiti" | Hodder (Tales from the Wasteland) |
| 2000 | Michael Pryor | "Sewercide" | Aurealis |
| 2001 | Simon Haynes* | "Sleight of Hand" | Potato Monkey |
| 2001 | Stephen Dedman | "Probable Cause" | Orb |
| 2001 | Robert Hood | "Rotten Times" | Aurealis |
| 2001 | Rick Kennett & Paul Collins | "Whispers" | Cosmos Books (Stalking Midnight) |
| 2001 | Alison Venugoban | "Happy Birthday to Me" | CSFG Publishing (Nor of Human...) |
| 2002 | Kim Westwood* | "Oracle" | Redsine |
| 2002 | Stephen Dedman | "Wastelands" | Agog! (Agog! Fantastic Fiction) |
| 2002 | Claire McKenna | "What the Tide Brings" | Fables and Reflections |
| 2002 | Chris McMahon | "Within Twilight" | Redsine |
| 2003 | Simon Brown* | "Love is a Stone" | HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) |
| 2003 | Stephen Dedman | "The Wind Shall Blow For Ever Mair" | HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) |
| 2003 | Sue Isle | "Amy's Stars" | Orb |
| 2003 | Kyla Ward | "Kijin Tea" | Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) |
| 2003 | Janeen Webb | "Blake's Angel" | HarperCollins (Gathering the Bones) |
| 2004 | Paul Haines* | "The Last Days of Kali Yuga" | NFG |
| 2004 | Stephen Dedman | "Twilight of the Idols" | DAW (Conqueror Fantastic) |
| 2004 | Richard Harland | "The Border" | Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) |
| 2004 | Ben Peek | "Dr Who (or the day I learned to love Tom Baker)" | Wakefield Press (Forever Shores) |
| 2004 | Alinta Thornton | "Kathleen, Furnished with Bees" | Dark Animus |
| 2005 | Lee Battersby* | "Pater Familias" | Shadowed Realms |
| 2005 | James Cain | "The Ride" | Dark Krypt |
| 2005 | Paul Haines | "Doof, Doof, Doof" | Dark Animus |
| 2005 | Chuck McKenzie | "Eight-Beat Bar" | Aurealis |
| 2005 | Cat Sparks | "Macciato Lane" | Ticonderoga Online |
| 2006 | Stephen Dedman* | "Dead of Winter" | Weird Tales |
| 2006 | Margo Lanagan | "Winkie" | Allen & Unwin (Red Spikes) |
| 2006 | Chris Lawson | "Hieronymous Boche" | Eidolon Books (Eidolon I) |
| 2006 | Kaaron Warren | "Dead Sea Fruit" | Fantasy Magazine |
| 2006 | Kaaron Warren | "Woman Train" | CSFG Publishing (The Outcast) |
| 2007 | Anna Tambour* | "The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe" | Subterranean |
| 2007 | Terry Dowling | "Toother" | Night Shade Books (Eclipse One) |
| 2007 | Richard Harland | "Special Perceptions" | Ash-Tree Press (At Ease with the Dead) |
| 2007 | Rick Kennett | "The Dark and What It Said" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#28) |
| 2007 | Ben Peek | "Black Betty" | Lone Star Stories |
| 2008 | Kirstyn McDermott* | "Painlessness" | Greatest Uncommon Denominator |
| 2008 | Lee Battersby | "In From the Snow'" | HarperVoyager (Dreaming Again) |
| 2008 | Deborah Biancotti | "Pale Dark Soldier" | Midnight Echo |
| 2008 | Trent Jamieson | "Day Boy" | Murky Depths |
| 2008 | Ian McHugh | "Bitter Dreams" | Galaxy Press (L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIV) |
| 2009 | Paul Haines* (tie) | "Slice of Life – A Spot of Liver" | The Mayne Press (Slice of Life) |
| 2009 | Paul Haines* (tie) | "Wives" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (X6) |
| 2009 | Felicity Dowker | "Jesse's Gift" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#40) |
| 2009 | Christopher Green | "Having Faith" | Nossa Morte |
| 2009 | Andrew J. McKiernan | "The Message" | Midnight Echo |
| 2010 | Richard Harland* | "The Fear" | Brimstone Press (Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears) |
| 2010 | Bob Franklin | "Take the Free Tour" | Affirm Press (Under Stones) |
| 2010 | Paul Haines | "Her Gallant Needs" | Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl) |
| 2010 | Robert Hood | "Wasting Matilda" | Constable & Robinson (Zombie Apocalypse!) |
| 2010 | Martin Livings | "Lollo" | Apex Publishing (Close Encounters of the Urban Kind) |
| 2011 | Paul Haines* (tie) | "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" | Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga) |
| 2011 | Lisa L. Hannett* (tie) | "The Short Go: a Future in Eight Seconds" | Ticonderoga Publications (Bluegrass Symphony) |
| 2011 | Deborah Biancotti | "And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living" | Gilgamesh Press (Ishtar) |
| 2011 | Margo Lanagan | "Mulberry Boys" | Tor Books (Blood and Other Cravings) |
| 2011 | Angela Slatter | "The Coffin Maker's Daughter" | Quercus Books (A Book of Horrors) |
| 2012 | Kaaron Warren* | "Sky" | Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls) |
| 2012 | Joanne Anderton | "Sanaa's Army" | Ticonderoga Publications (Bloodstones) |
| 2012 | Jodi Cleghorn | "Elyora" | Review of Australian Fiction, Rabbit Hole Special Issue |
| 2012 | Felicity Dowker | "To Wish Upon a Clockwork Heart" | Ticonderoga Publications (Bread And Circuses) |
| 2012 | Robert Hood | "Escena de un Asesinato" | PS Publishing (Exotic Gothic 4) |
| 2013 | Kim Wilkins* | "The Year of Ancient Ghosts" | Ticonderoga Publications (The Year of Ancient Ghosts) |
| 2013 | Joanne Anderton | "Fencelines" | FableCroft Publishing (The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories) |
| 2013 | Terry Dowling | "The Sleepover" | PS Publishing (Exotic Gothic 5) |
| 2013 | Kirstyn McDermott | "The Home for Broken Dolls" | Twelfth Planet Press (Caution: Contains Small Parts) |
| 2013 | Kaaron Warren | "The Human Moth" | Miskatonic Press (The Grimscribe's Puppets) |
| 2014 | Angela Slatter* | "Home and Hearth" | Spectral Press (Home and Hearth) |
| 2014 | Deborah Biancotti | "The Executioner Goes Home" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 11, No 6) |
| 2014 | James Bradley | "Skinsuit" | Island Magazine (#137) |
| 2014 | Kirstyn McDermott | "By The Moon's Good Grace" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 12, No 3) |
| 2014 | Garth Nix | "Shay Corsham Worsted" | ChiZine Publications (Fearful Symmetries) |
| 2015 | Joanne Anderton* | "Bullets" | AHWA (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep) |
| 2015 | Lisa L. Hannett | "Consorting With Fish" | Cohesion Press (Blurring the Line) |
| 2015 | Lisa L. Hannett | "Heirloom Pieces" | Apex Publications (Apex Magazine) |
| 2015 | Deborah Kalin | "The Briskwater Mare" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cherry Crow Children) |
| 2015 | Tracie McBride | "Breaking Windows" | Aurealis (#84) |
| 2015 | Kirstyn McDermott | "Self, Contained" | TDM Press (The Dark) |
| 2016 | T. R. Napper* | "Flame Trees" | Asimov's Science Fiction, April/May 2016 |
| 2016 | R. P. L. Johnson | "Non Zero Sum" | Cohesion Press (SNAFU: Hunters) |
| 2016 | Garth Nix | "Penny for a Match, Mister?" | Saga Press (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales |
| 2016 | Angela Slatter | "The Red Forest" | PS Publishing (Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales) |
| 2016 | Kaaron Warren | "68 Days" | Broken Eye Books (Tomorrow's Cthulhu |
| 2016 | Durand Welsh | "Life, or Whatever Passes For It" | Grey Matter Press (Peel Back the Skin) |
| 2017 | J. Ashley Smith* | "Old Growth" | IFWG Publishing Australia (SQ Mag 31) |
| 2017 | Kat Clay | "Reef" | IFWG Publishing Australia (SQ Mag 31) |
| 2017 | Lisa L. Hannett | "Outside, a Drifter" | Dim Shores (Looming Low) |
| 2017 | Deborah Sheldon | "Angel Hair" | IFWG Publishing Australia (Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories) |
| 2017 | Alfie Simpson | "The Endless Below" | Breach (#2) |
| 2017 | J. Ashley Smith | "On the Line" | Australasian Horror Writer's Association (Midnight Echo 12) |
| 2018 | Alfie Simpson* | "Sub-Urban" | Breach (#7) |
| 2018 | Michael Gardner | "The Offering" | Aurealis (#112) |
| 2018 | Jason Nahrung | "Slither" | IFWG Publishing Australia (Cthulhu Deep Down Under 2) |
| 2018 | Jessica Nelson-Tyers | "By Kindle Light" | AntipodeanSF (#235) |
| 2018 | Jessica Nelson-Tyers | "Hit and Rot" | Breach (#8) |
| 2018 | J. Ashley Smith | "The Further Shore" | Bourbon Penn (#15) |
| 2019 | Chris Mason* | "Vivienne and Agnes" | (self-published) Beside the Seaside – Tales from the Day Tripper |
| 2019 | Joanne Anderton | "Loose Stones" | Xoum (Infinite Threads) |
| 2019 | Grace Chan | "The Mark" | Monash University Publishing (Verge 2019, Uncanny) |
| 2019 | Matthew R Davis | "Pilgrimage" | Breach (#10) |
| 2019 | Terry Dowling | "The Unwrapping" | Saga Press (Echoes) |
| 2019 | Jason Fischer | "Of Meat and Man" | Cohesion Press (SNAFU: Last Stand, Cohesion Press) |
| 2019 | J Ashley Smith | "The Moth Tapes" | Aurealis (#117) |
| 2020 | Jessica Nelson-Tyers* | "Phoenix Pharmaceuticals" | Deadset Press (Cancer, The Zodiac Series #7) |
| 2020 | Elaine Cuyegkeng | "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter" | Omnium Gatherum (Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women) |
| 2020 | Martin Livings | "The Bone Fairy" | Midnight Echo (#15) |
| 2020 | Garth Nix | "Many Mouths to Make a Meal" | Anchor Books (Final Cuts) |
| 2020 | Helena O'Connor | "How We Felt" | Aurealis (#136) |
| 2021 | Lisa Fuller | "Don’t Look!" | Wakefield Press (Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales) |
| 2021 | Ephiny Gale | "Traces of Us, Hot Enough for Dinner" | The Dread Machine (#1.3) |
| 2021 | Maria Lewis | "The House that Hungers" | Aurealis (#146) |
| 2021 | Martin Livings | "The Quiet Room" | Midnight Echo (#16) |
| 2021 | Tracie McBride | "Sins of the Mother" | IFWG (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies) |
| 2021 | Antoinette Rydyr | "Mother Dandelion" | IFWG (Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies) |
| 2022 | Geneve Flynn | "They Call Me Mother" | Classic Monsters Unleashed |
| 2022 | Aaron Dries | "Nona Doesn't Dance" | Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts |
| 2022 | Geneve Flynn | "Lidless Eyes That See" | Tales from the Waste Land |
| 2022 | Pamela Jeffs | "Dread Circus" | [] |
| 2022 | Martin Livings | "The Hunt" | Light Falling from a Long Dead Star |
| 2022 | Matt Tighe | "Beach Memories" | [] |

## Honourable mentions and high commendations

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 |
| 2001 | Kirstyn McDermott | "Smile for Me" | Redsine |
| 2001 | Stephen Dedman | "Ravens" | Interzone |
| 2002 | Robert Hood | "Number 7" | MirrorDanse (Immaterial) |
| 2002 | Deborah Biancotti | "Silicon Cast" | Redsine |
| 2004 | Paul Haines* | "They Say It’s Other People" | Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) |
| 2005 | Peter Barber* | "Dust" | Aurealis |
| 2005 | Shane Jiraiya Cummings* | "Revision Is Murder" | Simulacrum |
| 2005 | Greg Guerin* | "The Deviation Road" | Borderlands |
| 2005 | Paul Haines* | "The Light in Autumn’s Leaves" | Borderlands |
| 2005 | Martin Livings* | "In Nomine Patris" | Shadowed Realms |
| 2006 | Jacinta Butterworth | "Love Affair" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (C0ck) |
| 2006 | Dirk Flinthart | "One Night Stand" | Agog! (Agog! Ripping Reads) |
| 2006 | Margo Lanagan | "Under Hell, Over Heaven" | Allen & Unwin (Red Spikes) |
| 2006 | A. M. Muffaz | "Mosquito Story" | Fantasy Magazine |
| 2007 | Margo Lanagan | "She-Creatures" | Night Shade Books (Eclipse One) |
| 2007 | Martin Livings | "There was Darkness" | Ticonderoga (Fantastic Wonder Stories) |
| 2007 | Miranda Siemienowicz | "Lion’s Breath" | Island |