# Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story, established in 1951, is an annual American literary award, presented alongside other Edgar Awards.
The award is presented to stories between 1,000 and 22,000 words that have been published in a magazine, periodical, e-zine, or book-length anthology. Stories shorter than 1,000 words (i.e., mini- or flash fiction) or longer than 22,000 words are ineligible. Although the Edgar Awards do not have a flash fiction category, works considered too long for the Short Story Award may be eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel, or Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original.
The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story winners are listed below.

## Winners
### 1950s

1950s Best Short Story winners :
| Year | Author | Story | Result |
| 1951 | Lawrence Blochman | "Diagnosis: Homicide" | Winner |
| 1952 | John Collier | "Fancies and Goodnights" | Winner |
| 1953 | Philip MacDonald | "Something to Hide" | Winner |
| 1954 | Roald Dahl | "Someone Like You" | Winner |
| 1955 | Stanley Ellin | "The House Party" | Winner |
| 1956 | Philip MacDonald | "Dream No More" | Winner |
| 1957 | Stanley Ellin | "The Blessington Method" | Winner |
| 1958 | Gerald Kersh | "The Secret of the Bottle" | Winner |
| 1959 | William O'Farrell | "Over There, Darkness" | Winner |

### 1960s

1960s Best Short Story winners :
| Year | Author | Story | Result |
| 1960 | Roald Dahl | "The Landlady" | Winner |
| 1961 | John Durham | "Tiger" | Winner |
| 1962 | Avram Davidson | "Affair at Lahore Cantonment" | Winner |
| 1963 | David Ely | "The Sailing Club" | Winner |
| 1964 | Leslie Ann Brownrigg | "Man Gehorcht" | Winner |
| 1965 | Lawrence Treat | "H as in Homicide" | Winner |
| 1966 | Shirley Jackson | "The Possibility of Evil" | Winner |
| 1967 | Rhys Davies | "The Chosen One" | Winner |
| 1968 | Edward D. Hoch | "The Oblong Room" | Winner |
| 1969 | Warner Law | "The Man Who Fooled the World" | Winner |

### 1970s

1970s Best Short Story winners :
| Year | Author | Story | Result |
| 1970 | Joe Gores | "Goodbye, Pops" | Winner |
| 1971 | Margery Finn Brown | "In The Forests of Riga the Beasts Are Very Wild Indeed" | Winner |
| 1972 | Robert L. Fish | "Moonlight Gardener" | Winner |
| 1973 | Joyce Harrington | "The Purple Shroud" | Winner |
| 1974 | Harlan Ellison | "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" | Winner |
| 1975 | Ruth Rendell | "The Fallen Curtain" | Winner |
| 1976 | Jesse Hill Ford | "The Jail" | Winner |
| 1977 | Etta Revesz | "Like a Terrible Scream" | Winner |
| 1978 | Thomas Walsh | "Chance After Chance" | Winner |
| 1979 | Barbara Owens | "The Cloud Beneath The Eaves" | Winner |

### 1980s

1980s Best Short Story winners :
| Year | Author | Story | Result |
| 1980 | Geoffrey Norman | "Armed and Dangerous" | Winner |
| 1981 | Clark Howard | "Horn Man" | Winner |
| 1982 | Jack Ritchie | "The Absence of Emily" | Winner |
| 1983 | Frederick Forsyth | "There Are No Snakes in Ireland" | Winner |
| 1984 | Ruth Rendell | "The New Girlfriend" | Winner |
| 1985 | Lawrence Block | "By Dawn's Early Light" | Winner |
| 1986 | John Lutz | "Ride the Lightning" | Winner |
| 1987 | Robert Sampson | "Rain in Pinton County" | Winner |
| 1988 | Harlan Ellison | "Soft Monkey" | Winner |
| 1989 | Bill Crenshaw | "Flicks" | Winner |

### 1990s

1990s Best Short Story winners and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Story | Publication | Result |
| 1990 | Donald E. Westlake | "Too Many Crooks" | Playboy, 1989 | Winner |
| 1990 | Ruth Graviros | "Ted Bundy’s Father" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 1989 | Shortlist |
| 1990 | Robert Halsted | "The Girl and the Gator" | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, December 1989 | Shortlist |
| 1990 | Nancy Pickard | "Afraid All the Time" | Sisters in Crime | Shortlist |
| 1990 | Stephen Wasylyk | "For Loyal Service" | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, August 1989 | Shortlist |
| 1991 | Lynne Barrett | "Elvis Lives" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1990 | Winner |
| 1991 | Lawrence Block | "Answers to Soldiers" | Playboy, 1990 | Shortlist |
| 1991 | Ed Gorman | "Prisoners" | New Crimes | Shortlist |
| 1991 | Sue Grafton | "A Poison That Leaves No Trace" | Sisters in Crime 2 | Shortlist |
| 1991 | Clark Howard | "Challenge the Widow-Maker" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1990 | Shortlist |
| 1992 | Wendy Hornsby | "Nine Sons" | Sisters in Crime 4 | Winner |
| 1992 | Doug Allyn | "Sleeper" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 1991 | Shortlist |
| 1992 | Lawrence Block | "A Blow for Freedom" | Playboy, October 1991 | Shortlist |
| 1992 | Liza Cody | "Spasmo" | A Classic English Crime | Shortlist |
| 1992 | Susan Schwartz | "Dreaming in Black and White" | Psycho-Paths | Shortlist |
| 1993 | Benjamin M. Schutz | "Mary, Mary, Shut the Door" | Deadly Allies | Winner |
| 1993 | Doug Allyn | "Candles in the Rain" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 1992 | Shortlist |
| 1993 | Jo Bannister | "Howler" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, October 1992 | Shortlist |
| 1993 | Max Allan Collins | "Louise" | Deadly Allies | Shortlist |
| 1993 | Gabrielle Kraft | "One Hit Wonder" | Sisters in Crime 5 | Shortlist |
| 1994 | Lawrence Block | "Keller's Therapy" | Playboy, May 1993 | Winner |
| 1994 | Doug Allyn | "The Ghost Show" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December 1993 | Shortlist |
| 1994 | Harlan Ellison | "Mefisto in Onyx" | Omni, October 1993 | Shortlist |
| 1994 | Joseph Hansen | "McIntyre’s Donald" | Bohannon’s Country | Shortlist |
| 1994 | Bruce Holland Rogers | "Enduring as Dust" | Danger in DC | Shortlist |
| 1995 | Doug Allyn | "The Dancing Bear" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, March 1994 | Winner |
| 1995 | Robert Barnard | "The Gentleman in the Lake" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1994 | Shortlist |
| 1995 | Brenda Melton Burnham | "The Tennis Court" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1994 | Shortlist |
| 1995 | Brendan DuBois | "The Necessary Brother" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 1994 | Shortlist |
| 1995 | Justin Scott | "An Eye for a Tooth" | Justice in Manhattan | Shortlist |
| 1996 | Jean B. Cooper | "The Judge's Boy" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1995 | Winner |
| 1996 | K. K. Beck | "Rule of Law" | Malice Domestic 4 | Shortlist |
| 1996 | Larry Beinhart | "Death in a Small Town" | New Mystery, Spring 1995 | Shortlist |
| 1996 | Kathleen Dougherty | "When Your Breath Freezes" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1995 | Shortlist |
| 1996 | Bill Pomidor | "A Plain and Honest Death" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1995 | Shortlist |
| 1997 | Michael Malone | "Red Clay" | Murder for Love | Winner |
| 1997 | Brendan DuBois | "The Dark Snow" | Playboy, November 1996 | Shortlist |
| 1997 | David Corn | "My Murder" | Unusual Suspects | Shortlist |
| 1997 | James Grady | "Kiss The Sky" | Unusual Suspects | Shortlist |
| 1997 | S. J. Rozan | "Hoops" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1996 | Shortlist |
| 1998 | Lawrence Block | "Keller on the Spot" | Playboy, November 1997 | Winner |
| 1998 | Simon Brett | "Ways to Kill a Cat" | Malice Domestic 6 | Shortlist |
| 1998 | Jeffery Deaver | "The Kneeling Soldier" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 1997 | Shortlist |
| 1998 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | "Find Miriam" | New Mystery, Summer 1997 | Shortlist |
| 1998 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | "The Man Who Beat the System" | Funny Bones | Shortlist |
| 1999 | Tom Franklin | "Poachers" | Texas Review, Fall-Winter 1998 | Winner |
| 1999 | Lawrence Block | "Looking for David" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 1998 | Shortlist |
| 1999 | Clark Howard | "The Halfway Woman" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 1998 | Shortlist |
| 1999 | Perry Michael Smith | "For Jeff" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 1998 | Shortlist |
| 1999 | L. L. Thrasher | "Sacrifice" | Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine, Summer/Fall 1998 | Shortlist |

### 2000s

2000s Best Short Story winners and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Story | Publication | Result |
| 2000 | Anne Perry | "Heroes" | Murder and Obsession | Winner |
| 2000 | Jeffery Deaver | "Triangle" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2000 | James W. Hall | "Crack" | Murder and Obsession | Shortlist |
| 2000 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | "Snow" | First Cases | Shortlist |
| 2000 | Laurie R. King | "Paleta Man" | Irreconcilable Differences | Shortlist |
| 2001 | Peter Robinson | "Missing in Action" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2001 | Noreen Ayres | "Delta Double-Deal" | The Night Awakens | Shortlist |
| 2001 | Mat Coward | "Twelve Little Buggers" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2001 | Reginald Hill | "A Candle for Christmas" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2001 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | "Spinning" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2002 | S.J. Rozan | "Double-Crossing Delancey" | Mystery Street | Winner |
| 2002 | Jan Burke | "The Abbey Ghosts" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2002 | Michael Collins | "The Horrible Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women" | Fedora: Private Eyes & Tough Guys | Shortlist |
| 2002 | Michael Lewin | "If the Glove Fits" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2002 | Margaret Maron | "Virgo in Sapphires" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2003 | Raymond Steiber | "Mexican Gatsby" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2003 | Doug Allyn | "The Murder Ballads" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2003 | Clark Howard | "To Live and Die in Midland, Texas" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2003 | John Mortimer | "Rumpole and the Primrose Path" | The Strand Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2003 | Joyce Carol Oates | "Angel of Wrath" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2004 | G. Miki Hayden | "The Maids" | Blood On Their Hands | Winner |
| 2004 | Jeff Abbott | "Bet on Red" | High Stakes | Shortlist |
| 2004 | Shelley Costa | "Black Heart & Cabin Girl" | Blood On Their Hands | Shortlist |
| 2004 | David Edgerley Gates | "Aces and Eights" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2004 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | "Cowboy Grace" | The Silver Gryphon | Shortlist |
| 2005 | Laurie Lynn Drummond | "Something About a Scar" | Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You | Winner |
| 2005 | Terence Faherty | "The Widow of Slane" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2005 | Pete Hamill | "The Book Signing" | Brooklyn Noir | Shortlist |
| 2005 | Gary Lovisi | "Adventure of the Missing Detective" | Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years | Shortlist |
| 2005 | Luke Sholer | "Imitate the Sun" by | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2006 | James W. Hall | "The Catch" | Greatest Hits | Winner |
| 2006 | Jeffery Deaver | "Born Bad" | Dangerous Women | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Andrew Klavan | "Her Lord and Master" | Dangerous Women | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Barbara Seranella | "Misdirection" | Greatest Hits | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Daniel Walker | "Welcome to Monroe" | A Kudzu Christmas | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Charles Ardai | "The Home Front" | Death Do Us Part | Winner |
| 2007 | Thomas H. Cook | "Rain" | Manhattan Noir | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Bill Crider | "Cranked" | Damn Near Dead | Shortlist |
| 2007 | S. J. Rozan | "Building" | Manhattan Noir | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Susan Straight | "The Golden Gopher" | Los Angeles Noir | Winner |
| 2008 | Mark Ammons | "The Catch" | Still Waters | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | "Blue Note" | Chicago Blues | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Laura Lippman | "Hardly Knew Her" | Dead Man’s Hand | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Daniel Woodrell | "Uncle" | A Hell of a Woman | Shortlist |
| 2009 | T. Jefferson Parker | "Skinhead Central" | Mystery Writers of America Presents: The Blue Religion | Winner |
| 2009 | Sean Chercover | "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" | Hardcore Hardboiled | Shortlist |
| 2009 | David Edgerley Gates | "Skin and Bones" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2009 | Laura Lippman | "Scratch a Woman" | Hardly Knew Her | Shortlist |
| 2009 | Dominique Mainard | "La Vie en Rose" | Paris Noir | Shortlist |

### 2010s

2010s Best Short Story winners and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Story | Publication | Result |
| 2010 | Luis Alberto Urrea | "Amapola" | Phoenix Noir | Winner |
| 2010 | Ace Atkins | "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" | Crossroad Blues | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Dana Cameron | "Femme Sole" | Boston Noir | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Jim Fusilli | "Digby, Attorney at Law" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Dennis Lehane | "Animal Rescue" | Boston Noir | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Doug Allyn | "The Scent of Lilacs" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2011 | Jeffery Deaver | "The Plot" | First Thrills | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Judith Green | "A Good Safe Place" | Thin Ice | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Stephen Ross | "Monsieur Alice is Absent" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Edmund White | "The Creative Writing Murders" | Dark End of the Street | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Peter Turnbull | "The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2012 | John C. Boland | "Marley’s Revolution" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2012 | David Dean | "Tomorrow’s Dead" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Bradley Denton | "The Adakian Eagle" | Down These Strange Streets | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Diana Gabaldon | "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" | Down These Strange Streets | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Neil Gaiman | "The Case of Death and Honey" | A Study in Sherlock | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Karin Slaughter | "The Unremarkable Heart" | Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance | Winner |
| 2013 | Mike Carey | "Iphigenia in Aulis" | An Apple for the Creature | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Steve Liskow | "Hot Sugar Blues" | Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Tom Piccirilli | "The Void it Often Brings With It" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Teresa Solana | "Still Life No. 41" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2014 | John Connolly | "The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository" | Bibliomysteries | Winner |
| 2014 | Reed Farrel Coleman | "The Terminal" | Kwik Krimes, edited by Otto Penzler | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane | "So Long, Chief" | The Strand Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Trina Corey | "There are Roads in the Water" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Tim L. Williams | "Where That Morning Sun Does Down" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Gillian Flynn | "What Do You Do?" | Rogues | Winner |
| 2015 | Doug Allyn | "The Snow Angel" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2015 | John Floyd | "200 Feet" | Strand Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly | "Red Eye" | FaceOff | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Brian Tobin | "Teddy" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Stephen King | "Obits" | The Bazaar of Bad Dreams | Winner |
| 2016 | Megan Abbott | "The Little Men" | Mysterious Bookshop | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Mat Coward | "On Borrowed Time" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Peter Farrelly | "The Saturday Night Before Easter Sunday" | Providence Noir | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Shirley Jackson | "Family Treasures" | Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Denise Mina | "Every Seven Years" | Mysterious Bookshop | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Lawrence Block | "Autumn at the Automat" | In Sunlight or in Shadow | Winner |
| 2017 | Megan Abbott | "Oxford Girl" | Mississippi Noir | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Laura Benedict | "A Paler Shade of Death" | St. Louis Noir | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Stephen King | "The Music Room" | In Sunlight or in Shadow | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Joyce Carol Oates | "The Crawl Space" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2018 | John Crowley | "Spring Break" | New Haven Noir | Winner |
| 2018 | Jeffery Deaver | "Hard to Get" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Eric Heidle | "Ace in the Hole" | Montana Noir | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Kenji Jasper | "A Moment of Clarity at the Waffle House" | Atlanta Noir | Shortlist |
| 2018 | S. J. Rozan | "Chin Yong-Yun Stays at Home" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Art Taylor | "English 398: Fiction Workshop" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2019 | Paul Doiron | "Rabid – A Mike Bowditch Short Story" | | Shortlist |
| 2019 | John Lutz | "Paranoid Enough for Two" | | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Val McDermid | "Ancient and Modern" | Bloody Scotland | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Lisa Unger | "The Sleep Tight Motel" | The Sleep Tight Motel | Shortlist |

### 2020s

2020s Best Short Story winners and shortlists :
| Year | Author | Story | Publication | Result |
| 2020 | Livia Llewellyn | "One of These Nights" | Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers | Winner |
| 2020 | Hector Acosta | "Turistas" | Pa’Que Tu Lo Sepas | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Kirsten Tranter | "The Passenger” | Sydney Noir | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Sam Wiebe | "Home at Last" | Die Behind the Wheel: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Steely Dan | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Dave Zeltserman | "Brother’s Keeper" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Maaza Mengiste | "Dust, Ash, Flight" | Addis Ababa Noir | Winner |
| 2021 | Leslie Elman | "The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Joseph S. Walker | "Etta at the End of the World" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2021 | James W. Ziskin | "The Twenty-Five Year Engagement" | In League with Sherlock Holmes | Shortlist |
| 2022 | R.T. Lawton | "The Road to Hana" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2022 | Michael Bracken and James A. Hearn | "Blindsided" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2022 | V. M. Burns | "The Vermeer Conspiracy” | Midnight Hour | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Tracy Clark | "Lucky Thirteen" | Midnight Hour | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Gigi Pandian | "The Locked Room Library” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Cornell Woolrich | "The Dark Oblivion” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Gregory Fallis | "Red Flag" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Winner |
| 2023 | Charles John Harper | "Backstory" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2023 | William Burton McCormick | "Locked-In" | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Tim McLoughlin | "The Amnesty Box” | Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Donna Moore | "First You Dream, Then You Die" | Black is the Night | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Linda Castillo | "Hallowed Ground" | Macmillan Publishers/ Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2024 | Heather Graham | "Thriller" | Thriller | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Rob Osler | "Miss Direction" | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Ian Rankin | "The Rise" | Amazon Original Stories | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Lisa Scottoline | "Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand" | Amazon Original Stories | Shortlist |