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, 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 novella category.
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.
Kaaron Warren and Chris Mason are the first persons to record two wins, while others like Alan Baxter and Angela Slatter have been nominated four times. Data as of the 2025 ceremonies announcing the 2024 winners and the 2025 finalists.
Winners and joint winners Nominees on the shortlist
YearAuthor(s)NovellaPublisher or publicationRef * "" Twelfth Planet Press (Cherry Crow Children) "Night Shift" FableCroft Publishing (Striking Fire) "" Twelfth Planet Press (Cherry Crow Children) "Wages of Honey" Twelfth Planet Press (Cherry Crow Children) "Sleepless" Penguin Books (Slasher Boys and Monster Girls) "Ripper" Jo Fletcher Books (Horrorology) * "Burnt Sugar" PS Publishing (Dreaming in the Dark) "Box of Bones" Ghillinnein Books "Served Cold" PS Publishing (Dreaming in the Dark) PS Publishing "Pan" Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#62) * "" Things in the Well (Below the Stairs -- Tales from the Cellar) Ghillinnein Books Vermillion Press "Bind" Fox Spirit Books (Pacific Monsters) "No Good Deed" Titan Books (New Fears 1) "Furtherest" Cemetery Press (Dark Screams Volume 7) * Dark Moon Books "Andromeda Ascends" Things in the Well (Beneath the Waves - Tales from the Deep) "Kopura Rising" IFWG Publishing Australia (Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud) "" Things in the Well (Beneath the Waves - Tales from the Deep) Tor.com "With This Needle I Thee Thread" Ticonderoga Publications (Aurum) * "Into Bones Like Oil" Meerkat Press (Into Bones Like Oil) "Yellowheart" Grey Matter Press (Served Cold) "Supermassive Black Mass" (independent) (Short Sharp Shocks! 21) *""Things in the Well (Outback Horrors Down Under)"" Meerkat Press""Beneath Hell Publishing"Foundations"Galaxy Press (Writers of the Future Volume 36)"Bad Weather"Things in the Well (Outback Horrors Down Under)*"All the Long Way DownIFWG Publishing Australia (Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 3)""(self-publish) (The Gulp)Severed Press"Hell's Teeth"Specul8 Publishing (Haunted: An Anthology)Horrific Tales Publishing2022"Kookaburra Cruel"Damnation Games, Clan Destine Press"Rat's Alley"From the Wasteland, PS Publishing"Glyphlight"The New Mythic, Precipice FictionThe New WifeBrain Jar Press"Among the Faded Woods"The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing"Songs from Dark Annie's Bower"Gaslight Ghouls: Uneasy Tales of Sherlock Holmes, Belanger Books2023"Quicksilver"Vandal: Stories of damage, Crystal Lake EntertainmentThe morassCrystal Lake EntertainmentThe leaves forgetAbsinthe Books"Hole World"Apex Magazine #141RadcliffeDeadset PressBittersCemetery Dance2024ShatteredBlack Hare Press"We Who Remain" Night So Dark and Full of Stars, Deadset Press"A Daredevil Duchess's Guide to Castle Hauntings"(self-published)"Bell, Book and Lamp"Bound in Blood, Titan Books"Maleficium"Discontinue If Death Ensues, Flame Tree Publishing2025"Walpurgis"Strange Legacy 2025: Creature Feature, Thorncroft LegacyThe Nga'phandileh WhispererStars and SabersSideshow Souls(self-published)Parasitic Omens(self-published)Willow CloseIFWGThe Cold HouseTitan Books
See also Ditmar Award, an Australian science fiction award established in 1969
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