This category was previously titled "best novella" or "best novellette". Nominees are listed below the winner(s) for each year.
Novelette:
- 1987: "The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin (tie)
- 1987: "The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead" by Alan Rodgers (tie)
- "Pamela's Get" by David J. Schow
- "Resurrec Tech" by S.P. Somtow
- 1988: "Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity" by David Morrell
- "The Skin Trade" by George R.R. Martin
- "The Function of Dream Sleep" by Harlan Ellison
- "The Juniper Tree" by Peter Straub
- "The Night Flier" by Stephen King
- "Horrorshow" by John Farris
- 1989: "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks" by Joe R. Lansdale
- "At First Just Ghostly" by Karl Edward Wagner
- "The Confessions of St. James" by Chet Williamson
- "Phantom" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- 1990: "Stephen" by Elizabeth Massie
- "Bestseller" by Michael Blumleim
- "Entropy's Bed at Midnight" by Dan Simmons
- "Pelts" by F. Paul Wilson
- "The Langoliers" by Stephen King
- 1991: "The Beautiful Uncut Hair of Graves" by David Morrell
- "Fetish" by Edward Bryant
- "Death Leaves an Echo" by Charles de Lint
- "Advocates" by Suzy McKee Charnas & Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
- "Magpie" by Stephen Gallagher
- 1992: "Alien: Tribes" by Stepehn Bissette (tie)
- 1992: "The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance" by Joe R. Lansdale
- "Nothing Will Hurt You" by David Morrell
- "The Shrine" by David Morrell
- "For You, the Living" by Wayne Allen Sallee
- 1993: "The Night We Buried Road Dog" by Jack Cady (tie)
- 1993: "Mefisto in Onyx" by Harlan Ellison (tie)
- "Flashback" by Dan Simmons
- "Mefisto in Onyx" by Harlan Ellison
- 1993: "Death in Bankok" by Dan Simmons
- "Colour" by Michael Moorcock
- "Darker Angels" by S.P. Somtow
- "Death on the Nile" by Connie Willis
- 1994: "The Scent of Vinegar" by Robert Bloch
- "Sometimes, in the Rain" by Charles L. Grant
- "The Alchemy of the Throat" by Brian Hodge
- "Buba Ho-tep" by Joe R. Lansdale
- "The Siren of Swan Quarter" by William Trotter
- 1995: "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" by Stephen King
- "Baby Girl Diamond" by Adam-Troy Castro
- "Looking for Mr. Flip" by Thomas F. Monteleone
- "Lover Doll" by Wayne Allen Sallee
- 1996: "The Red Tower" by Thomas Ligotti
- "Kilroy Was Here" by Jack Cady
- "The Thing from Lover's Lane" by Nancy Collins
- "Brimstone and Salt" by S.P. Somtow
- 1997: "The Big Blow" by Joe R. Lansdale
- "The Word" by Ramsey Campbell
- "Everything's Eventual" by Stephen King
- "Coppola's Dracula" by Kim Newman
- "The Zombies of Madison County" by Douglas E. Winter
- 1998: "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" by Peter Straub
- "Leavings" by P.D. Cacek
- "As Above, So Below" by Brian Hodge
- "What Would You Do For Love?" by John Shirley
- 1999: "Mad Dog Summer" by Joe R. Lansdale
- "Five Days in April" by Brian A. Hopkins
- "Dread in the Beast" by Charlee Jacob
- "Right to Life" by Jack Ketchum
- 2000: "The Man on the Ceiling" by Melanie and Steven Rasnic Tem
- "Riding the Bullet" by Stephen King
- "In Shock" by Joyce Carol Oates
- "God Screamed and Screamed, Then I Ate Him" by Lawrence P. Santoto
- 2001: "In These Final Days of Sales" by Tim Lebbon
- "From A to Z, in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet" by Harlan Ellison
- "Demolition" by Nancy Etchemendy
- "Earthworm Gods" by Brian Keene
- "Northern Gothic" by Nick Mamatas
- 2002: "El Dia de Los Muertos" by Brian A. Hopkins (tie)
- 2002: "My Work is Not Yet Done" by Thomas Ligotti
- "Cape Wrath" by Paul Finch
- "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
- "The Origin" by David B. Silva
See also
