Living Canon

World Fantasy Awards 1987: Complete list of winners

The 1987 World Fantasy Awards showcased the genre’s remarkable range, from the olfactory obsessions of a murderer in 18th-century France to the supernatural mysteries of American frontier legend. Patrick Süskind’s Perfume claimed the Best Novel award, a triumph for this haunting exploration of ambition and artistry that had captivated readers across the Atlantic. The German author’s masterpiece became a landmark win for the World Fantasy Awards—a recognition that fantasy literature could encompass psychological darkness and philosophical depth alongside more traditional genre conventions.

The short fiction categories revealed the World Fantasy Awards’ appetite for visceral storytelling that year. Orson Scott Card’s “Hatrack River” won Best Novella with its unsettling blend of American frontier mythology and the supernatural, while David Schow’s “Red Light” claimed Best Short Fiction with a brutally contemporary vision. These winners, across all three categories, suggested a deliberate shift toward works that examined fear, obsession, and the darker impulses of human nature—proving that the 1987 World Fantasy Awards recognized excellence in fiction that was as likely to unsettle as it was to enchant.

Below, discover the complete list of winners and finalists from this distinguished year in speculative fiction.

Best Novel

Best Novella

Best Short Fiction