
The 1987 Annual World's Best SF is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, the fourteenth volume in a series of nineteen. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in June 1987, followed by a hardcover edition issued in July of the same year by the same publisher as a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. For the hardcover edition the original cover art by Tony Roberts was replaced by a new cover painting by Richard Powers.

The Architecture of Fear is an anthology of horror stories edited by Peter D. Pautz and Kathryn Cramer. It was published by Arbor House in October 1987. The anthology contains, among several other stories, the Gene Wolfe short story "In the House of Gingerbread", which was original to the anthology and was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story. The anthology itself won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

The Best American Short Stories 1987, a volume in The Best American Short Stories series, was edited by guest editor Ann Beattie with Shannon Ravenel.

Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences is a collection of short stories and poems by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in 1987 by Capra Press. It includes the author's introductions to the pieces in each section of the collection. The book has a theme of works about "animal, vegetable, or mineral."

Cardography (1987) is a short story collection by American writer Orson Scott Card. It contains five stories and an introduction by David G. Hartwell. All five of these stories were later published in Maps in a Mirror.

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick is a collection of 118 science fiction stories by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Underwood-Miller in 1987 as a five volume set. See Philip K. Dick bibliography for information about the mass market reprints.

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigía Edition, is a posthumous collection of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, published in 1987. It contains the classic First Forty-Nine Stories plus a number of other works and a foreword by his sons.

Dark Feasts: The World of Ramsey Campbell is a collection of horror stories by Ramsey Campbell, published by Robinson Publishing in 1987. It is dedicated to T. E. D. Klein, "who helped launch me and wrote tales for me to aspire to" and contains an introduction by the author.

Demons! is a themed anthology of fantasy short works edited by American writers Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in July 1987. It was reissued as an ebook by Baen Books in March 2013.

Devils is an anthology of themed fantasy and science fiction short stories on the subject of devils or demons edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh as the eighth volume in their Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy series. It was first published in paperback by Signet/New American Library in June 1987. The first British edition was issued in trade paperback by Robinson in 1989.

Echoes of Valor is an American anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Karl Edward Wagner. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in February 1987.

Einstein's Monsters (1987) is a collection of short stories by British writer Martin Amis. Each of the five stories deals with the subject of nuclear weapons.

Evil Water and Other Stories is a collection by Ian Watson published in 1987.

Forty Stories collects forty of Donald Barthelme's short stories, several of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. The book was first published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1987.

Glass and Amber is a 1987 collection of short stories and essays by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. The book was published by NESFA Press to commemorate Cherryh’s appearance as the Guest of Honor at Boskone 24, a science fiction convention. Only 1,000 copies were printed, and each is individually numbered on the copyright page. The first 250 numbered copies were autographed by Cherryh and sold in slipcases. Some of these were also signed by Barclay Shaw, the cover artist.

The Hidden Side of the Moon is a feminist science fiction collection of short stories by Joanna Russ, first published in 1987 by St. Martin's Press. The collection covers stories published from 1959 to 1983.

In the Bone: The Best Science Fiction of Gordon R. Dickson is a collection of science fiction stories by Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published by Ace Books in 1987 and expands Dickson's earlier collection, Gordon R. Dickson's SF Best. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Satellite and If.

The Jaguar Hunter is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by American author Lucius Shepard. Illustrated by J. K. Potter, it was released in May, 1987 and was the author's first book published by Arkham House. It was originally published in an edition of 3,194 copies, with a second printing later in 1987 of 1,508 copies. Bantam Books issued a trade paperback edition in 1989, and Four Walls Eight Windows reprinted the collection in 2001. The first British publication came as a Paladin Books trade paperback in 1988, followed quickly by a Kerosina Books hardcover. A Rumanian translation appeared in 2008.

Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories is a short story anthology written by Garrison Keillor, a humorous fictional account of life in small-town Minnesota set in the fictitious heartland town of Lake Wobegon. It was first published in hardcover by Viking Penguin, Inc. in 1987.

Magic in Ithkar 4 is a shared world anthology of fantasy stories edited by Andre Norton and Robert Adams. It was first published as a paperback by Tor Books in July 1987.
Minimum Of Two is the second collection of short stories by multi award winning Australian writer Tim Winton.

My Lady of Hy-Brasil and Other Stories is a collection of horror short stories by Peter Tremayne. It was first published in 1987 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 800 copies, all of which were numbered and signed by the author and the artist. Many of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Kadath, Eldritch Tales, Fantasy Tales, Fantasy Macabre and Weirdbook.

Neanderthals is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Robert Silverberg, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh as the sixth volume in the Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction series. It was first published in paperback by Signet/New American Library in February 1987.

The Other Side of the Mirror and Other Darkover Stories is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories edited by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. The stories are set in Bradley's world of Darkover. The book was first published by DAW Books in February, 1987.

Polyphemus is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by American writer Michael Shea. It was released in 1987 by Arkham House. It was published in an edition of 3,528 copies and was the author's first hardcover book. Most of the stories originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Red Sun of Darkover is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The stories are set in Bradley's world of Darkover. The book was first published by DAW Books in November, 1987.

Return to Nevèrÿon is a collection of three sword and sorcery stories by American writer Samuel R. Delany: "The Game of Time and Pain", "The Tale of Rumor and Desire", and "The Tale of Gorgik", and "Appendix: Closures and Openings". It is the last of the four-volume Return to Nevèrÿon series. The collection was first published under the title The Bridge of Lost Desire.

Robert Adams' Book of Alternate Worlds is an anthology of alternate history short works edited by Robert Adams, Martin H. Greenberg and Pamela Crippen Adams. It was first published in paperback by Signet Books in July 1987.

Rock Springs is a collection of short stories by author Richard Ford, published in 1987 and largely dealing with dysfunctional mothers and fathers and their effects on young male narrators.

Rumpole's Last Case is a 1987 collection of short stories by John Mortimer about defence barrister Horace Rumpole. They were adapted from his scripts for the TV series of the same name. The stories were:"Rumpole and the Winter Break" "Rumpole and the Blind Tasting" "Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim" "Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow" "Rumpole and the Official Secret" "Rumpole and the Old, Old Story" "Rumpole's Last Case"

Scared Stiff: Tales of Sex and Death is a collection of horror stories on sexual themes by Ramsey Campbell, first published in the United States in 1987 by Scream/Press. The first British edition was published in 1989 by Macdonald. The book includes an introduction by Clive Barker and an afterword by the author, and is illustrated by J. K. Potter.

A Scrap of Time and Other Stories, written by Ida Fink, is a collection of fictional short stories relating various characters to the Jewish experience of the Holocaust. Originally written in Polish, it was translated by Madeline Levine and Francine Prose. The novel won the first Anne Frank Prize, as well as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. Published in 1987, this collection of stories illustrates the continuing effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish psyche.

Shadows was a series of horror anthologies edited by Charles L. Grant, published by Doubleday from 1978 to 1991. Grant, a proponent of "quiet horror", initiated the series in order to offer readers a showcase of this kind of fiction. The short stories appearing in the Shadows largely dispensed with traditional Gothic settings, and had very little physical violence. Instead, they featured slow accumulations of dread through subtle omens, mostly taking place in everyday settings. While Grant himself was very adept at this kind of fiction, he contributed no stories to the anthologies, writing only the introductions and author profiles. The first volume in the series won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

Space Shuttles is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh as the seventh volume in their Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction series. It was first published in paperback by Signet/New American Library in October 1987.

A Spaceship Built of Stone and Other Stories is a 1987 science fiction short story collection by Lisa Tuttle, her second after A Nest of Nightmares (1985). It was first published by The Women's Press, a specialized feminist publishing company, in their The Women's Press Science Fiction series.

The Stranger is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published by Tor Books in 1987. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Fantasy and Science Fiction, Satellite, Imagination, Astounding, Saturn, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Fantastic, Science Fiction Stories, Future and If.

Tales From Firozsha Baag is a collection of 11 short stories by Rohinton Mistry about the residents of Firozsha Baag, a Parsi-dominated apartment complex in Mumbai. Mistry's first book, it was published by Penguin Canada in 1987. Although all the stories deal with the same location, many were written without the aim of being collected in the same volume.

Tales from the Spaceport Bar is an anthology of science fiction club tales edited by George H. Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in paperback by Avon Books in January 1987. The first British edition was issued in paperback by New English Library in 1988.

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit is a 1987 Children's book by Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is a retelling of the American Br'er Rabbit tales.

Tempus With His Right Side Companion Niko is a novelized collection of fourteen previously-published short stories in the Sacred Band series by Janet Morris. Originally published in 1987 by Baen, it was reissued in 2011 by Paradise Publishing.

Terry Carr's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year #16 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the sixteenth and last volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in hardcover by Tor Books in September 1987. The first British editions were published in hardcover and paperback by Gollancz in December of the same year, under the alternate title Best SF of the Year #16.

Trust Me is a collection of short stories by John Updike, first published in 1987.

Universe 17 is an anthology of original science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the last volume in the seventeen-volume Universe anthology series. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in June 1987.

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 13 is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Arthur W. Saha. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in November 1987.

You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town was the first book by Zoë Wicomb. Published in 1987, it was a collection of inter-related short stories, set during the Apartheid era and partly autobiographical, the central character being a young Coloured woman growing up in South Africa, speaking English in an Afrikaans-speaking community in Namaqualand, attending the University of the Western Cape, leaving for England, and authoring a collection of short stories. This work has been compared to V. S. Naipaul’s The Enigma of Arrival. As Rob Gaylard notes, "Central to Wicomb's collection of stories is the question of identity, and intimately bound up with this are the polarities of home and exile. Significantly, the stories were written while Wicomb was in exile in England."

Young Petrella is a collection of 16 short stories about the British policeman Patrick Petrella by the British writer Michael Gilbert published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in 1987 and in the United States by Harper & Row the same year. All of the stories except one had previously appeared in the British magazine Argosy. In addition to the stories themselves, there is an introduction by Gilbert written especially for this book. The first story in the book, "The Conspirators", concerns an 11-year old Petrella; the rest are about his early career as a policeman in London, first as a detective constable, then as a detective sergeant. An earlier collection of stories, Petrella at Q, had been published ten years before, in 1977, but consisted of stories about Petrella's later years on the force, when he was first a detective inspector and then a deputy chief inspector. As usual with Gilbert, in spite of his smooth, urbane style, some of the stories take an unexpectedly grim turn, "Lost Leader", in particular, which begins with a group of teen-aged boys playing Robin Hood and comes to a harsh conclusion. "Michael was an exceptionally fine storyteller, but he's hard to classify," said one of his British publishers after his death. "He's not a hard-boiled writer in the classic sense, but there is a hard edge to him, a feeling within his work that not all of society is rational, that virtue is not always rewarded.".