Boston, MA (April 2011) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors.  The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories:  Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

The nominees for the 2010 Shirley Jackson Awards are:

NOVEL

Dark Matter, Michelle Paver (Orion)

A Dark Matter, Peter Straub (Doubleday)

Feed, Mira Grant (Orbit)

Mr. Shivers, Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit)

The Reapers Are the Angels, Alden Bell (Holt)

The Silent Land, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

NOVELLA

The Broken Man, Michael Byers (PS Publishing)

Chasing the Dragon, Nicholas Kaufmann, (ChiZine Publications)

“Mysterium Tremendum,” Laird Barron (Occultation, Night Shade)

One Bloody Thing After Another, Joey Comeau (ECW Press)

Subtle Bodies, Peter Dubé (Lethe Press)

The Thief of Broken Toys, Tim Lebbon (ChiZine Publications)

NOVELETTE

“–30–,” Laird Barron (Occultation, Night Shade)

“The Broadsword,” Laird Barron, (Black Wings, PS Publishing)

“Holderhaven,” Richard Butner, (Crimewave 11: Ghosts)

“The Redfield Girls,” Laird Barron (Haunted Legends, Tor)

“Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains,” Neil Gaiman (Stories: All-New Tales, William Morrow)

SHORT STORY

“As Red as Red,” Caitlin R. Kiernan (Haunted Legends, Tor)

“Booth’s Ghost,” Karen Joy Fowler (What I Didn’t See, Small Beer Press)

“The Foxes,” Lily Hoang (Haunted Legends, Tor)

“six six six,” Laird Barron (Occultation, Night Shade)

“The Things,” Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, Issue 40)

SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

Occultation, Laird Barron (Night Shade)

The Ones That Got Away, Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)

The Third Bear, Jeff VanderMeer (Tachyon)

What I Didn’t See, Karen Joy Fowler (Small Beer Press)

What Will Come After, Scott Edelman (PS Publishing)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publications)

Haunted Legends, edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas (Tor)

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales, edited by Kate Bernheimer (Penguin)

Stories: All-New Tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (William Morrow)

Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders (Eos)

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.”  Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work.

The 2010 Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented on Sunday, July 17th at Readercon 22, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Websites: ShirleyJacksonAwards.org Readercon.org

Media representatives who are seeking further information or interviews should contact JoAnn F. Cox.