The Horror Writers Association has announced the winners of the 2010 Bram Stoker Awards.

The Stoker Awards are choice awards. Works can be recommended by any member of the HWA. Members then vote works onto a preliminary ballot. From there the field is narrowed to the final ballot. Active members of HWA choose the winner. I will say this- while we didn’t review all the nominees on the preliminary ballot, you can find reviews of many of the books on MonsterLibrarian.com, highly recommended. Congratulations to the many fine writers whose works were and are recognized as the winners of the Stoker Awards were chosen.

Librarians have a great opportunity to promote the horror genre and showcase nominees and winners of the Stoker Awards by consulting the HWA’s list of current and past winners and nominees. Lists going back to 1987 can be found on the HWA’s website. So go on, clear off some shelf space, and put these award winning books out where the public can see. I am sure most people are already aware of Stephen King, but there are a lot of names on these lists that should be better known. For your convenience, I’m listing the 2010 award winners below.

Superior Achievement in a Novel
A Dark Matter by Peter Straub (Doubleday/Orion)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel (Tie)
Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge (Bad Moon Books)
The Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton (Gray Friar Press)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Invisible Fences by Norman Prentiss (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
“The Folding Man” by Joe R. Lansdale (from Haunted Legends)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
Haunted Legends edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas (Tor)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster)

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction
To Each Their Darkness by Gary A. Braunbeck (Apex Publications)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
Dark Matters by Bruce Boston (Bad Moon Books)

Again, congratulations to the winners. Go check them out!