‘They still remembered to use stones…’
Interest in revered horror author Shirley Jackson is at an all time high. After the huge success of The Haunting of Hill House, coupled with the acclaimed Jackson biopic Shirley this year, we are currently at peak Shirley Jackson. To be fair, an author obsessed with paranoia, anxiety and the macabre is probably a good fit for 2021…
The Lottery is a celebrated collection of short stories taken from various junctures in Jackson’s life, the most famous of which being the titular story. Jackson was catapulted into infamy and scandal when the story was first released, and it has influenced everything from Battle Royale to the Hunger Games franchise.
The eponymous tale is not the only story in this collection however, indeed it isn’t even the longest. And while it is undoubtedly the most notorious, there is enough here to justify reading the whole collection and not just the story that made it famous. Perhaps the best known of these other fables is Charles – a short story often taught in schools that features a household scandalised by the erratic behaviour of another family’s child. The ending is jet black and pure Jackson, but as with The Lottery, it has also been co-opted and repackaged many times since this collection was published.
That being said, The Lottery still has the power to shock, even all these years later, and this is testament to Jackson’s inimitable obsidian outlook on life, and her unique talent in expressing that outlook.
While it may not be as essential as The Haunting of Hill House or We Have Always Lived in the Castle, it would still be unfair to say that this is a collection for completists only. There is a lot here for everyone to enjoy… or endure, depending on how squeamish you are.