Shirley Jackson

Presents an unabridged selection from the story about a seemingly ordinary village that participates in a yearly lottery to determine a sacrificial victim.

The Lottery

Why yes, I did plan to read this on the 27th of June, thank you so much for asking <3

That was short & sweet & pretty good 😲

Jessie!

Why yes, I did plan to read this on the 27th of June, thank you so much for asking <3

That was short & sweet & pretty good 😲

'Her books penetrate keenly . . . to the threat that sparkles at the rainbow's edge of the sprinkler spray on even the greenest lawns' Donna Tartt An excellent host finds himself turned out of home by his own guests; a woman spends her wedding day frantically searching for her husband-to-be; and in Shirley Jackson's best-known story, a small farming village comes together for a terrible lottery. The creeping unease of lives squandered and the bloody glee of lives lost is chillingly captured in these tales of wasted potential and casual cruelty by a master of the short story. 'Shirley Jackson is unparalleled as a leader in the field of beautifully written, quiet, cumulative shudders' Dorothy Parker

The Lottery and Other Stories

Molly M

absolutely delicious. my girl shirley is EVIL!

The lottery and other stories

Louise Briley 

Best enjoyed with periods between each story, to comprehend the quiet horror of each. Warning that this may hit you long after reading.

Shirley Jackson's unnerving, macabre tale of random cruelty, The Lottery is one of the most iconic stories ever written, and a touchstone for writers such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen King. 'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt Every year the villagers gather. They can't remember when the Lottery started. Much of the original ceremony has been forgotten or discarded; the first black box lost. But the ritual always ends in the same way... Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and casual cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. She was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the most iconic American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48. 'An amazing writer' Neil Gaiman 'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Extracts from letters to the New Yorker after the first appearance of 'The Lottery' in 1948: (New York) Do such tribunal rituals still exist and if so where? (Ohio) I think your story is based on fact. Am I right? (Los Angeles) I have read of some queer cults in my time, but this one bothers me. (New York) I expect a personal apology from the author. (Massachusetts) I will never buy The New Yorker again. I resent being tricked into reading perverted stories like "The Lottery." (Connecticut) Who is Shirley Jackson? Cannot decide whether she is a genius or a female and more subtle version of Orson Welles.

“It's not the way it used to be... people ain't the way they used to be.”
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Shirley Jackson is truly great at taking something mundane and simple, then building it up ever so slowly to turn it into something sinister and horrific.
I feel like this short story is perfect to get a feel of Jackson's style before delving into her other great works.

Jessica Biwang

I bought this book because of The Lottery but I found my new favorite Shirley Jackson’s short story, the Flower Garden.

Really strong writing. You’re turning the pages as if it’s an involuntary movement. Only 3 stars because the ending was quite predictable (the fact that the lottery decides that someone will die) although I didn’t expect it would be Tessie. It makes me reflect on how being exposed to things that consensus would deem immoral or wrong makes you desensitised. It’s an interesting commentary on that I suppose. 

azliana aziz

there's a reason why shirley jackson is shirley jackson

fatru tamzil

skim haunts

Aaron J Mitchell

Having read this for the first time at 40 the twist in the ending was spoilt for me. But even so the strength of the writing makes it a compelling read and themes of conformity and the dangers of tradition are very much relevant today. There's a good reason generations of school kids are forced to pour over the story.

This chilling tale of a lottery in a small town which ends in death remains a powerful piece of literature and is a true classic in every sense of the word.

The Lottery and Other Stories. Strange stories mostly focused on female protagonists, which get under your skin and provide food for thought. She captures how trapped and frustrated a lot of women are, and the cruelty, snobbery and outright racism that are barely concealed beneath a veneer of civility. However, it’s her horror stories that I enjoy the most, and the Lottery is the best in the collection - a creepy and unsettling slow burn.

Laura Dobie

Paige LeBook

Drew Santiago

A few great mini thrillers packed into one book. Like a fever dream nightmare

Josh Dawson

B Sai Sushma

People can really be made to think the most cruelest and shittiest of shit is normal.

Matija

This anthology of short stories brings together some of author Shirley Jackson’s most celebrated pieces of short fiction. It includes her most famous story, “The Lottery,” about a small American town preparing for their strange annual tradition—a lottery in which every family must participate, and no one wants to win. The Lottery and Other Stories was the only short story collection published during Shirley Jackson’s lifetime. Her story “The Lottery” stands out as one of the most famous short stories in American literary history. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

A few of the stories were absolutely riveting, and many of the others just left me feeling… not much. 

Michael Klepacki

Maite Alarcon Leon

Midori Kobayashi

short. dystopian. dreadful. thought provoking.

i underestimated you miss jackson! i love an off putting dystopia… and this was just that. and mad props for doing it in such a short story 

cedar winslow

Roberta Falco

Geniali. Tutte geniali. Mi sento più disturbata di prima.

Ryan LaFerney

Easily the most recognizable, widely read work of folk horror in literature, Jackson’s story (published in 1948) begins in the folksy tone of any other quick pastoral sketch, with a group of recognizable characters getting ready for their annual town ritual involving an old box, a three-legged stool, and a random drawing of slips of paper. But the beauty of the tale lies in what isn’t explained, and all the unanswered questions that are continually raised by the whole affair, soon revealed to be quite sordid indeed. The Lottery's display of violence and inhumanity shocks us because the prose is so outwardly pleasant. The characters seem innocent and to be upstanding citizens. What makes this so terrifying is that they give into an ancient ritual of sacrifice and murder due to mimetic desire. Shirley's story suggests that the desires of the collective whole (however irrational those desires may be) trump those of the individual.

A terrifying exercise in group think and a classic example of a perfect short story.

The Lottery

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