Shirley Jackson

Of course, no one would want to say anything about a girl like this that's missing . . . ' Malice, paranoia and creeping dread lie beneath the surface of ordinary American life in these chilling miniature masterworks of unease.

The Missing Girl

Toyah Blackburn

This short read consists of 3 very short stories: The Missing Girl, Journey With a Lady and Nightmare. You never really reach a conclusion, but there's a lot of detail contained within each story. Anything is possible as far as conclusions go. The first and last are creepy, the second is just humorously weird. Shirley Jackson has a real talent for building the atmosphere within a story to keep you turning pages.

Kath Lau

The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson is part of the latest Penguin Modern series. It consists of three very short stories which are all mind-boggling and enjoyable to read. The Missing Girl is the first story about the disappearance of a young girl from a summer camp. I liked that this story made me doubt the existence of the missing girl. It's pretty brilliant. Also, I love the names of the characters. Journey With A Lady is the second story. It's about a 9-year old boy meeting a very interesting woman on his train ride to his grandfather's place. I really enjoyed this story the most. The third and last story is Nightmare, a story of a secretary who has sent on an errand by her boss to find out that the city has gone "strange". I found the ending (if you can call it that) a little confusing. The lines were quite repetitive but I did love the athmospere in this one.

Now I want to re-read The Haunting of Hill House because maybe I read it at the wrong time.

Silje Risøy Helgerud

Stefie 

The only work I have read from Shirley Jackson’s is The Lottery, and I enjoyed it so much.

Since then, I really want to pick another book by her, but for some reason I didn’t until I knew that Penguin has released Penguin Modern set and have included Jackson’s work in it. So, I thought I give it a go. 

These three short stories collection are pretty good. My favourite is “The Missing Girl”. I have to admit that I didn’t really get the ending straight away. I was actually a bit confused. But I kept thinking about it & take a conclusion by myself (which I don’t know if it’s right or not btw hahah). And I really liked it. 4.5/5 stars for me. 

“Journey with A Lady” is okay. It’s my least favourite from all of the three. I was expecting for something that will make my heart skip a beat. But it didn’t do it. At least I can understand the whole thing from beginning to end though 😬 I guess I would like it more if I didn’t expect to much. So 2.5/5 stars. 

Lastly “Nightmare”. I don’t know how to feel about this one. I like it but I got so confused with the ending. I really couldn’t figure this one out. So, if you know what the ending meant, please let me know. What I like is how it made me feel. I felt sick like feeling so claustrophobic while reading. And the feeling is like building up slowly as you read & at the end of the story you just felt so so full (like you need to breathe). I am weird I know since I tend to like reading something that make me feel sick hahaha.
But I think If I get the ending, I will enjoy this story more. So.... 4/5 stars. 


My last thought.. this tiny book is worth to try :) I didn’t regret reading it. Overall, its 3.5 stars from me!

The Missing Girl

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