The Lottery

Shirley Jackson’s eerie tale “The Lottery” is one of the most frequently anthologized short stories. A deceptively simple story about what seems to be a quaint tradition in a small Vermont town, it combines horror with a surprise ending to leave the reader in a state of turmoil. Like “The Lottery,” the other twenty-four short stories in this collection are fine examples of the taut horror story that Jackson mastered as few writers have.

“Few of the sketches in The Lottery are pleasant stories, but Miss Jackson uses the trick ending device adroitly. She can twist a seemingly normal situation into something that leaves you squirming…Miss Jackson’s work is deft and readable. Recommended for adults.”— Library Journal

“Shirley Jackson has a new way of telling a story that makes the ganglions tingle.”— New York World Telegram

“I have tried hard to put Shirley Jackson’s grim fairy tale out of my mind. I wouldn’t read it again for anything. It is the rare and embarrassing masterpiece that keeps itself to itself. When its full cruelty and horror break upon you, you will want to buy a crate of clove gillyflower and Old Spice from the American Institute of Arts and Letters and retire early. I implore you not to read this story unless you can take a day or a week afterwards to think about it.”— Christopher Morley