Welcome to Litsy!

I didn't start reading Shirley Jackson until a couple years ago, and to be honest, if I had read her before then I probably would not have appreciated the subtle way she creeps into your mind and toys with it a little.

I didn't love every single one in this collection, but majority of them I found phenomenally written. Charlie was my favorite. Something about a young kid being dark and twisty just really freaks me out.

These stories aren't scary in a traditional sense, nothing much happens to be honest, and certainly nothing overtly supernatural---although who is this James Harris character exactly? And yet. The stories start benignly enough, but there is menace lurking under the surface. People...turn, to varying degrees. Jackson gives you an inkling of what human beings are capable of, and isn't that the real terror?

The Lottery is the scariest story ever. Human monsters are the worst monsters. But I love it. And I read it every October. Lol
#ScaryScavengerHunt -that scares you
#scarathlon #TeamStoker 11pts
@TheReadingMermaid

In short story are the last lines, final execution, crucial for the success of it, and perfect example for this is story Lottery, but I have to say that majority of the stories in this collection aren‘t so effective and most of them have left me hungry, unsatisfied. Collection of very dark and atmospheric stories with interesting themes. I liked them, but I‘m not in love with them.⭐️⭐️⭐️
Few days late, but here is my contribution for #AuthorAmonth

#WondrousWednesday ☆ @Eggs

🕐 The Luminaries and Illuminae
🕑 Handmaid's Tale & American Gods
🕒 Scary-sized amounts of books
🕓 All Learning is Social and Emotional (Excellent!)
🕔 Tag! You're it. NoTagBacks!

Thanks, @Crazeedi for the tag. 😊

If there is one word that comes to mind while reading these stories is weird. One common thing is that almost all of them end rather abruptly. I personally didn't get much from the stories. But i thought most of them had a underlying meaning, it's just needs to analysed. I still liked some of them which i mentioned in the picture. But maybe i'm not sophisticated enough to understand these.
#authoramonth @Soubhiville @MinDea

My pick for #AuthoraMonth - The Lottery has always been disturbing but the others: The Flower Garden, Come Dance With Me In Ireland, Men With Their Big Shoes, Trial By Combat, Pillar of Salt, Like Mother Used To Make and Colloquy were just weird and most of them ended rather abruptly.
I read The Haunting of Hill House years ago and liked it. Hopefully my hold on We Have Always Lived in the Castle will come in soon.
@Soubhiville @MinDea

A very scary and shocking short story. Since it is a story written by Shirley Jackson i did expect it to be scary. But what i didn't expect was how brutal it would be.

#authoramonth @Soubhiville @MinDea
#bfcr3 - 2/4

I went to a different library branch to pick up a print copy of the tagged book and of course, left with four more. #librarylove #bookhaul

I‘ve read HILL HOUSE, but this is my first collection of Jackson short stories. Weird and almost always unsettling. Some are more creepy than others. Some are witty. Some, like the title story, are chilling. All are well written, atmospheric, and enjoyable. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Book 15/30 for #BFCR2

I wish I could hide in my house and read all day!

I had to take my time with this collection... Shirley Jackson just left me feeling shook and uneasy so frequently! She really is a master of the short story.

What a beautiful spring day! I think I‘ll go to Half Price Books. 😂🌼📚 #bookhaul

I have said it before, let me say it again, Shirley Jackson is a national treasure. June 27th (the day of The Lottery) should be a federal holiday celebrating her legacy. This collection is deeply strange & might be one of her greatest achievements. There is a reoccurring character in quite a few of these stories: James Harris. Frequently sinister, occasionally a neutral bystander of the poor behavior in others. It is an easy mistake to classify👇

'Colloquy' was published in the 40s, yet Mrs. Arnold's bewilderment feels all too familiar. What a great 3-page short story by Shirley Jackson.

I‘m a lot of fun to be married to. 😂😂😂

I love The Lottery so much that I feared every other story in this collection would be a disappointment, but I was very wrong. All were good; most were excellent. My favorites aside from The Lottery were Charlie and Flower Garden. Subtle, clever commentary on cruelty, obsession, loneliness, and more. I listened to it, but halfway through I had to buy a print copy as well. Provoking and wonderful! #gilmoregirlsreadingchallenge #shortstories

Count me in! @Samplergal #13in3

Dorothy Parker once described Shirley Jackson as an "unparalleled leader in the field of beautifully written, quiet, cumulative shudders". So true.

These stories are bizarre, uncanny, gloomy, uneasy, but everything is subtle, even the humour. There‘re glimpses of loneliness in the hectic of NYC, disillusionment, mental illness, and racism among others. Some more excellent than the others, and their endings stay with you. A strong pick.

Up next.. some twisty, unusual and nightmarish stories accompanied by late night snacks (mango jam on crackers).

#currentlyreading

As I was leaving the hospital, since visiting hours were over, I told my husband I loved him. He then told me five magical words: “Go to Barnes and Noble.” Well, no arguing with that order! 😆 That man knows just what cheers me up.

Wow. This is an absolutely fabulous collection of short stories! Shirley Jackson was a talented storyteller of the disquieting and sometimes chilling observations of the domestic and mundane. And love the blurbs on the back - read once I finished the anthology - especially the one with the black background. It was from the back cover of the first edition of "The Lottery."

Shirley Jackson party in the Reid household today. My read is tagged book (pictured on left), and the hubster is reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle. @JReid

If you like Shirley Jackson and you're just a little bit twisted, you'll love this story!!! It's super short but deliciously disturbing!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Found this guy at the library & I was really excited to read the other short stories in here! And, I promised @sarah83 a pic of my new Elastigirl mug from Mother's Day!! 😍

Happy Lottery Day, everyone.

😆😆

Weirdly awesome! Jackson‘s stories left me with an unsettling feeling. Seemingly ordinary people with ordinary lives, but in each situation, there‘s always an element of something not quite right. The Lottery is a classic for a good reason, and the last story in this collection. Strong pick 🤘!

What fun it was to revisit Ms. Jackson. There are a few short, odd stories in here I don‘t remember reading previously. And one that was new to me that struck me as terribly, sadly relevant: The Flower Garden. And the thread of The Daemon Lover in the blue suit throughout...and here it ends...

The Tooth has always been one of my favorites. Now that I am following James Harris, reading differently but still love it...

I don‘t think I‘ve read Shirley Jackson properly before. And I don‘t remember having read the, to me, oh so devastating “Flower Garden” previously.

Gift to myself.

I know somewhere along middle and high school I got out of reading this collection of short stories. I‘m so glad I did! I would never have appreciated Jackson‘s wit, humor and insight at that age. A real jewel of a book. So many favorites in this collection; can‘t whittle it down to one. 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

#readingmyshelves #ireland #shortstories

OMG. Two of my favorite things have been brought together in one super-strange amalgamation. Shirley Jackson + “Gilmore Girls”, anyone? 😬

I was a little skeptical at first, especially when the Chilton kids were mentioned, but it grew on me. I think having watched the new season makes this a little easier to read (because I like everyone a smidge less 😂).

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/the-lottery-in-stars-hollow

A good chunk of these stories seemed to have no clear ending or meaning, which OK, might be me, but whatever. The title story was great and I liked The Tooth and The Witch, too. Weird stuff, this!

Shirley Jackson is the Rod Serling of literature. That is the highest complement I could pay to anything, and this certainly deserves it. My, what disturbing wonder this book is. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shirley Jackson has a way of taking the seemingly mundane intricacies of everyday life and showing their seedy under belly and inner workings. It‘s as if she peeked behind America‘s curtains back then and exposed what she observed, & always through the windows of her own soul & experiences. It‘s fiction but it‘s not and that‘s the beauty of her work.

😳IDK if it‘s just me or not but every time I read anything by Shirley Jackson this song is seriously on repeat in my head. Any of my fellow Littens share this as well? or I‘m just slowly losing my mind 😅 I don‘t think it‘s that so yeah... 😜

Why hello again Mrs. Jackson 👋🏼

Subway reading. Something just a bit creepy for Halloween.

#TBRtemptation post 1! This is the only collection of her short stories to appearing during Jackson's lifetime. Headlining them is ""The Lottery," considered one of horror's greatest stories. 23 others make up the rest, covering a broad range--from the hilarious to the truly horrible and tragic. With an introduction by the renowned A. M. Homes. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook ?

"Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones."
~Shirley Jackson, The Lottery
#bannedbooksweek Continued....
#bannedbooks #bannedbookweek #shirleyjackson #bookish #reads #reads #booklover #bookworm

Oh, Shirley. She never fails to disappoint me. I adore her ability to portray the horrible sides of humanity with irony and/or humor. She tackles many important issues in her pieces, these have sexism, racism, small mindedness, and more. Some favorites were : The Daemon Lover,The Witch,Charles,Colloquy and The Tooth. I could keep going, they're all great!! I hate this cover though! #lennox #catsoflitsy #readharder2017 #litsyreadingchallenge #lrc11

Okay, okay...

I've been putting off reviewing this book in the hopes that I'd be able to find a workable link to give you all so that you could read "Colloquy," my favorite Shirley Jackson story in the collection. It's the shortest short story - 3 pages long - and it rocked my world. But I can't do it. I can't find one. ? Just get this book. And read that story. (Read all of them, if you can). The woman was a genius, & that's all there is to it.

Breakfast time!

Bowie says: Attention first, Shirley Jackson later. #bowie #catsoflitsy #litsyreadingchallenge #lrc11 #readharder2017

Met with my short stories book club tonight (i.e. some of my closest friends from high school). This photo is from our last meeting (in May ?). Tonight, we ate Thai & pie, drank wine, & talked about Shirley Jackson. I heard Leonard Cohen on the way home & belted it out. Now that I'm older, I often dread having plans -- but I'm always so happy to get together with old friends. After seeing these guys, "there's nothing on my tongue but hallelujah."

"The people seemed hurled on in a frantic action that made every hour forty-five minutes long, every day nine hours, every year fourteen days."

#thismodernlife

"She had a picture of small children in the city just like their parents, following along with a miniature mechanical civilization, toy cash registers in larger and larger sizes that eased them into the real thing, millions of cluttering jerking small imitations that prepared them nicely for taking over the large useless toys their parents lived by."