The Lottery and Other Short Stories
"They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed."
A man bent on leaving his former life takes a walk in the woods, accompanied by a cat. An older couple decide to stay on at their summer cottage past Labor Day and find themselves in increasing peril. A man who picks up a young girl outside a bar seems like her rescuer until his behaviour changes suddenly. Something haunted hides behind the façade of a seemingly ordinary small town. And in Shirley Jackson's most famous story, a small village performs a lottery with a shocking outcome.
Some of the stories here have a lighter tone. But most speak to the darkness, disquiet, and menace that Shirley Jackson saw lurking in the most everyday situations.