I haven't read any Shirley Jackson since we read The Lottery in high school. It was incredibly disturbing to me, which I know is the point, but it really turned me off Jackson as an author. I've seen several recommendations for The Haunting of Hill House recently. Just how scary is it? I tend to avoid such things in general. Unlike you, I am not a fan of spooky season? :)
I'd take your response to The Lottery as an indicator of how you'd likely respond to Haunting. Part of Jackson's skillset is her ability to get to the psychology of terror, finding the dark parts of the psyche. But if you don't want to try her horror stuff, I'd hugely recommend her memoir, "Life Among the Savages". It's a wonderful piece of domestic comedy that finds joy without shunning irony or softening the sharper edges of her life as a writer-mother.
I haven't read any Shirley Jackson since we read The Lottery in high school. It was incredibly disturbing to me, which I know is the point, but it really turned me off Jackson as an author. I've seen several recommendations for The Haunting of Hill House recently. Just how scary is it? I tend to avoid such things in general. Unlike you, I am not a fan of spooky season? :)
I'd take your response to The Lottery as an indicator of how you'd likely respond to Haunting. Part of Jackson's skillset is her ability to get to the psychology of terror, finding the dark parts of the psyche. But if you don't want to try her horror stuff, I'd hugely recommend her memoir, "Life Among the Savages". It's a wonderful piece of domestic comedy that finds joy without shunning irony or softening the sharper edges of her life as a writer-mother.
Thank you!