Shirley Jackson: Master of Modern Gothic Fiction

Recently I picked up We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I thought it was the first thing I’d read by her, but after searching her name I realized that wasn’t true. She’s also the author of “The Lottery”, a short story that I (and most likely you) was assigned to read back in school. Maybe because it was so long ago, or maybe because I didn’t expect to read anything shocking for school, the story didn’t stand out to me. So imagine my surprise when I learned that, when the New Yorker published it back in 1948, the magazine got the most letters in response to “The Lottery” than it ever had at that time. They received 450 letters from all over the world: 25 states, 2 territories, and 6 foreign countries. Most of the letters expressed anger at the story, and the Union of South Africa even banned it.

I also learned that Mrs. Jackson was the author of The Haunting of Hill House, which was later made into the movie The Haunting. Stephen King is quoted as saying that The Haunting of Hill House is “one of the most important horror novels of the twentieth century”. Though I have not (yet) read the book, I loved the movie. It is a tale of taut psychological suspense, full of subtle and spooky special effects, and at the end darkness wins. Today Shirley Jackson is still considered a master of modern gothic fiction: a writer who focused on the evil nature of humans.

Characters from the movie The Haunting.

I learned all of this as I was entranced by We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The novel is about two sisters, Constance and Mary Katherine (also known as Merricat). It starts with Merricat going grocery shopping in town. She’s tense. The townspeople don’t like her. Soon it comes out that four members of her family died from arsenic poisoning. Constance was accused and then acquitted, but the taunts of the townspeople have continued and worn on them over the years. Because of the bad press during the trial and the rejection of the townspeople, the sisters are isolated in their house along with their uncle Julian, who is unwell, and Merricat’s cat, Jonas.

The story is told from Merricat’s point of view. The mix of her hatred for the townspeople along with her fairy-like imaginings makes her an interesting character: dangerous, dreamy, and childlike. The relationship between her and her sister is intensely close, and Constance’s sweet demeanor is a good contrast to Merricat’s darker tone. I don’t want to give the story away, but I do think you should try it. Its themes of suspicion and alienation are problems Shirley Jackson dealt with in real life, giving authenticity to the uneasiness in the pages.

*Please note that some of this information was found using the online database Gale – Biography in Context through the library. You should try it too!