Dark Tales

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By Shirley Jackson & Ottessa Moshfegh

Publisher Description

For the first time in one volume, a collection of Shirley Jackson’s scariest stories, with a foreword by PEN/Hemingway Award winner Ottessa Moshfegh

After the publication of her short story “The Lottery” in the New Yorker in 1948 received an unprecedented amount of attention, Shirley Jackson was quickly established as a master horror storyteller. This collection of classic and newly reprinted stories provides readers with more of her unsettling, dark tales, including the “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People.” In these deliciously dark stories, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the crumbling country pile, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods. There’s something sinister in suburbia.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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647 Reviews

3.5

Created 3 days ago

“Idk... this felt kinda bleh. It was quite boring. There were a couple of stories that were fine, but there's a reason these didn't make it to the stages of a novel. She can also be hard to read sometimes, but I think that might also have to do with the time they were written in.”

Joey

Created 30 days ago

“A fascinating collection of stories, proving to be an exciting introduction to Shirley Jackson. Standouts included The Bus, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Louisa, Please Come Home. Often found that the endings left something to be desired, but the tongue-in-cheek dread and consistently strong atmosphere kept me wanting more (in a good way, this time.) Excited to read more!”

Around Deanna’s House

Created about 1 month ago

“Once again, Jackson proves herself to be a masterful storyteller in this collection of short stories. Set in ordinary situations, with ordinary people, these eerie little works can really make a reader sit up and think how about quickly things can turn dark. One of the great things about these stories is that they can allude to things like death, murder, and the supernatural without being graphic. The reader can feel the emotions and the tension of the situations the characters are in, and will somewhat know what’s coming for the characters as they meet their demise (or resolution), but won’t be smacked in the face with blood & guts or over-the-top horror. Very refreshing after reading other stories that are far more intense.”

Believable Multilayered Clever plotting Steady pacing Suspenseful Twisty Evocative imagery Setting fits the story Beautifully-written Original Disturbing Thought-provoking Flows well

paimowy

Created about 1 month ago

lili <3

Created about 1 month ago

“'dark tales' was such a fitting name for these stories because although they weren't outrightly scary, there was a definite uneasy sense of eeriness they left me with. special mention to 'louisa, please come home' for having the most perfect cyclical narrative, where louisa listens to her mother on the radio call out for her to come home every year on the day she disappeared”

About Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) received wide critical acclaim for her short story “The Lottery,” which was first published in the New Yorker in 1948. Her works available from Penguin Classics include We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Haunting of Hill House, Come Along with Me, Hangsaman, The Bird’s Nest, and The Sundial, as well as Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons available from Penguin.