Why am I passionate about this?
As an uncanny child myself, I always gravitated toward reading about the strange—whether in historical accounts or fiction—and as a passably normal adult, I often write from the perspective of “the other.” I never intentionally mix science fiction and paranormal elements into my work…they just happen to be my characters’ truths! So much of what we humans know about our world is filtered through our collective reality, and I love following the connecting threads and plucking at the flaws.
J.'s book list on uncanny children
Why did J. love this book?
Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” absolutely belongs on this list—not because the children appear to be strange or unsettling, but because they are hauntingly, terrifyingly normal.
With cheerily objective prose, Jackson captures a gathering of friends and families on a single morning where the children play and laugh until it’s time to participate in the community’s horrifying annual tradition. I don’t want to spoil the story by saying more, but I promise, this is a must-read for more than shock value. Nature versus nurture, indeed.
4 authors picked The Lottery and Other Stories as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.
'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt
This is the definitive collection of Shirley Jackson's short stories, including 'The Lottery' - one of the most terrifying and iconic stories of the twentieth century, and an influence on writers such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.
In these stories an excellent host finds himself turned out of home by his own guests; a woman spends her wedding day frantically searching for her husband-to-be; and in Shirley Jackson's best-known story, a small farming village comes together for a terrible annual ritual. The creeping unease of lives squandered…