You've
probably read something by Shirley Jackson, or at least heard of something she
wrote. I read The Lottery a while ago, and it really stuck with me-like that
nightmare from when you were two that still haunts you. I also heard a little of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and my mother told me what it
was about, it's not exactly a cheerful book.
Based on what she writes, I thought Shirley Jackson's life would be
serious. I was wrong.
I
expected that Shirley Jackson would live alone in an old, dark, dusty house
with a never-ending assortment of grim rooms at the end of a dark, twisting
road surrounded by bears and wolves. In
that house, most things would be grey, there would be a musty smell in all of
the rooms except the kitchen (which would have a burnt smell to it), and the
heating wouldn't work very well. She
might have an angry black cat with one eye and a big scar, or a bite taken out
of one of its ears. Perhaps she'd have a
guard dog as big as a car with bristling black fur and luminous red eyes and
maybe a bark that could be heard for miles.
Even on the brightest days, the sun wouldn't manage to get through the
thick trees that surround the house for miles.
If she had children, they would all wear dark clothes and spend their
free time chopping heads off of dolls.
Yes,
she had a black cat and a dog, and she did have children, but they were nothing
like I would have imagined. If anyone
would have cut the head off of one of Sally's dolls, she probably would have
called them a snick.
In Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons, Shirley Jackson writes
about her life. There's everything from
when a bat gets into her house to Sally's missing blanket (I really liked that
one), and Sally doing magic ("That boy still can't sleep."), and when
her children played with water balloons inside the house (also a really good
one).
My
favorite by far was the story of Sally's missing blanket. They all got sick and each person had with
them their favorite drink-both adults had alcohol while the children had apple
juice. Each also had a pillow and their
favorite blanket. They headed off to bed
but it wasn't long before Sally and Jannie wanted to sleep in their parents
bed. Their father was sleeping in the
guest room to be more comfortable. So
they climbed into bed with their mother and went to sleep. Eventually, Sally and Jannie were taking up
too much space so she collected her drink and blanket and headed off for an
unoccupied bed. Through a series of bed changes
for each member of the family nobody had the right pillow, blanket, or drink
and Sally's blanket was nowhere to be found.
This is
not what you would expect from horror writer.
It is funny, engaging, and enjoyable.
I wish there were more.
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