Dark Tales

Cross-posted from Good Reads Most of these stories I'd read in other Jackson collections at some point, but years ago, so they were mostly like reading them for the first time. The foreward by Ottessa Moshfegh is perfectly suited to the tone & tenor of these stories. There's 17 stories in the collection, & the curator of the collection really knows how to bend the arc of narrative with the arrangement of the pieces. It opens & closes with a banger -- The Possibility of Evil (with a shiveringly wicked closing line) & The Summer People, (also with a hell of a last line) that made me creeped out at the thought of my parents (you guessed it...in a cabin by the lake in New England.) The stories in the middle are evenly paced and alternate between the mildly unnerving (Louisa Please Come Home) to the downright creepy (Jack the Ripper.) For me, however, the unsung gem of this collection is The Beautiful Stranger, which is poignant in the helplessness the reader feels at the ending -- particularly so if you've ever had a mean husband & wished that a kind one would just up and take his place. In a way, I feel like this collection of Jackson's work bears a lot in common with Rod Serling's writing for The Twilight Zone -- I could easily envision most of these stories as an episode. I recently finished Jackson's biography, and this was a great way to follow up.

There are about 10 dark tales from Shirley Jackson. Nothing a what it seems and the stories start out normal but they get scarier as you read them. Each tale has a certain theme, what is the worst that can happen does. Ghosts can kill you, decisions can be distarous, visits that never end, hell, captivity, there is a story for Dylan Thomas. I really enjoy Shirley Jackson because it is so matter of fact but terrifying. She takes you into the dark recessed of the mind and makes a left turn.

The many varied short stories in this anthology keep the reader engaged throughout. Each of these tales by Shirley Jackson include her signature love of the macabre, making the reader wish for still more.

Her style of writing is instantly recognizable and yet her stories are so varied. Most often letting the reader fill in the shadows and twists. Every story is a winner.

I must have missed the gist of these tales. I didn't like them.

I love the way Shirley Jackson wrote short stories. She made it all seem so simple and made the characters seem so interesting. (She was also very fond of semicolons, as I am. I'm sure if she were alive today, she would just smirk when told the semicolon was now considered passé. :) While I'm not always impressed by her story endings, it's been decades since these stories were written; and many of us grew up watching shows like the "Twilight Zone"; making us more of a "sophisticated" audience, than the one she was thinking about when she was writing. Since I once read a huge book of Ms. Jackson's stories, I had actually already read all of the ones in this book, but didn't remember what happened in all of them. (One of the "blessings" of getting older--you don't always remember how stories and TV show episodes ended.) I think my absolute favorite one in this collection is about the girl who ran away from home right before her sister was getting married. She didn't go very far, and her family was still searching for her years later, when she ran into someone from her hometown . . . .

Gifted

This woman is utterly scary and she knows where your heart lives. Mrs. Jackson is the One True Monarch of 20th Century horror; she never wastes a word and you have to be smart to even keep up with her. Horrific visions suddenly erupt out of slow-burn suspense when you least expect them, the knife is infinitely sharp and utterly devoid of mercy. There is no sentimentality of prose here, every one is fair game for the restless, ruthless spirits. A literary genius, Mrs. Jackson passed away much too soon, in her late 40's. One of the best collections of Mrs. Jackson's chilling short stories! She continues to haunt me from beyond the grave.

I especially like finding stories in the style/ genre of Shirley Jackson. I haven't read ALL of her stories yet because I don't want to have nothing else to read, no surprises left. I keep her books to read over and over. Glad to have found this book, which was completely new to me.

Every single story from this volume it's absolutely delightful for those who love dark and ingenious literature. Totally whort it!

Tales of the weird, written in Jackson's signature style. Some are more shocking than others. Leaves you thinking over the horror in everyday life.

Acquistato per un regalo,contiene numerosissimi racconti non tradotti in Italia,veramente molto belli! Permette di conoscere meglio sia lo stile che l'autore. Consigliatissimo!

Shirley Jackson's tales are a weird sideways look at 1950's America. Not quite Roald Dahl or Twilight zone...but you get the idea. Well worth a read. Totally recommend.