Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson was a horror and mystery writer born in San Francisco, California in 1916. She is best remembered for her unsettling novel of paranoia and the supernatural, 'The Haunting of Hill House' (1959) and her terrifying short story 'The Lottery' (1948), a horror tale rife with symbolism that is still puzzled over by critics and academics to this day. 'The Lottery' is regarded as an American Classic and as one of the best pieces of short fiction in the history of American Literature. Jackson was publishing around the same time as fellow genre writers Ray Bradbury, Jack Finney, and Richard Matheson and is regarded by many - including Stephen King - as being one of the most influential writers of mystery, the occult, and Gothic horror. Her books have been adapted to film and include The Haunting (1963), The Lottery (1996), and The Haunting (1999) by Jan de Bont. Shirley Jackson sadly passed away in her sleep (1965) aged 48 following heart failure thought to be caused by neuroses and prescription drugs used to treat the condition. She is fondly remembered by all in the fiction world.