Summer People
by Shirley Jackson
This one was a short story.
I'm not going to lie,
I read it because I'm reading Stephen King's book,11/22/63, and he mentions it in there.
The best part of checking this book out from the library is that I learned that I knew more Shirley Jackson stories than I thought!
She's written a lot of great suspense/horror that we've all heard of, like The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle...
I can see why she'd be a name that King referenced.
She is a master of subtle horror.
The Summer People was a quick read, only a few pages long, about a couple who decide to linger at their vacation home after the summer season is over.
The whole story is beautiful, it tells you exactly what is going to happen to these folks, without *actually* telling you anything.
However, this is not a story for people who need everything spelled out for them in black and white.
This haunting tale leaves a LOT to the imagination, and readers will have to fill in the blanks.
I should really read more of her stories. The only one I've read is The Lottery and it was disturbing but good.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this one, but I like that she doesn't explicitly spell things out and refused to when asked. I never realized how many short stories she had, or that she wrote children's books, until I googled her (just now).
ReplyDeleteHow is it that neither of the Shirley Jackson collections I own do not include this story? Hrumph! Other than reading The Lottery in school, I think I originally picked up The Haunting of Hill House because King mentions it in Danse Macabre. It's probably one of my favorite books, and Jackson is one of my favorite authors.
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