Shirley Jackson

The Lottery and Other Dark Tales

£65

Illustrated by Angie Hoffmeister

Introduced By Ruth Franklin

From poisoned-pen letters to ominous small towns, this exclusive Folio collection gathers Shirley Jackson’s most unsettling short stories – including the iconic ‘The Lottery’. Illustrated by Angie Hoffmeister and introduced by biographer Ruth Franklin, it’s a darkly elegant volume from the master of psychological suspense and uncanny domestic horror.

Perfect Additions

Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House

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Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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The Lottery and Other Dark Tales

£65

Book Details

Production DetailsBound in printed and blocked textured paper
Printed slipcase

Dimensions8½ inches × 5½ inches

FontTypeset in Arno with Zachar as display

Pages288

AuthorShirley Jackson

Illustrated byAngie Hoffmeister

IllustrationFrontispiece and 6 colour illustrations, including 3 double-page spreads

Publication Date16/09/2025

PrintingFirst Printing

Editor's Notes

Poisoned-pen letters, unsettling motels, fractured marriages and missing girls abound in Shirley Jackson’s carefully constructed stories of small-town America and the underlying darkness beneath domesticity. With the publication of ‘The Lottery’ in 1948, Jackson created a moral panic (as well as giving the world one of the greatest short stories in American literature) and revealed a style that builds a sense of dread, discomfort and eerie paranoia with each sentence.

Illustrated by the evocative and atmospheric ink and watercolours of Angie Hoffmeister, this edition is accompanied by a new introduction by Jackson’s biographer Ruth Franklin, who explores the author’s themes of isolation and desire. This exclusive selection of stories contains many of Jackson’s best-known and most celebrated works, as well as some lesser-known pieces that display her ability to create atmosphere, suspense and, ultimately, to shock.

Synopsis

The Lottery and Other Dark Tales invites readers into a world where the mundane twists into the macabre. From the chilling ritual of the title story to unsettling explorations of paranoia, cruelty and societal decay, Jackson masterfully reveals the darkness lurking beneath everyday life. Each tale is a razor-sharp examination of human nature, steeped in eerie atmospheres and haunting revelations.

This collection cements Jackson’s place as a literary pioneer, with unforgettable stories that linger long after the final sentence.

About the illustrator

Angie Hoffmeister

Angie Hoffmeister (born in Quedlinburg, Germany, in 1989) is an illustrator and printmaker based in Düsseldorf, where she was educated at the Kunstakademie. She uses a range of media – including drypoint, pencil and watercolour – she has also illustrated a number of graphic novels.

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About the illustrator

Angie Hoffmeister

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About the illustrator

Angie Hoffmeister

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About the illustrator

Angie Hoffmeister

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The Lottery and Other Dark Tales

Contents

The Lottery
The Daemon Lover
The Possibility of Evil
Louisa, Please Come Home
Paranoia
The Honeymoon of Mrs Smith
The Story We Used to Tell
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Jack the Ripper
The Beautiful Stranger
All She Said Was Yes
What a Thought
The Bus
Family Treasures
A Visit
The Good Wife
The Man in the Woods
Home
The Summer People
The Missing Girl

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About the Author

Shirley Jackson (1918–65) was one of the greatest American gothic writers of the 20th century – an heir to the tradition of Hawthorne and Poe. Jackson was brought up in California and educated in Syracuse, New York, where she met the man she would marry. The couple settled in North Bennington, Vermont, where Jackson spent the last 20 years of her life. Her career writing short stories was lucrative, and for some time she was highly regarded as the author of Life Among the Savages (1952), a witty fictionalised memoir about life as a mother; but this work has now been eclipsed by Jackson’s reputation as the author of horror and ghost-story masterpieces such as the controversial short work ‘The Lottery’ (1948, Folio 2025) and the novels The Haunting of Hill House (1959, Folio 2022) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962, Folio 2023).

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