The Lottery and Other Dark Tales​

Shirley Jackson

Illustrated by Angie Hoffmeister

Introduced by Ruth Franklin

Over Two-Thirds Sold

Limited to just 250 copies, this Folio edition of The Lottery and Other Dark Tales features 20 of Shirley Jackson’s most unsettling stories, an introduction by Ruth Franklin, and haunting illustrations by Angie Hoffmeister.

£250.00
£250.00
Editor’s Note
  1. James Rose, Editor

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 the 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 breathes a building sense of dread, discomfort and eerie paranoia with each sentence.​

Illustrated by the evocative and atmospheric ink and watercolours of Angie Hoffmeister, including a special giclée print of the author, 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 most well-known and applauded works, as well as some lesser-known pieces that display her ability to create atmosphere, suspense, and, ultimately, to shock.​

288 pages​

Set in Arno​

Frontispiece and 7 colour illustrations, including 3 double page spreads

Bound in screen-printed and blocked cloth​

Silver gilded top edge​

Integrated illustrated black and white tailpieces​

Metallic blocked endpapers​

Clamshell box with central magnetic opening, covered in printed paper​

Print for framing printed on Natural Evolution paper​

8¾˝ x 5½˝

Printed in Italy​

‘One of the most famous short stories of the twentieth century, and surely one of the most wicked of any.’
  1. Donna Tartt

Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Other Dark Tales invites readers into a world where the mundane twists into the macabre. From the chilling ritual of the titular 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, filled with eerie atmospheres and haunting revelations.

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

Selected stories are:​

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

About Shirley Jackson

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).

About Ruth Franklin

Ruth Franklin is an award-winning literary critic, biographer, and author celebrated for her insightful writing on 20th-century literature. Her biography Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (2016) won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Edgar Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, establishing her as a leading biographer. Franklin’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and The New York Review of Books, where she is known for her eloquent criticism. Her writing often explores themes of identity, trauma, and creativity, shedding light on overlooked authors and the complexities of their work.​

About 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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