Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, CA. Today marks her 107th birthday!
She died in 1965 at the age of 49, and in her short lifetime she published ten novels– including the iconic We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1959) and The Haunting of Hill House (1962)–over 100 short stories, four children’s books, and three memoirs. Her best known story, The Lottery, first appeared in The New Yorker in 1948. In response, the magazine received the highest volume of mail ever for a work of fiction–although most of it was hate mail!
Shirley Jackson was an original girl boss. She founded Spectre, a literary magazine, with her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman. Her memoirs, Life Among the Savages (1953) and Raising Demons (1957), are humorous, fictionalized accounts of her experiences raising four children. She was also the breadwinner of the family, receiving high fees from publishing in women’s magazines. In 1959, the Saturday Evening Post paid her $2250 for one of her stories—more than enough to buy a sports car (which she did)!
Celebrate Shirley Jackson’s birthday by checking out one her masterpieces, watching the recent re-imagining of the Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House, or the 2020 biopic Shirley, starring Elizabeth Moss. Already read and seen them all? Elizabeth Hand’s new novel A Haunting on the Hill, which is the first authorized novel set in Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. Or check out Shirley Jackson Award winners! The Shirley Jackson Awards were established in 2007 to honor “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.” Gabino Iglesia’s The Devil Takes You Home is the 2022 winner.
Happy birthday, Shirley Jackson! And thanks to NAFCL staff member, Jeremy, for contributing to this post!
Stay spooky!
