THE CENTURY'S BEST HORROR FICTION #48: A review of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Seriously, if you have never read this story, you’re not human. Reading this one is like a rite of passage. You don’t get out of school without slapping your eyes on its pages. It is one of the most revered pieces of fiction (not just horror fiction) on the planet.



In case you don’t know, it’s the story of a small town lottery with a sudden and dark twist in the end. Jackson describes the townsfolk gathering together for their usual lottery. She shows how kids eagerly gather, and how the adults chatter at each other, aghast that other towns are considering getting rid of the lottery. The idea is purely laughable.


But there’s something odd about these people. They seem kind of nervous. Jackson never comes out and tells the reader this, which is part of her genius. But things are . . . off in this town. It’s like no one actually wants to win the lottery, which runs counter to everything a reader knows. Winning the lottery is supposed to be good, something people pray for all the time. What’s going on here?


If there is a drawback to this tale, it’s that nobody really gives a shit about a fictional lottery. Why would a reader stick this tale out? If not for the hints of something darker going on here, a reader would give up after a couple of pages. Well, a horror reader would give up.


This story is kind of a trap, you see. Jackson wrote some very literary works (even if she’s mostly remembered as a horror writer these days), and to a common, non-genre reader, this would seem like business as usual.


But for those who have the fortitude to slog through the set-up, Jackson has a nice reward for you at the end. When you’ve stepped far enough into the bear trap, she springs it shut on you. SPOILER ALERT: It’s actually offensive that a spoiler alert is needed for this story, but what the hell. Some of you are pretty young. Maybe you haven’t learned about this story yet. Anyway, as it turns out, winning the lottery is a bad thing in this town. Very bad. The point of the process is to select, completely at random, a person to sacrifice. Yes, the winner gets killed, and not in any humane way, either. The winner gets stoned to death. It is never explained why, which is the beauty of it. It’s just so traditional that people don’t want to do away with it. It’s a common practice. It’s pomp and circumstance, but it’s necessary to the well-being of the townsfolk’s minds. Imagine giving up singing the National Anthem before a sporting event.


Just because something is traditional doesn’t mean it’s good. A lot of politicians could learn from this example. In fact, a lot of people could learn from this story. The point is still very important to this day. END OF SPOILERS.


It isn’t often that a work comes along that transcends its own genre. This is one of those stories. If you haven’t read this story, it’s a literary crime. You should be sentenced to three years of reading the same John Saul book over and over again.


(It’s also worth noting that this is the second story in this volume to reference TREASURE ISLAND; the winner of the lottery gets a slip of paper with a black spot on it.)

[This story first appeared in THE NEW YORKER and can be read here.]