“‘You are a very silly baby, Eleanor,’ she told herself, as she did every morning.”
– The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
Tag: shirley jackson
New Horror 2023 – Day 27
“She could not bear the thought of Jamie’s bringing to marriage anyone who looked haggard and lined.”
“The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson (1949)
Kind of a sedate spooky reading, but still real good. I suppose if there’s a horror here it’s those skewed heteronormative expectations around a) women must marry when they’re young and attractive and b) men don’t need to commit and can afford to be aloof assholes. But the way Jackson writes this, it still has an eerie vibe about what exactly is going on.
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“Wobbling Rock had finally fallen on a family having a picnic.”
“The Willowdale Handcar or The Return of the Black Doll” by Edward Gorey (1962)
The sedate horror continues with this weird, meandering tale about what I can only guess are some rich yuppies traveling about the countryside without a care as those around them suffer. Since it’s Gorey, there’s a general unsettling look in the illustrations, and the ending does nothing to assuage that feeling.
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“Give me back my head!”
Visible Secret dir. Ann Hui (2001)
You know something’s off in this story about ghosts and possessions, and while it may be predictable there are still some interesting turns before you arrive at the destination.
New Horror 2022 – Day 15
(Art from this incredible anthology by Richard Wells.)
“The Summer People” by Shirley Jackson (1950)
“I wonder if we’re supposed to… do anything.”
This really got me. I’ve had aging and choosing a place to settle (if ever) on my mind recently and this just hits all the right points for me to feel creeped out about the future.
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“Don’t Go to the Island” by Sfé R. Monster & Kalyna Riis-Phillips (2016)
“The skulls at your feet are laughing at you.”
It’s been almost all white American men in my horror comics this month, so I’m pivoting to other creators and eras. Fortunately, the Bones of the Coast anthology has that and also focuses on the Pacific Northwest, undoubtedly my favorite region. It’s a good pairing with the Jackson story. A moody coastal vibe, the gray sky threatening something that doesn’t reveal itself immediately, but instead lingers behind trees and corners, watching and waiting.
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Under the Shadow dir. Babak Anvari (2016)
“Dead people can’t dream.”
This was great, in that it captures an intimate story of two people trapped by the weight of political erosion and violence very well. It’s a slow simmer movie, building up slowly and then explicitly, asking if anyone can ever really escape the horror they’ve experienced.