Just finished reading Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.



If anyone's in the mood for a book that'll go well with the upcoming autumn/Halloween season, this might be what you're looking for. It's not a horror novel and there's nothing supernatural in it, unlike some of Jackson's other stuff, but it has a very spooky, gothic atmosphere and a lot of black humor.

I think this is essentially a book about agoraphobia. It does an amazing job of putting you in that mindset, that feeling like the whole outside world is this hostile, scary place, and the only way to survive is to build your private, beautiful sanctuary and try to keep everything out. When I compare this with her famous short story, "The Lottery," it seems like Shirley Jackson must have had a strong sense of distrust towards society and the masses. When reading about her life and her personal struggles, I can't help wondering if this book was actually a bit of a fantasy and escape for her, as opposed to some heartbreaking look at mental illness. Obviously, this level of extreme agoraphobia is a terrible thing, and the book doesn't at all try to misrepresent that. But still, there's something fun about all the creepy sadness. It almost seem like an old fairy tale. I feel like Jackson was trying to do more than simply gaze down upon these characters with pity and horror. I think she really wants the reader to feel it deeply within themselves, to understand the immense appeal of hiding from the world and just wallowing in your own strangeness.

...Or something like that...idk. It's a short but incredibly fascinating book with a lot going on, and I haven't fully sorted out all my thoughts on it just yet. But I can't stop thinking about it ever since I finished it. Definitely Shirley Jackson's very best book from what I've read.