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Dark Tales

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Step into the unsettling world of Shirley Jackson this autumn with a collection of her finest, darkest short stories, revealing the queen of American gothic at her mesmerising best.

There's something nasty in suburbia. In these deliciously dark tales, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the country manor, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods...

Includes the following stories: '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'.

© Shirley Jackson (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Horror Short Stories Scary Murder

Critic reviews

Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written ... No-one can touch her (Donna Tartt)
In each story in the collection, the everyday world becomes tinted with an odd sheen of terror ... In Jackson's world, the safe house is a trap. Enter it, and you might get lost in the dark (Ottessa Moshfegh)
The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable (A. M. Homes)
Dark Tales reveals a superior gothic writer ... Shirley Jackson's menacing gothic tales are a joy to rediscover
One of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses (Paul Theroux)
An amazing writer (Neil Gaiman)
An excellent primer for her short fiction
All stars
Most relevant
There are many words that might describe these stories but dark would not be first among them - vague, weird, inconclusive perhaps but not especially dark. The narration is good and suits the style of writing but this doesn't make up for the unsatisfactory nature of the work. I finished the book in the hope that it would improve as it went along - it didn't. Not recommended

Not so much dark

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Shirley Jackson is an exceptional story-teller. Because of her obsessions, these tales, read or listened to in close succession, might become too cloyingly alike. Best dipped into, like a fine wine. The reader on this audiobook version performs well; a sympathetic performance.

Exceptional

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