• Read Shirley Jackson’s Eerily Contemporary Letter About Fear

    "We have exactly the same thing to be afraid of."

    Author Shirley Jackson often responded to readers’ letters; this one, written in 1962 after republication of her historical fiction for juveniles, The Witchcraft of Salem Village, seems uncannily prescient for our times.

    Article continues after advertisement
    Remove Ads

    –Laurence Jackson Hyman, editor of the forthcoming The Collected Letters of Shirley Jackson

    *

    ______________________________________

    Article continues after advertisement
    Remove Ads

    From the book THE LETTERS OF SHIRLEY JACKSON by Shirley Jackson; Edited by Laurence Hyman and Bernice M. Murphy, which will be published July 2021 by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2021 by Laurence Jackson Hyman, J. S. Holly, Sarah Hyman De Witt and Barry Hyman. All rights reserved.






    More Story
    Lilly Wachowski: Refuse Fascism, at the Ballot Box and in the Street My Grams was one of those people I loved to make laugh. She was a mighty woman who left an indelible mark on the women in my family....
  • Become a Lit Hub Supporting Member: Because Books Matter

    For the past decade, Literary Hub has brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. But our future relies on you. In return for a donation, you’ll get an ad-free reading experience, exclusive editors’ picks, book giveaways, and our coveted Joan Didion Lit Hub tote bag. Most importantly, you’ll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving on the internet.

    x