BOOK NEWS: Reconsidering short works by the mother of the horror genre, Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson’s Dark Tales: Reconsidering the Short Fiction

Edited by Joan Passey and Robert Lloyd

Bloomsbury, 2025

ISBN: 9781350361157

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/shirley-jacksons-dark-tales-9781350361157/

The first dedicated exploration of the short fiction of Shirley Jackson for three decades, this volume takes an in-depth look at the themes and legacies of the 200-plus short stories by the mother of contemporary horror. Scholars from across the globe, and from a range of different disciplinary backgrounds, dig into the lasting impact of her work in light of its increasing relevance to contemporary critical preoccupations and the re-release of Jackson's work in 2016. 

BOOK NEWS is an online-only feature announcing new publications in modernist and contemporary literary studies. These announcements do NOT constitute an endorsement by the Journal of Modern Literature.

Offering new methodologies to study her work, this volume calls upon ideas of intertextuality, ecocriticism and psychoanalysis to examine a broad range of themes from national identity, race, gender and class to domesticity, the occult, selfhood and mental illness. With consideration of her blockbuster works alongside later works that received much less critical attention, Shirley Jackson's Dark Tales promises a rich and dynamic expansion on previous scholarship of Jackson's oeuvre, both bringing her writing into the contemporary conversation, and ensuring her place in the canon of horror fiction.

"Shirley Jackson's Dark Tales is a much-needed expansion of Jackson studies. These essays apply diverse critical approaches to a wide array of previously understudied stories, exploring topics such as influence, identity, space, and genre. They offer compelling new perspectives on Jackson's work, yet remain vitally aware of her position in the cultural landscape of mid-century America." --Melanie D. Anderson, Delta State University

Joan Passey is a lecturer at the University of Bristol, UK, where she has taught since 2016. She has published on Shirley Jackson in Women’s Studies, introduced the biopic Shirley for 70+ Curzon cinemas nationwide, and participated in a Q&A to promote Shirley with Birds Eye View.

Robert Lloyd is a teacher and researcher at Cardiff University, UK, and specializes in women’s literature, the supernatural, and critical theory. He completed his thesis on Shirley Jackson and hauntology in 2021, is in the process of preparing his monograph, and has published on Jackson in Women’s Studies.