Haunting of Hill House

Nice series where the old horror of Shirley Jackson's story is nicely interwoven with a struggling family's mental issues.

Shirley Jackson - [unknown]

Still on 2read list, better get it out here:


Tell me about your sister, the little boy said. Was she a witch?
   Maybe, the man said.
   The little boy laughed excitedly, and the man leaned back and puffed at his cigar. Once upon a time, he began, I had a little sister, just like yours. The little boy looked up at the man, nodding at every word. My
   little sister, the man went on, was so pretty and so nice that I loved her more than anything else in the world. So shall I tell you what I did?
   The little boy nodded more vehemently, and the mother lifted her eyes from her book and smiled, listening.
   I bought her a rocking-horse and a doll and a million lollipops, the man said, and then I took her and I put my hands around her neck and I pinched her and I pinched her until she was dead.

Shirley Jackson - "The Lottery"

Famous short story (in America). Don't understand why I have not logged this before.

Since it's so famous, you can guess where it ends up, but it is still phenomenally written.