Rating: 
Summary: Chilling
Review: I saw the movie version of The Lottery (yes, there is a movie) in 7th Grade and it scared the bejesus out of me then. We read the short story in junior year in high school for American Lit. and it is a great short story. I do remember the movie was rather graphic for 1976, showing a woman helping Tessie's son throw a stone at her mother and her head all bloody. Wouldn't recommend showing a movie version to 7th Graders; however, it made great reading for high school and college.
Rating:
Summary: makes an impression
Review: "The Lottery" by Shirly Jackson certainly makes a strong impression. It is a distubing tale of the dark side of human nature. I guarantee that once read, this story is not forgotten. I wouldn't recommend it for young children, but definately for more mature readers. It is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbingly Enticing
Review: This story by Shirley Jackson is, as in the title of my review, disturbing yet enticing. It begins with a description of the perfection of this summer day in this small town, and proceeds to a thorough description of a stack of stones that the children prepare. All of the people in the town gather in this open area and wait for the lottery to commence. Then the story proceeds to detail the fact that things are being forgotten as time passes but the people still hold on viciously to their old traditions, even keeping the old black lottery box though it is worn down and hardly good for use. The reader is introduced to only one person and that is Mrs. Hutchinson who arrived late to the lottery and that though she tries to laugh off their present situation, even the laughter her friends and she emit is quiet. The tension mounts as the head of each household must go up and pick from the black box, everyone nervous. From the very beginning the reader feels the strangeness of this book and the suspense about what this lottery really is until the very end. The gravity of the situation that Mrs. Hutchinson, Tessie, as she is called, is in by choosing the slip of paper with the black spot on it is only realized by Tessie's intejections of "It's not fair." When the people of the town all pick up the stones and stone Tessie, they do so with the most casuality, even stopping to choose the perfect stones to throw. This story, to be understood fully, must be read at least twice for the second time, the subtle hints of the coming event becomes quite clear: the children stacking the stones and choosing the smoothest ones, the small population, the nervousness of the crowd. This demented tradition of stoning a single person of the town is done in order to ensure a good harvest in the coming summer and that person is the sacrifice. Jackson excellently portrays the downside of traditions in this short story as well as the accepting nature of human beings to what has always been done. This short story was not enjoyable, but a very interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone who has the capability to stomach meaning in its entirety.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best short story collections ever
Review: After being blown away by The Lottery years ago I purchased this book to try some of Ms Jackson's other stories and it was well worth the purchase. Well-written, excellent characterizations, and a style all her own I look forward to reading more of the works of this talented and unforgettable author.
Rating: 
Summary: Lottery - 5 stars, Remainder - 3 stars
Review: I purchased this book on the fact that the Lottery is a great story and extremely eerie. Another reason for purchasing this was the overall high rating for this book by everyone. That was incredibly misleading. If you read thru the other reviews of this book closely, you will find that most people are telling you about the brilliance of the story "The Lottery" and not the other stories in this compilation. I expected stories on par with the Lottery in this collection. I didn't find it. The majority of other stories do not fall in to the classification of horror stories like the Lottery or "The Haunting of Hill House" which Shirley Jackson is also so famous for. The stories would fall in to the region of American Literature, not horror or mystery. As some other reviewers have noted there are multiple stories that don't come to a conclusion as one would expect with either a horror or mystery story but are a poignant tale of literature. I am a huge mystery buff and definitely part of the pull of this collection was that it was in the mystery section of my bookstore. That along with the other items I previously mentioned convinced me to buy it. If you find yourself buying this for mystery or horror stories, take a pass. If you are looking to reread "The Lottery" I would recommend taking this book out from the library. This purchase is only wise for literature enthusiasts.
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