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my becoming-a-genius project, part 4!

in case you somehow missed parts one and two and three clogging your feed for the past 2 months, here's the situation:
i have decided to become a genius.

to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.

this one, by my creepy queen shirley jackson, is one i have been worryingly excited about. also i want to give her a hug (both because i love her writing and because she seems like she needs one)

PROJECT 1: THE COMPLETE STORIES BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
PROJECT 2: HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
PROJECT 3: 18 BEST STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
PROJECT 4: THE LOTTERY AND OTHER STORIES BY SHIRLEY JACKSON

DAY 1: THE INTOXICATED
it is honestly and truly the scariest thing in the world that this story was written in the 1940s, when it not only could have been written now but believably happened today.
rating: 4.5

DAY 2: THE DAEMON LOVER
the real monsters, scarier than those in any horror story, are among us every day. Straight Men
rating: 4

DAY 3: LIKE MOTHER USED TO MAKE
there is something so SCARY about this story...i am rattled. count me rattled. i need a hug and a kiss on the forehead and also to give the main character of this a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
rating: 4.5

DAY 4: TRIAL BY COMBAT
i regret to inform you the rumors are true: i did spill an entire cup of water on my nightstand while trying to shut off my alarm this morning, wreaking havoc on my floor, the corner of my mattress, the edge of my laptop, and, most significantly and unfortunately, this book.
so this was an unusually damp but still pleasant reading experience.
rating: 4.25

DAY 5: THE VILLAGER
i gotta tell ya, this book has been the gift that keeps on giving. thematically apt for christmas.
rating: 4.25

DAY 6: MY LIFE WITH R.H. MACY
took the weekend off because i forgot how to read.
another genuinely and yet inexplicably spooky one.
rating: 4

DAY 7: THE WITCH
shirley jackson is amazing. this is so scary. also i want a lollipop.
rating: 4.5

DAY 8: THE RENEGADE
"Feeling like this at nine-thirty in the morning, she thought, it's a feeling that belongs with eleven o'clock at night."
eek.
rating: 4

DAY 9: AFTER YOU, MY DEAR ALPHONSE
this is a pretty cool story about how racial stereotypes aren't often true, until you consider that this whole collection is made up of things that are supposed to be subtly unsettling.
then it's less cool.
rating: 3

DAY 10: CHARLES
kids are scary as hell.
rating: 3.75

DAY 11: AFTERNOON IN LINEN
this started out with an Alice reference, which obviously is the best way any story can start for me, but it was kind of meh from there.
kids really are scary as hell, though.
rating: 3.25

DAY 12: FLOWER GARDEN
really it's still day 11, but i skipped two days earlier and was in the mood to keep reading and...i don't have to justify myself to you, person i'm imagining reading this!
all i have to say is that Mrs Maclane is a queen and i can't figure out whether this story is on her side or not.
rating: ?

DAY 13: DOROTHY AND MY GRANDMOTHER AND THE SAILORS
it's weird to read stories like this that just...what is this even? like that john mulaney bit about when your grandmother starts telling stories about playing marbles at the soda fountain and you're like NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU IDIOT!
except i would never call shirley jackson an idiot.
rating: 3

DAY 14: COLLOQUY
treating myself to another two-story day!
this one is possibly the most relatable 2.5 pages of all time.
rating: 4.25

DAY 15: ELIZABETH
this one just made me sad.
rating: 3

DAY 16: A FINE OLD FIRM
how does shirley jackson make the most innocuous interaction seem spooky!!!
rating: 3.5

DAY 17: THE DUMMY
dating a ventriloquist who makes his dummy talk to me is the worst fate i can imagine, so needless to say this story scared the living daylights out of me.
rating: 4

DAY 18: SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY
this is set in a bookstore (dreamy) and is about how people are the worst (true).
rating: 3.75

DAY 19: COME DANCE WITH ME IN IRELAND
just some classic irish shenanigans here
rating: 3

DAY 20: OF COURSE
people are weirdddddd. always have been, always will be.
trying, also, not to realize that these stories have taken a significant downturn in quality for me.
(increased by half a star on day 21 for title reasons.)
rating: 3.5

DAY 21: PILLAR OF SALT
as a city person this didn't quite do it for me.
rating: 3

DAY 22: MEN WITH THEIR BIG SHOES
this is a fun one. and i do love a good grifter. a scheme. a scam.
rating: 4

DAY 23: THE TOOTH
this is scary beyond reason.
rating: 4.75 or 5

DAY 24: GOT A LETTER FROM JIMMY
"Sometimes, she thought, stacking the dishes in the kitchen, sometimes I wonder if men are quite sane, any of them. Maybe they're all just crazy and every other woman knows it but me, and my mother never told me and my roommate just didn't mention it and all the other wives think I know..."
one of the great story openers of all time, probably.
rating: 4

DAY 25: THE LOTTERY
nothing will ever beat this story, which is so creepy and f*cked up that hundreds of New Yorker readers (already creepy and f*cked up individuals) literally sat down to write shirley jackson actual, physical hate mail.
unparalleled.
rating: 5

OVERALL
this collection definitely dipped in quality for me for what felt like a hundred years, but overall i love Shirley Jackson very much and i think she should be granted immortality - for reasons of talent, spookiness, and my love for her.
rating: 4.25