An intense read and creepy tale, 13 Aug 2008
A creepy tale of a big house where the two Blackwood sisters, Constance and Merricat, live with their old uncle. The local villagers treat them with suspicion and hate, after six of the Blackwood family died one night from poisoning. Constance was tried and found innocent. The sisters and Uncle Julian try to live quietly in their mausoleum; Constance tends the garden, Uncle Julian sees to his papers, and the beloved Merricat patrols and protects the estate with ritual and amulets. However, one day cousin Charles arrives - and life will never be the same after that.
This short novel is an excellent exercise in paranoia, the whole 'did she didn't she' questio over the poisoning, the villagers' suspicion (and jealousy, for the Blackwoods are not short of a penny, although they don't flaunt it at all), and then the catalyst that arrives to upset everything.
A very intense read and beautifully crafted tale.


Haunting and chilling, 18 Jan 2008
The Dark Fantasy's front cover is nowhere near as exciting as the Penguin one. Front covers are very important to me as they are what attract you to stories and are something to refer back to during the novel as I often feel they reveal something about the plot or characters. If you are into your cover art go for the Penguin version rather than the Dark Fantasy one.

Right, the plot. Four members of the Blackwood family died eating a poisoned meal. For six years the survivors lived in their great house, fencing out the villagers who hated and feared them. Then Cousin Charles came to visit and it all changes. We are invited into the Blackwood world by Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat) who is now 18 and lives with her sister Constance. Merricat is really a likeable and interesting character, more so for me than Constance. Cousin Charles is a dreadful character, mean and nasty to Merricat and only after what he can get - the family money.

From the back cover of the Dark Fantasy version the reader is asked which world is richer in sympathy, love and subtlety - the house in habited by a lunatic, a poisoner and a pyromaniac, or the real world outside. In this short novel you will find yourself addressing this very question.

An enjoyable read that is very well written. Easy enough to read in one sitting and an author I will go on to investigate further.


Delicious, 06 Nov 2007
For some reason, it has taken me years and years to get round to reading this book, and I wish that I had read it sooner, as it is excellent. Easily digestible in one sitting, it repays the time spent with a dark and tender fairy-tale, with a happy ending that is also heart-breaking.
I came to this book via Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, and a wider interest in the horror genre, but there is lots to recommend We Have Always Lived In The Castle to those with no interest in horror whatsoever.
(The book seems to be a distant and genteel ancestor of Ian Banks' The Wasp Factory, although the tone of the two tales could hardly be more different.)

Great Gothic Read, 01 Nov 2007
This is a satisfyingly macabre and sinister book. The family that live in the castle are supposedly a murderous bunch, and are definitely not your average neighbours. Mary Katherine Blackwood lives in an isolated house with her sister and their Uncle. The rest of their family died after being fed sugar laced with arsenic. It's Mary Katherine who tells their tale and the reader will soon be entranced by what she has to say, particularly in the events that follow the unwelcome stay of a cousin. A fantastic gothic read, full of humour and a little sadness too. I'll definitely be reading more by this author.



Easily digested at one sitting, 11 Jul 2004
The story is written in very simple format, unravelling like a favorite and somewhat familiar mystery, and though largely predictable, the slim tome sticks to your hands by some supernatural force, and doesn't release you until the last page is turned and the last word read.

Mary Katherine Blackwood, known as Merricat, the main character, lives with her reclusive sister Constance and their Uncle Julian, the surviving members of a large family that came to a sad end through the consumption of arsenic laced sugar.

The intriguing Merricat tells the story, regaling the reader with her rituals, talismans and magic, but these alone are not enough to counteract the interloper, who threatens her familiar lifestyle, and tries to destroy the strong family unit.

The conclusion was not quite was I was expecting, being of macabre humor and vivid imagination, but was fitting and satisfying.

A haunting but not chilling read.

^AR

An intense read and creepy tale, 13 Aug 2008
A creepy tale of a big house where the two Blackwood sisters, Constance and Merricat, live with their old uncle. The local villagers treat them with suspicion and hate, after six of the Blackwood family died one night from poisoning. Constance was tried and found innocent. The sisters and Uncle Julian try to live quietly in their mausoleum; Constance tends the garden, Uncle Julian sees to his papers, and the beloved Merricat patrols and protects the estate with ritual and amulets. However, one day cousin Charles arrives - and life will never be the same after that.
This short novel is an excellent exercise in paranoia, the whole 'did she didn't she' questio over the poisoning, the villagers' suspicion (and jealousy, for the Blackwoods are not short of a penny, although they don't flaunt it at all), and then the catalyst that arrives to upset everything.
A very intense read and beautifully crafted tale.


Haunting and chilling, 18 Jan 2008
The Dark Fantasy's front cover is nowhere near as exciting as the Penguin one. Front covers are very important to me as they are what attract you to stories and are something to refer back to during the novel as I often feel they reveal something about the plot or characters. If you are into your cover art go for the Penguin version rather than the Dark Fantasy one.

Right, the plot. Four members of the Blackwood family died eating a poisoned meal. For six years the survivors lived in their great house, fencing out the villagers who hated and feared them. Then Cousin Charles came to visit and it all changes. We are invited into the Blackwood world by Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat) who is now 18 and lives with her sister Constance. Merricat is really a likeable and interesting character, more so for me than Constance. Cousin Charles is a dreadful character, mean and nasty to Merricat and only after what he can get - the family money.

From the back cover of the Dark Fantasy version the reader is asked which world is richer in sympathy, love and subtlety - the house in habited by a lunatic, a poisoner and a pyromaniac, or the real world outside. In this short novel you will find yourself addressing this very question.

An enjoyable read that is very well written. Easy enough to read in one sitting and an author I will go on to investigate further.


Delicious, 06 Nov 2007
For some reason, it has taken me years and years to get round to reading this book, and I wish that I had read it sooner, as it is excellent. Easily digestible in one sitting, it repays the time spent with a dark and tender fairy-tale, with a happy ending that is also heart-breaking.
I came to this book via Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, and a wider interest in the horror genre, but there is lots to recommend We Have Always Lived In The Castle to those with no interest in horror whatsoever.
(The book seems to be a distant and genteel ancestor of Ian Banks' The Wasp Factory, although the tone of the two tales could hardly be more different.)

Great Gothic Read, 01 Nov 2007
This is a satisfyingly macabre and sinister book. The family that live in the castle are supposedly a murderous bunch, and are definitely not your average neighbours. Mary Katherine Blackwood lives in an isolated house with her sister and their Uncle. The rest of their family died after being fed sugar laced with arsenic. It's Mary Katherine who tells their tale and the reader will soon be entranced by what she has to say, particularly in the events that follow the unwelcome stay of a cousin. A fantastic gothic read, full of humour and a little sadness too. I'll definitely be reading more by this author.



Easily digested at one sitting, 11 Jul 2004
The story is written in very simple format, unravelling like a favorite and somewhat familiar mystery, and though largely predictable, the slim tome sticks to your hands by some supernatural force, and doesn't release you until the last page is turned and the last word read.

Mary Katherine Blackwood, known as Merricat, the main character, lives with her reclusive sister Constance and their Uncle Julian, the surviving members of a large family that came to a sad end through the consumption of arsenic laced sugar.

The intriguing Merricat tells the story, regaling the reader with her rituals, talismans and magic, but these alone are not enough to counteract the interloper, who threatens her familiar lifestyle, and tries to destroy the strong family unit.

The conclusion was not quite was I was expecting, being of macabre humor and vivid imagination, but was fitting and satisfying.

A haunting but not chilling read.

^AR

the Madness of Crowds, 19 Aug 2008
I read this because I am a big fan of Shirley Jackson's fiction, for its psychological insight and dark and sinister world view. This book, however, gives a factual account of the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century. It was written for children and at 130 odd pages of fairly large print can be read in a single sitting.
The Salem witch trials constituted a dark and disturbing episode in American history, and as they were quite well documented we can see just how irrational, hysterical and cruel a human community can be, with no direct provocation. This element of a heartless, vindictive society turning on its weakest members, or the outcasts, is a constant in Shirley Jackson's fiction as well, and possibly is part of her interest in this occurence. There are a few occasions in the book where the author presumes to reveal the thoughts of those involved, a risky ploy in a work of history, but probably necessary to make sense of the events for young readers and she doesn't take any excessive liberties in doing this.
Mostly this is just a factual retelling of these events, strange and gruesome enough to require no embellishment. Though aimed at children, this book is suitable for anyone seeking an overview of the Salem witch trials as unlike some children's authors, Shirley Jackson does not talk down to her readers, moralise excessively, or adopt language particularly suited to children she simply gives the facts clearly and simply. For a really detailed look at the events in question, this is not the answer but readers of any age will be spellbound and rather disturbed by this account of man's inhumanity to man and the extremes to which mass hysteria can lead.

An intense read and creepy tale, 13 Aug 2008
A creepy tale of a big house where the two Blackwood sisters, Constance and Merricat, live with their old uncle. The local villagers treat them with suspicion and hate, after six of the Blackwood family died one night from poisoning. Constance was tried and found innocent. The sisters and Uncle Julian try to live quietly in their mausoleum; Constance tends the garden, Uncle Julian sees to his papers, and the beloved Merricat patrols and protects the estate with ritual and amulets. However, one day cousin Charles arrives - and life will never be the same after that.
This short novel is an excellent exercise in paranoia, the whole 'did she didn't she' questio over the poisoning, the villagers' suspicion (and jealousy, for the Blackwoods are not short of a penny, although they don't flaunt it at all), and then the catalyst that arrives to upset everything.
A very intense read and beautifully crafted tale.


Haunting and chilling, 18 Jan 2008
The Dark Fantasy's front cover is nowhere near as exciting as the Penguin one. Front covers are very important to me as they are what attract you to stories and are something to refer back to during the novel as I often feel they reveal something about the plot or characters. If you are into your cover art go for the Penguin version rather than the Dark Fantasy one.

Right, the plot. Four members of the Blackwood family died eating a poisoned meal. For six years the survivors lived in their great house, fencing out the villagers who hated and feared them. Then Cousin Charles came to visit and it all changes. We are invited into the Blackwood world by Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat) who is now 18 and lives with her sister Constance. Merricat is really a likeable and interesting character, more so for me than Constance. Cousin Charles is a dreadful character, mean and nasty to Merricat and only after what he can get - the family money.

From the back cover of the Dark Fantasy version the reader is asked which world is richer in sympathy, love and subtlety - the house in habited by a lunatic, a poisoner and a pyromaniac, or the real world outside. In this short novel you will find yourself addressing this very question.

An enjoyable read that is very well written. Easy enough to read in one sitting and an author I will go on to investigate further.


Delicious, 06 Nov 2007
For some reason, it has taken me years and years to get round to reading this book, and I wish that I had read it sooner, as it is excellent. Easily digestible in one sitting, it repays the time spent with a dark and tender fairy-tale, with a happy ending that is also heart-breaking.
I came to this book via Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, and a wider interest in the horror genre, but there is lots to recommend We Have Always Lived In The Castle to those with no interest in horror whatsoever.
(The book seems to be a distant and genteel ancestor of Ian Banks' The Wasp Factory, although the tone of the two tales could hardly be more different.)

Great Gothic Read, 01 Nov 2007
This is a satisfyingly macabre and sinister book. The family that live in the castle are supposedly a murderous bunch, and are definitely not your average neighbours. Mary Katherine Blackwood lives in an isolated house with her sister and their Uncle. The rest of their family died after being fed sugar laced with arsenic. It's Mary Katherine who tells their tale and the reader will soon be entranced by what she has to say, particularly in the events that follow the unwelcome stay of a cousin. A fantastic gothic read, full of humour and a little sadness too. I'll definitely be reading more by this author.



Easily digested at one sitting, 11 Jul 2004
The story is written in very simple format, unravelling like a favorite and somewhat familiar mystery, and though largely predictable, the slim tome sticks to your hands by some supernatural force, and doesn't release you until the last page is turned and the last word read.

Mary Katherine Blackwood, known as Merricat, the main character, lives with her reclusive sister Constance and their Uncle Julian, the surviving members of a large family that came to a sad end through the consumption of arsenic laced sugar.

The intriguing Merricat tells the story, regaling the reader with her rituals, talismans and magic, but these alone are not enough to counteract the interloper, who threatens her familiar lifestyle, and tries to destroy the strong family unit.

The conclusion was not quite was I was expecting, being of macabre humor and vivid imagination, but was fitting and satisfying.

A haunting but not chilling read.

^AR

the Madness of Crowds, 19 Aug 2008
I read this because I am a big fan of Shirley Jackson's fiction, for its psychological insight and dark and sinister world view. This book, however, gives a factual account of the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century. It was written for children and at 130 odd pages of fairly large print can be read in a single sitting.
The Salem witch trials constituted a dark and disturbing episode in American history, and as they were quite well documented we can see just how irrational, hysterical and cruel a human community can be, with no direct provocation. This element of a heartless, vindictive society turning on its weakest members, or the outcasts, is a constant in Shirley Jackson's fiction as well, and possibly is part of her interest in this occurence. There are a few occasions in the book where the author presumes to reveal the thoughts of those involved, a risky ploy in a work of history, but probably necessary to make sense of the events for young readers and she doesn't take any excessive liberties in doing this.
Mostly this is just a factual retelling of these events, strange and gruesome enough to require no embellishment. Though aimed at children, this book is suitable for anyone seeking an overview of the Salem witch trials as unlike some children's authors, Shirley Jackson does not talk down to her readers, moralise excessively, or adopt language particularly suited to children she simply gives the facts clearly and simply. For a really detailed look at the events in question, this is not the answer but readers of any age will be spellbound and rather disturbed by this account of man's inhumanity to man and the extremes to which mass hysteria can lead.

Hell-raising children, 22 Aug 2004
This is Shirely Jackson's very funny account of life struggling to bring up her expanding family. At the beginning of the book she describes her big old house "When we moved into it we had two children and about five thousand books; I expect that when we finally overflow and move out again we will have perhaps twenty children and easily half a million books". In fact she has four children by the end of the book, whether she had any more I don't know, I haven't read the sequel (Raising Demons) yet. She is extremely funny and entirely unsentimental in her descriptions of family life, any harrassed parent will recognise the situations in this book, when for instance she describes the agony of lunching in a restaurant with very young children, what parent hasn't gone through that? Anyone who has suffered from children (their own or other people's) should enjoy this book.

Funny, 24 Oct 1998
I generally hate domestic plots or cutesy toddlers but Shirley Jackson, with her wry sense of humor, helped me to really like this book. Sure, it is outdated but many of the absurd situations and attitudes still apply and it gives you a good middle class view of that period. Recommended!

Motherhood is Timeless, 20 Jun 1998
Having read an excerpt of this one day, I was driven to track down my own copy. Although better known for her darker writings, Jackson's semi-autobiographical telling of her life as a mother & a writer was very funny, & had me laughing out loud many times. Originally written in 1948, it proves that the trials & tribulations & joys of motherhood are timeless.

Not scary, just funny, 20 May 1998
At one time, Shirley Jackson was both the scariest and the funniest writer in America. This book may come as a surprise to fans of "The Lottery", but don't neglect it on that account; it's still vintage Jackson, complete with a rambling old house (this time not haunted). This is hands down the funniest book about raising children ever written; somehow it manages to treat children as surreal and other (the savages of the title) without ever being condescending. The sequal, _Raising Demons_, isn't quite as good, but is still well worth the read.