Neil Gaiman and The Dark Fantastic


I just read from Neil Gaiman’s blog that he was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award.  This piqued my interest, as I wasn’t aware that there was a Shirley Jackson Award. 
The Shirley Jackson Award, it turns out, was “established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.”

Yes, dark fantastic is right.

Shirley Jackson wrote, among other things, the classic short story “The Lottery,” which I read in high school. The experience gave me many moments of staring blankly and thinking about Tessie Hutchinson.  



Anyway, Mr. Gaiman mentions in his blog that “The Library of the Americas recently brought out a Shirley Jackson book edited by Joyce Carol Oates with 21 stories and several of the novels in it, so you do not have to go and hunt for them in dusty second-hand bookshops any longer. Although you can if you like. There are more than 21 stories, after all.”

Right there is my next mission. But I really hope I’d find a Kindle edition, as there aren't many dusty second-hand bookshops in my corner of the world.


Oh, by the way, Neil Gaiman was nominated for STORIES as Best Anthology, and for "The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains" as Best Novelette. Both entries won in their respective categories.
Neil Gaiman, the rock star of the literary world, has won many awards and recognitions for his works, and now he has two more.

No surprise there, really.
After all, Neil Gaiman is the logical choice for the dark fantastic award.

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