I’ve never been the kind to be spooked out by over the top horror movies. Garish representation of monsters and murderous clowns simply makes me chuckle at their behaviour. The real, unsettling kind is where things are left unsaid and the shadows flit between normal people. The kind which makes me sleep with my head directed towards the door, wherever I might be sleeping. The kind where I’m overthinking every odd noise emanating in the silence of the night. *insert jump scare*
Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a masterclass in manipulating the creepy undertones of the unsaid. The plot revolves around the lives of the Blackwood family in Vermont. Sisters Constance and Mary ‘Merricat’ Kathleeen along with their Uncle Julian are the centre of the village’s derision. This has to do with the fact that several members of the Blackwood family died due to Arsenic poisoning 6 years ago. Julian was poisoned, Merricat had a legitimate alibi and Constance ended up being the prime suspect, eventually being acquitted. They’re all flawed characters in some sense: Constance, agoraphobic and naive; Merricat, hiding and burying objects all over the estate; Julian, obsessed with the poisoning and his ‘papers’ which make up his memoirs. Constance fends for them, the only one cooking and cleaning while Merricat is the only one who has any contact with the outside world, heading out for groceries and other sustainables. They are heavily ostracized by the villagers, subject of dark whispers and taunting verses. Despite all of this, the trio have settled into a rhythm, living a secluded life of their own. A visit from their estranged cousin, Charles, threatens to unravel all threads, however. What follows is a series of unfortunate events: a hellish fire, misgivings and mistrust and the disclosure of some dark secrets.
The read: I struggle to place the word macabre for things I read, but this truly deserves it. The text is crafted wonderfully, unnerving and unerring. Each moment feels like it is building up to something and so much is said simply via representative actions. This plays on the suburban legend trope and the unreliable narrator really well, employing every aspect of the two equally well. Despite the short nature of the book, Jackson manages to take the classic family tragedy, make it sound even more eerie than possible. I’m surely going to be looking at mushrooms and our box of sugar with a lot of suspicion going forward. There’s a recent cinematic adaptation with Sebastian Stan and Alexandra Daddario in it. It’s surely going to be a while before I forget the sisters Blackwood.
Trivia: Merricat indulges in what is referred to as sympathetic magic, which involves imitation or correspondence, burying and hiding objects of value as relics. The most famous examples of correspondence including Sauron’s ring on the Horcruxes in the HP universe. You can read more about the same here.
Documentation:
Book: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Author: Shirley Jackson
Year of Release: 1962
Publisher: Penguin