'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is a type of horror that is not about the jump-scares. It is neither gratuitous nor exploitative.
It is all about the buildup. The creeping, dull yet happy village life, buildup.
It is short and slow, and it catches you off guard, even as you are on your guard. It has an atmosphere you won't even notice until a little after you've finished its twenty pages. What might seem pedestrian and predictable (for the modern era, anyway) suddenly turns into an uncomfortable thought piece, preceding a sense of dread. Dread that yes, this can happen, that humans can be persuaded, overtime, in small-to-high places, to do something like this; to perceive human life as cheap and disposable, regardless of relation. For no logical reason at all.
Anything, any ritual, any tradition, any culture, can be viewed as normal if it is repeated enough times. Parts of it might change over generations, but the intent remains the same.
'The Lottery' is more setup than plot, but what a setup it is. It is like Orwellian Hitchcock, with a 'Children of the Damned' vibe to it - and I can easily see someone like poor Tippi Hedren play the unfortunate victim in this, in a film adaptation...
Themes include hate mongering, scapegoating, and ruthless, thoughtless mob mentality. It can be viewed as subtle feminist commentary, too, when examining the gender roles filled in the provincial town, and how certain women's voices and views are silenced. How these, plus any human trait not deemed perfect by society, are used to punish women. This was likely intentional on Jackson's part; either way, well done.
Now I understand another influence on/predecessor to 'The Hunger Games'.
Final Score: 4/5
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