The Lottery is considered by most to be Shirley Jackson's masterpiece, and I think most people are familiar with it from assigned reading in school, but this story was actually brand new to me—in a sense. I read the short story in a collection of classics back on June 27th of this year (Lottery Day, of course), and was absolutely amazed, but decided to save my review and combine my thoughts when my library hold for this graphic adaptation came in.

First of all, I can easily see why this story is so highly lauded: it's an incredibly powerful piece of fiction that packs a massive punch, but it's also a masterclass in short story writing. I read a lot of short stories, and it's rare that an author can create so much depth with so few pages.

Now, when I said this story was new to me in a sense, what I meant is that I knew exactly what was going to happen, not because anyone had spoiled it for me, but because it is such an influential story that I feel it impacted the worlds of horror and dystopian literature forever! I've read and watched so many pieces of media that might not exist today if not for The Lottery, and that's really an incredible testament to its longevity.

As far as the graphic adaptation is concerned, I thought this was a fantastic rendition and I loved that it was created by Shirley's own grandson. The art suited the setting and mood of the story well, and I enjoyed how some of the panels paused to reflect on things like the kids rounding up stones, and the way most of the townsfolk treat it like it's an everyday thing until it's their family pulling the dot. It really makes you think about how normalized the Lottery is in this town and how obsessed with tradition these people are, even at such a high cost.