‘…violence is something that we, in mid-twentieth century America have unfortunately had to do a great deal of thinking about.’

A faithfully eerie 1969 short film adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s short story ‘The Lottery’. Filmed by the Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation, it’s accompanied by period commentary which is almost as creepy as the film itself.

‘The Lottery’ with it’s surreal atmosphere and ritualistic themes is a clear forerunner of the ideas that Jackson was to return to in We Have Always Lived in the Castle and still stands as one of the most memorable short stories of the twentieth century.