Blind Horse Books

  TODAY IN LITERARY HISTORY: Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) Today marks the birth of Shirley Jackson, one of the most influential American writers of psychological horror and suspense. Jackson’s work reshaped modern horror by moving it inward—away from monsters and toward the quiet terrors of conformity, ritual, and domestic life. She is best known for her chilling short story ‘The Lottery’ (1948) and her novel ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (1959), widely regarded as one of the greatest ghost stories of the 20th century. Her influence can be felt across generations of writers, including Stephen King, Richard Matheson, and Neil Gaiman. On June 26, 1948, subscribers to The New Yorker opened an otherwise ordinary issue to find ‘The Lottery’—a story that would ignite one of the strongest reader reactions in the magazine’s history. Set in a seemingly idyllic New England village, the story calmly unfolds an annual ritual culminating in the public stoning of a randomly selected resident. Re...

 TODAY IN LITERARY HISTORY: December 9 John Milton (1608–1674), author of Paradise Lost Born on this day in 1608, John Milton stands as one of the towering figures of English literature. He is best known for Paradise Lost (first published in 1667), a work widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in the English language. Together with Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, Milton secured a reputation not only as a poet of immense intellectual ambition, but as a writer deeply engaged with questions of power, liberty, faith, and moral responsibility. Paradise Lost retells the Biblical story of the Fall—how Satan tempts Adam and Eve and brings about their expulsion from Eden. Written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, the poem reshaped English poetic tradition and gave Satan a psychological depth that has fascinated readers for centuries. Its themes of rebellion, obedience, free will, and redemption continue to resonate far beyond theology. Milton’s influence extended well beyond poetry....