In The Lottery, Shirley Jackson masterfully unravels a chilling story that delves deep into the heart of human nature and societal tradition. Set in a small, seemingly peaceful village, the story begins with the townspeople gathering for their annual lottery, an event that has been held for as long as anyone can remember. What starts as a familiar and festive gathering quickly descends into a horrifying ritual, where the "winner" of the lottery faces...

Killing a bird with his slingshot as a boy, William Bellman grows up a wealthy family man unaware of how his act of childhood cruelty will have terrible consequences until a wrenching tragedy compels him to enter into a macabre bargain with a stranger in black.

Thoughtful, amusing, and provocative, Making an Exit will transform the way you look at life's last passage. Because, as Murray discovers, death is, for many, not an ending but the start of something new. Author and journalist Sarah Murray never gave much thought to what might ultimately happen to her remains-that was, until her father died. While he'd always insisted that the "organic matter" left after a person takes their last breath had no significance,...

"Change is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish that hasn't changed in a thousand years. For one thing, the rain is stopping. Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living. But now - just as Father Coffey proclaims the coming of the electricity - the rain clouds are lifting. Seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe is idling in the unexpected sunshine when Christy makes his first entrance into Faha, bringing secrets...

As the mourners and guests at a British country manor struggle valiantly to "keep a stiff upper lip," a dignified ceremony devolves into a hilarious, no-holds-barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets.

"A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people-morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners-who work in it and what led them there. We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we're so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look? Fueled by...

"In this sequel to Odin's child, Hirka is stranded in a dying world, pursued by hunters and deadborn, and filled with deep longing for Rime, the friend she left behind in Ym. Now in modern-day England, Hirka finds that her fight for survival pales in comparison to the discovery of her true identity. For a thousand years, the source of the rot has craved freedom. A freedom only Hirka can provide. The Rot is the story of how far people will go for revenge,...

Seven college housemates from the 1960s who have drifted apart reunite at the funeral of a friend. Having entered adulthood as non-conformists, most now belong to the establishment. Stunned by the death of their peer, sensing their own mortality and the loss of their innocence, each takes the opportunity to reevaluate his or her life and re-establish their bonds.

"Describes history of mummies of ancient Egypt"--Provided by publisher.

A modern saga that could only have come from South Africa, written in gorgeous prose by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author Damon Galgut. Haunted by an unmet promise, the Swart family loses touch after the death of their matriarch. Adrift, the lives of the three siblings move separately through the uncharted waters of South Africa; Anton, the golden boy who bitterly resents his life's unfulfilled promises; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the...