Shirley Jackson, born December 14, 1916, is most well known for her short story, The Lottery. However, she also wrote the quintessential haunted house book, The Haunting of Hill House, and psychological thriller, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Although she may be the mother of monsters, she also wrote for woman's housekeeping magazines, had four children, and a strenuous relationship with her mother and husband. This rebellious spirit criticized her misogynist, heteropatriarchal society through her writing and was often shunned because of it. She died August 8th, 1965, of heart failure after several years of suffering with agoraphobia, mental illness, and an alcohol dependency.