Shirley Jackson's Hangsaman Is A Story Of Lurking Disquiet And Haunting Disorientation, Inspired By The Real-life, Unsolved Disappearance Of A Female College Student.'shirley Jackson's Stories Are Among The Most Terrifying Ever Written' Donna Tartt, Author Of The Goldfinchnatalie Waite, Daughter Of A Mediocre Writer And A Neurotic Housewife, Is Increasingly Unsure Of Her Place In The World. In The Midst Of Adolescence She Senses A Creeping Darkness In Her Life, Which Will Spread Among Nightmarish Parties, Poisonous College Cliques And The Manipulations Of The Intellectual Men Who Surround Her, As Her Identity Gradually Crumbles.this Penguin Edition Includes A Foreword By Francine Prose.shirley Jackson's Chilling Tales Have The Power To Unsettle And Terrify Unlike Any Other. She Was Born In California In 1916.