Sybil Hawthorne -

Arguably her masterpiece, this novella chronicles a single night in the life of a Mississippi widow who believes her dead husband is returning via the salt deposits forming on her bedroom walls. The narrative is claustrophobic, told entirely in the second-person (“You check the front lock. You do not check the cellar door. That is your first mistake.”). Modern critics have retroactively hailed it as a landmark of body horror and domestic paranoia. Stephen King once cited it in a Rolling Stone interview as “the scariest thing I’ve ever read that doesn’t involve a clown.”

During World War II, Hawthorne continued to perform, entertaining troops and audiences alike with her unique brand of wit and charm. Her contributions to the war effort were recognized with an appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1944. sybil hawthorne