<P> Joyce Carol Oates described the story as' terrifying' and it is generally regarded as one of Jackson's finest works . </P> <P> It was commented in an unrelated Daily Telegraph article that this was the point in which Shirley Jackson had reached maturity as an author, a process that began and continued long after the early & famous publication of Jackson's controversial short story, The Lottery . This is a common opinion that has also been voiced by many other admirers of Jackson such as Paul Theroux and Neil Gaiman . </P> <P> It has even been commented by some critics to be Shirley Jackson's masterpiece, and superior to The Lottery, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House . </P> <P> "The Possibility of Evil" was once put into an attempt for a movie adaptation, as has happened for The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery, in which Miss Strangeworth uses her letters to murder those in the community that she believed were preventing it from brilliance . However, it has since been given up on, and many of the intended team for the movie have proceeded to follow other pursuits instead . </P>

Summary of the story the possibility of evil