Penguin Modern Classics: The Sundial

From the sky and from the ground and from the sea there is danger; tell them in the house . . . ‘

Mrs Halloran has inherited the great Halloran house on the death of her son, much to the disgust of her daughter-in-law, the delight of her wicked granddaughter and the confusion of the rest of the household. But when the original owner – long dead – arrives to announce the world is ending and only the house and its occupants will be saved, they find themselves in a nightmare of strange marble statues, mysterious guests and the beautiful, unsettling Halloran sundial which seems to be at the centre of it all.

Shirley Jackson blends sinister family politics and apocalyptic terror in a masterpiece of the macabre.