The supernatural cannot be explained by logic or reasoning, nor can it be studied by science, since the intangible force that controls the supernatural does not can be measured or controlled by the intellect. Shirley Jackson expressed "interest in superstition and the supernatural" as a child; her interest in the occult led Jackson to become a practicing witch, Lenemaja Friedman, professor of English literature, confirms this in her book Shirley Jackson (Friedman 19). Jackson's critics felt that his stories were the work of a twisted mind, for this reason "Jackson downplayed the only real parallel to his fiction – his personal study and practice of witchcraft" in order to debunk the assessment critiques of his mind as highlighted by Charles Avinger in his essay Shirley Jackson Identities & Issues in Literature (Avinger). Shirley Jackson's interest in superstitions and her delve into the supernatural influenced the writing of "Home", We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House. The villagers of "Home" have a superstitious belief that Sanderson Road is haunted when it rains. Ethel Sloan and her husband Jim Sloan recently purchased the former Sanderson house; When Ethel tells the store clerk and grocer that she took the Sanderson Road to the village in the rain, they try to warn her of a mysterious road hazard. The villagers' superstitions do not allow them to tell Ethel exactly why the Sanderson Road should not be traveled in the rain; the clerk and the grocer only deduce that they avoid traveling on the Sanderson road in the event of a storm, which makes Ethel believe that the road is not used because of its difficult condition. The villagers believe in ghosts... middle of paper... even to the point of demanding that a family friend leave their home for criticizing her husband's work, believing he was "casting a spell » on the chances of selling it. at the New Yorker (Friedman 33). According to Stanley Edgar Hyman in Hall's book Shirley Jackson, Jackson was "the only contemporary writer who [was] a practicing amateur witch", his interest in the black arts giving him superstitious tendencies and a window into the supernatural (Hall 104 ). Jackson tried to downplay his involvement in occult practice so as not to discredit his sensibilities as a writer among his critics. Superstitions and the supernatural influenced the context of "Home, We Have Always Lived in the Castle" and The Haunting of Hill House. Jackson's ability to associate the spirit realm with nature allowed him to create characters whose realities are detached from the world in which they live..