If you haven’t read this short story, first published on June 26, 1948 and written by Shirley Jackson , you should! It quite possibly makes June 27th the creepiest/scariest day of the year (outside on Halloween of course)

Here is just a small snippet of the beginning:

The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th …”