The Lottery discussion

Happy Halloween, My Sweets!! I am most excited to begin the conversation about our readings, as now is the time for the strange and macabre. I thought a perfect place to start the discussion would be to state our general reactions to each work (negative or positive) and then to elaborate on the differences between the old horror and the new horror in terms of style and subject matter (please reference other works if you see fit). However, ghoulish ones, if any of has anything that you've just been dying to discuss, then feel free to turn the conversation that way.
I will start.
I find "The Black Cat" makes me feel nauseous, in a good way. I disliked immensely being in the mind of someone who was so determined to harm an animal and found a particular upset when the cat killings were described in detail but the murder of the wife was merely an afterthought. "The Lottery", on the other hand, made me stop and shudder when I reached the ending. I think it paints a chilling picture of groupthink. "Candle Cove" always makes me uncomfortable, because it seems very real. As someone who frequently picks apart old children's tv, I've found that the description of Candle Cove would fit in perfectly (so many old children's puppet shows were creepy and included bizarre elements like the Skin Taker without a shred of self awareness). "Jeff the Killer".... I confess, even on a second reading, I cannot see why it is popular.
I did notice that the old stories are concerned with an internal threat while the newer ones focus on external ones. The Black Cat and The Lottery are both about the harm humans do to themselves and to each other, though The Black Cat explores the horrors of the diseased mind, while The Lottery examines the perils of group psychology and the reconciliation of the monstrous with the everyday. Jeff the Killer mimics the narrative of a slasher film in many ways. The threat is a human being, but one that we are incapable of understanding or predicting, and who is inclined to cause destruction indiscriminately and randomly. I think that it seems different than the Black Cat, because the Black Cat wants to explore the horror of insanity itself while Jeff the Killer is concerned with the danger arising from an outside individual. Furthermore, The Black Cat and The Lottery seek to impart a terrifying understanding, while Jeff the Killer, I believe, seeks to emphasize that the audience does not understand (it goes from a narrative about a relatively relatable boy to a narrative about an incomprehensible murderer). Candle Cove likewise posits an outside threat, and one that the reader cannot understand. It may not even be a threat at all, but it is an anomaly, one that threatens a comfortable worldview and suggests a 'wrong-ness' somewhere. I think The Lottery and Candle Cove probably frightened me the most, but I am so eager to hear all of your thoughts!!