Shirley Crain

* Young
* Present

## CHARACTERISTICS

**Shirley Harris** (born **Crain**) is a major character from the series.

## Personality

Despite her quite haughty personality, Shirley cares about her siblings greatly, going to such extents as to pay for Luke’s rehab. She also allows Theo to live in one of her home's outbuildings and does Nell's makeup for her wedding in 2016. She was also extremely against the idea of Steven taking advantage of the family's past trauma for a profit.

Shirley has a tendency to want everything under her control, to the extent that she wanted to host Nell's funeral herself and do the cosmetics on her corpse, even though everybody told her it was a bad idea. Her affair was an example of her briefly letting go of her rigid control over her life, and it haunted her with guilt years later. Shirley is mostly a restrained character but has emotional outbursts, such as when she screams at Steven and Theo in their arguments, showing that she is not as put together as she would like to be.

As a young girl, she is shown to value her mother's company greatly - and to be very heartbroken after Olivia's death. This is also where she finds her ambition to be an undertaker.

## Quotes

* "This door's been locked for years and years and years and years, so... if there's a pony in there, it's dead." - Steven Sees a Ghost
* "Nellie's in the Red Room." - Steven Sees a Ghost
* "I told you. I told you she was in trouble. I told you to find her. I told you!" - Open Casket
* "This kitten grew up in a tool shed and my room. I'm not sure what her name was because her brothers and sisters all looked the same, but I... I think she was the one I called Jasper. She was a good kitten, and... and she never hurt a single thing in her whole life, and not many people can say that." - Open Casket
* "We're not taking your money. None of us. It's blood money, Steve. You're welcome to every red cent." - Touch
* "Tell them what? That she killed herself? Aunt Nellie killed herself?" - Touch
* "What the hell is happening?" - The Bent-Neck Lady
* "I always should have believed you. About everything." - The Bent-Neck Lady
* "You know, some religions won't let you be buried in their cemeteries if you kill yourself? It's monstrous. Like you committed a crime. When really it was just that you're in so much pain. So much pain. And Nellie knew that. She knew the price the rest of us pay when someone does that, and she did it anyway. God." - Two Storms
* "Want to talk about propagating delusions? ... You took all that paranoia and craziness and you mass-marketed it to jump-start your writing career. So don't stand in plain view of Nellie's casket and lecture any of us about responsibility or truth while you were happy enough to exploit all of us for some blood money!" - Two Storms
* "'I cannot say, and I will not say / That she is dead. She's just away. / With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand / she has wandered into an unknown land, / And left us dreaming how very fair / It needs must be, since she lingers there. / And you, o you, who the wildest yearn / For the old-time step and the glad return, / Think of her faring on, as dear / In the love of There as the love of Here; / Think of her still as the same, I say: / she is not dead, she is just away.'" - Eulogy
* "Fucking hell! He can't even last one day?" - Eulogy
* "I ice people out? Have you met yourself?" - Witness Marks
* "I'm not perfect, you know. I'm really not. So go ahead, tell me. Try again." - Witness Marks
* "You're not taking my stuff for your imaginary friend." - Screaming Meemies
* "I'm looking for food. Dad really phoned in dinner. But... what are you doing here? I-I thought you were at Aunt Janet's." - Screaming Meemies
* "I'm a good wife. I'm a good... mother. I'm a good person." - Silence Lay Steadily
* "I have something that I have to tell you. And I'm going to. But I need you to remember, while I do, that I love you, my sweet... friend. My best friend. I'm asking you to love me hard for the next few minutes, and it might be the hardest that you've ever had to love me, but I know it'll be okay, because it's us. So... I'm gonna jump. And I'm asking you to hold my hand while I'm falling." - Silence Lay Steadily

## Trivia

She is most likely named after Shirley Jackson, who wrote the book on which the series is based.