The Hanging Stranger

A paranoid demonic horror fantasy (1953), presented as science fiction, from perhaps the most paranoid of writers in a paranoid era that brought us works such as Jack Finney's The Body Snatchers (1954) and Ray Bradbury's 'The Crowd' (publ. 1955 but written as early as 1943).

These works are usually associated with a Cold War fear of takeover by Communist alien forces but the stories may owe just as much to the cold anonymity of the American city and feelings of anomie amongst internal migrants moving into new territory without the infrastructure of religion.

Certainly the underlying 'political messaging' is as likely to be a liberal fear of populism and fascism as a conservative fear of communism or socialism. But the question at the show more heart of these stories is really epistemological - what the hell is going on really in the minds of others?

This is the deep distrust that drives America from below, why it is obsessed with justice and rules and why settled rural communities think so differently from urban ones with their self-creating transient tribes of unspoken internal pecking orders, competition, fakery and conformities.

This is not one of Dick's better stories though it hangs together (excuse the pun) well enough. The reasonable excuse is that he had only really started writing two years before and was still only 24 so give it a chance. Certainly it shows that he could write well from the very beginning. show less

A man sees a dead stranger hanging in plain sight but his neighbors don't seem to notice or care. How did this come to be?

This might be the first thing I've read by Philip K. Dick and perhaps a random short story wasn't the best place to start, especially as short stories aren't typically my favorite.

Despite liking sci-fi in general, this story might have appealed to me more if it weren't in that genre. At first it seemed like a study in human behavior ala the real-life Kitty Genovese tragedy (i.e., people assuming someone else is dealing with it and then nothing gets done). Then it seemed like a psychological look into one man's mind as he slowly unravels from reality. For it to then end with it actually being a story of aliens seemed show more anticlimactic honestly.

That all being said, it's a short story that can be read in about 30 minutes so it's still worth it if you're really invested in the genre or reading works by this particular author. show less

The Hanging Stranger is a grim short story more speculative fiction with horror elements, than science fiction. It has a decent premise and a good twist. If you enjoy some horror with your fiction I can recommend this.

The synopsis below contains *SPOILERS*.

It is a grim story about an alien force secretly invading earth. This is accomplished by replacing the population of a small town with doppelgängers. When somebody notices this absurd invasion tactic, they are promptly taken into custody and strung up for all to see (hence the title). The body serves as bait to catch the next person not yet replaced by an evil simulacra.

Read on Serial Reader--a 2-issue short story. It all starts with a hanging man only one other man seems to notice. A stranger, dirty, a little beat up. Where did he come from, and why does no one seem perturbed?

Creepy and clever.