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The Hanging Game (2013)

by Helen Marshall(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1466839252 (ISBN13: 9781466839250)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Tor Books

review 1: The Hanging Game is so deliciously dark and terrible. (Not terrible as in it's a bad story - terrible as in the story's subject matter is unpleasant.)The game itself is bad enough, but there's also a magical realism element to the story, which doesn't give the reader a definite answer. Does the game foretell the future? Is there really a bear god that exacts payment for each of his people? Maybe, maybe not. But there's an awful lot of coincidence going on in bear country.The story captures the innocent stupidity of children, the lack of foresight they don't seem to possess. The children see absolutely nothing wrong with playing a game where they nearly hang themselves. Although when the game finally *does* go wrong, the children act as though they had been expecting it - t... morehey had been waiting for the bear god to claim his price.In the end, that's all they can do, whether the god is real or imagined.
review 2: Such a great little read.Coming from someone who is not a fan of short stories, this is a huge compliment. Typically short stories don't stratify my urge for complex plots and intense character development, and mind you, this is no exception.I loved the dark magic, though not quite supernatural, twist to this story. I thought the writing was so beautiful, that I definitely would read a full length novel version.The narrator doesn't seem extraordinary; all her childhood predictions about her future eventually come true, and she seems so be a bystander in all the major events. However, this arrangement works because this is a short story and not a 300 page novel.Overall entertaining. less

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