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The Hanging Stranger Eleven Stories by Philip K. Dick
The Hanging Stranger is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, originally published in December 1953 in the magazine Science Fiction Adventures. It has been reprinted in several anthologies, and published in French, Italian and German. The protagonist Ed Loyce, is a store owner who is disturbed when he sees a stranger hanging from a lamppost, but finds that other people consider the apparent lynching unremarkable. (Wikipedia) This edition includes The Eyes Have It, Beyond Lies the Wub, Beyond the Door, The Gun, The Crystal Crypt, The Skull, The Defenders, Piper in the Woods, Tony and the Beetles and Project Hush.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2020
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About the author
Philip K. Dick
2,018 books22.6k followersPhilip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 17, 2020
I've been on a PKD spree recently: his range and prescience is impressive - reading these stories in the 21st century, much feels fresh and thought provoking while also seeming relevant and part of the genesis for stories/archetypes I've heard that have been created between his work and the present. This particular anthology doesn't hit as much on recurring themes found in his other works in terms of religious cults and hallucinogenic existentialism, instead mostly being some form of space/alien stories, often with a twist. I found the twists and turns usually relatively predictable and signposted fairly strongly: it's hard to tell whether that's because they are transparent or whether they have served as archetypes for other stories in the meantime and I'm only now reading some of the prototypes picked up by later authors.
Evaluating an anthology is hard to do. Some stories (the Wub, Beyond the Door, the Crystal Crypt) I found readable but largely forgettable. Two stories were humorous (I audibly chuckled at the last line of the anthology). But at least 3 or 4 had themes/plotlines that will stick with me for a long time.
Spoilers abound for the rest of the review:
The titular hanging stranger was most familiar from the PKD of Ubik/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep/Palmer Eldritch. Something *wrong* has happened, but it's hard to tell whether our narrator /protagonist really understands what is happening or is himself deranged, as he struggles for comprehension and lashes out violently in his quest to make his world right. The plot has a very well-made circular structure which is always a nice way to wrap up a short story. Reminds me heavily of the Tales of the Black Freighter (the comic inside a comic) from The Watchmen.
The Eyes Have It and Project Hush are nice humorous diversions. The former based on wordplay, the latter on bureaucracy. Short, simple, fun.
The Skull is perfectly wrapped time-travel story (with a traditional PKD religious cult setting an engaging setting). I could see the ending a mile away, but still enjoyable to see it play out.
Piper in the Woods is the most hopeful of the bunch - it's a light critique of technology/capitalism/business/"the rat race"; giving the impression that we could learn to be more peaceful. I liked the idea put forth of people 'turned into plants' as a state of mind.
The Gun and the Defenders are extremely well-made ruminations on the tendency for violence in humans (and Americans in the Cold War especially). Both paint rather dull portraits in exposing our desire to destroy ourselves, but I think that's pretty accurate. With the amount of nuclear weapons still pointed at various counties across the globe, we still sit at the same precipice, even if there's less pressure to jump.
The parable in Tony and the Beetles is a poignant reversal of humans as conquerors and what an imperial society looks like when wars of conquest start to go south and the oppressed succeed in fighting back. I don't think I've read a work of fiction that captures the feeling of being a colonizer or being colonized so succinctly. As someone who grew up as a Muslim in the US when the War on Terror started I can relate extremely strongly to the xenophobia and anger on display: of both a war-making people and peoples receiving that violence. In 2020, as we see America strongly in decline, the turn in Terran fortunes maps extremely neatly on our contemporary national fortunes. For me, this is a standout story; the plot is thin, but the feelings are exact.
Evaluating an anthology is hard to do. Some stories (the Wub, Beyond the Door, the Crystal Crypt) I found readable but largely forgettable. Two stories were humorous (I audibly chuckled at the last line of the anthology). But at least 3 or 4 had themes/plotlines that will stick with me for a long time.
Spoilers abound for the rest of the review:
The titular hanging stranger was most familiar from the PKD of Ubik/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep/Palmer Eldritch. Something *wrong* has happened, but it's hard to tell whether our narrator /protagonist really understands what is happening or is himself deranged, as he struggles for comprehension and lashes out violently in his quest to make his world right. The plot has a very well-made circular structure which is always a nice way to wrap up a short story. Reminds me heavily of the Tales of the Black Freighter (the comic inside a comic) from The Watchmen.
The Eyes Have It and Project Hush are nice humorous diversions. The former based on wordplay, the latter on bureaucracy. Short, simple, fun.
The Skull is perfectly wrapped time-travel story (with a traditional PKD religious cult setting an engaging setting). I could see the ending a mile away, but still enjoyable to see it play out.
Piper in the Woods is the most hopeful of the bunch - it's a light critique of technology/capitalism/business/"the rat race"; giving the impression that we could learn to be more peaceful. I liked the idea put forth of people 'turned into plants' as a state of mind.
The Gun and the Defenders are extremely well-made ruminations on the tendency for violence in humans (and Americans in the Cold War especially). Both paint rather dull portraits in exposing our desire to destroy ourselves, but I think that's pretty accurate. With the amount of nuclear weapons still pointed at various counties across the globe, we still sit at the same precipice, even if there's less pressure to jump.
The parable in Tony and the Beetles is a poignant reversal of humans as conquerors and what an imperial society looks like when wars of conquest start to go south and the oppressed succeed in fighting back. I don't think I've read a work of fiction that captures the feeling of being a colonizer or being colonized so succinctly. As someone who grew up as a Muslim in the US when the War on Terror started I can relate extremely strongly to the xenophobia and anger on display: of both a war-making people and peoples receiving that violence. In 2020, as we see America strongly in decline, the turn in Terran fortunes maps extremely neatly on our contemporary national fortunes. For me, this is a standout story; the plot is thin, but the feelings are exact.
August 10, 2022
“"Then it's official? The body—it's supposed to be hanging there?"
"It's supposed to be hanging there. For everybody to see."”
"It's supposed to be hanging there. For everybody to see."”
May 21, 2024
I read this as part of a reading group activity and read a set of selected stories. These are some of his first published works and it shows. But it also shows the promise of the future
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August 4, 2024Read this mostly to remind myself of the title story by Philip K. Dick.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews