Picnic at Hanging Rock
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a book by Joan Lindsay from Penguin
Books, published in 1967 and reprinted various times thereafter. The
book concerns the story of a girl's school outing in the Australian
outback and the mysterious disappearances that occur during that outing.
Various paranormal elements are present in the book, especially the
manner in which time seems to stand still at one point. The book was
later made into an excellent movie and a not-so-excellent Amazon series.
The book and the movie are apparently entirely fictional. Some people have written me taking extreme displeasure with that statement. An Australian journalist wrote me and told me he had done quite a bit of research through the newspaper files and there was nothing to show that the events really had happened. Although there is one source cited below that says the story is true, that source itself presents no facts to back it up.
What kind of facts am I talking about? Copies of newspaper articles or magazine articles from the time covering the events as factual; copies of police reports concerning any disappearance; copies of any reports turned in relating to any search teams that had allegedly been used to try and find the girls. Also, if the event had really happened, then there would have been others throughout the years that would have gone to Hanging Rock on their own to search for the girls, perhaps for a magazine article about the "anniversary" of their disappearance, but no such article or information has even been forthcoming.
Now, if someone can present me with copies of the above types of proof then I will be happy to add them to this site and give the person full credit. In a way it is a tribute to the outstanding quality of the film that some people still believe quite fervently that the events actually happened despite the lack of any actual proof of anything unusual actually happening on that date.
Various editions of the book
This is an early version of the story, copyright 1967. I have two copies of the book and both have the same problem. The interior came lose from the cover.
Published 1968. Published in England. Has a list of characters at the beginning.
1961. Time Without Clocks about Joan Lindsay. Published in Australia.
2013. England. Has a list of characters.
Availability of the Movie, Revised
For a very long time the movie was, for all practical purposes, impossible to find to buy or even rent. That has now changed with the re-release of the movie in theaters, its running on television and the release in a director's cut dvd version.
The Various Films
The television series
There has also been six-part television series based on the book. It has a lot of differences from the movie and I'll have some material on that but, in my opinion, it is not as good as the original movie or the book as there are significant differences from the original material.
Secret of Hanging Rock
Thanks, John, for the above two pictures!!
Hanging Rock is, indeed, a real place.
The view of the rock itself, and the view from the rock are both quite beautiful.
Links
A review of the movie by Tony Whitaker is here
Sandra from Germany has her new picnic site here.
This is a site that has an article on Picnic at Hanging Rock. The site was recommended to me by John. Thanks, John!
Photos of the actual Hanging Rock
Note: the information on this page is the most correct I have been able to come up with. In some of the materials below the information stated might differ from this page but this is the page that should be considered as the most accurate.
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