The Hanging Stones

Silver John #4

by Manly Wade Wellman

This Silver John adventure takes the honey-voiced folksinger to the site of a rising replica of Stonehenge, which selfish and ruthless millionaire Noel Kottler is building in Appalachia as a money-making tourist attraction. A pack of werewolves who live nearby spell trouble for his plan, though --- and even they may not turn out to be his worst problem...

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Weird Fiction, Occult Detective, Adult, Classics

172 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1982

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hanging Stones' the penultimate Silver John novel, is my favorite so far of Wellman's longer fictions, although I still think it lacks the mythic folktale tale intensity of the short stories in which John originally appeared. One of the reasons I like it so much is that it adds a satirical dimension not seen in the earlier entries. Here Wellman makes fun of demi-charlatans who promote themsevles as New Age gurus, and their eagerness to sell what little expertise they have to the highest bidder. He reserves his greatest contempt, however, for the wheeler-dealers, the big money operators who are willing to trivialize every cultural tradition and despoil any wilderness in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar. (The villain looks just a little like MacDonald's tycoon Ray Kroc.)

The story concerns the building of a replica of Stonehenge on an Appalachian mountain as the focus of a New Age theme park. The construction enrages the local werewolf community which has traditionally used the site for its own purposes. To complicate matters, there is also a local wizard in communication with ancient entities who are also angry, and more powerful than any mere man-dog (or dog-man?) could ever be.

Speaking of werewolves, Wellman's way of presenting them is unique. We first see a handful of them in daylight, up close, and they are shabby and threadbare. Then night comes, and their threat grows in power. It is not easy to present a terror first as pathetic, and then, through the energy of night and an evocative prose, rehabilitate and intensify the terror we have lately come to despise. Wellman, however, pulls it off.

[Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wellman originally created the character of Silver John in short fiction, beginning in the early 1950s; all of the Silver John stories are collected in John the Balladeer (see my review), and that might be the best place to make his acquaintance, except that it's out-of-print and not easy to purchase. But beginning with The Old Gods Waken (1979), he featured John in several novels (this is actually the fourth). The book description above gives a good basic idea (it should --I wrote it :-)) of the premise here.

All the characteristics of Wellman's style in general, and in his Silver John corpus in particular, are in evidence here: his easily read, smooth flowing prose, his wide-ranging imagination (fueled by wide reading, as evidenced by the books on the occult that characters quote from), his solid moral orientation, his skillful storytelling, and his adept use of authentic Appalachian dialect. In this adventure John gets help, in coping with supernatural menace, from a trio of allies, whose presence adds to the book's appeal --beginning with his wife Evadare, who doesn't often appear in person in the Silver John fiction. We're also treated to a visit from another Wellman supernatural-investigator hero, Judge Pursivant, who figured in a number of the pulp-era stories collected in the author's Lonely Vigils; here, he's aged, but by no means decrepit. And then there's Esdras Hogue, the seventh son of a seventh son, who's knowledgeable about the real Stonehenge, and who has a secret up his sleeve (BOY, does he have a secret up his sleeve! :-)). Together, they take the reader on a quick, enjoyable adventure that's well worth the ride.

[Иван Величков · Rating 3 out of 5]

Хареса ми, но е най-слабата книга за Сребърния Джон от четените до тук. За късмет отново имаме онзи напевен сленг от Апалачите, който кара разказа да се лее като народна песен, а вътре има и доста песни. Джон е както винаги смел до безотговорност и доста знаещ. Пояявява се и изгората му, за която до тук само се е споменавало, но сладураната е толкова класическа "девица в беда," че въпреки отчитането на времето, когато е писан романа и изданието за което е писан, малко се разочаровах.

Скитайки из Апалачите, нашият менестрел-номад попада на голям градеж. Ексцентричен и арогантен милионер е тръгнал да прави копие на Соунхендж с цел кеш от туристи. На близо живеят племе върколаци - доста алтернативно описани, което е много против. Ще се окаже, че не само те имат претенции към мястото и градежа, но преди това ще се натресат на Джон, бидейки достатъчно тъпи да отвлекат жена му.

Дори за малкия обем на книжката, действието се влачеше в 3/4 от страниците. Уелман има навика да ни залива с подробности за всеки един участник в историите си, без да успява да ги направи симпатични на читателя, малко е като полицейска сводка. Все пак има какво да се вземе от книгата.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I've always loved about Silver John stories was how they mixed such genres as folklore, fantasy, myth, horror, and magic together. John is a pleasing fore-runner of contemporary characters like Kolchak, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden and Brian Keene's Levi Stolzfus, and the descendent of Carnacki the Ghost Finder. If you can find this for an affordable price on the secondary market somewhere, and this sounds like your jam, snatch it up.

[Byron Oneal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manly Wade Wellman wrote at a different time and in a different way. To read his work now is to take a step back in time and immerse yourself in the rich folklore of the Appalachias. His work is not, to me, scary although this book is likely labeled in the horror/fantasy genre. It’s much more like a story read to a child to indoctrinate them into the richness of the culture of Southern life.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid thriller about a plutocrat recreating Stonehenge on Tea Tray Mountain.

Prehistoric ghosts war against lyncanthropes over this landscape.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best Silver John story, but they are all good reading

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Silver John story, Works as a stand-alone.

He's the narrator. His wife went off to show quilts at the state fair, so he went off to look at a replica of Stonehenge being built.

This involves twigs being hung as a warning to leave, conjuring that did not leave folks happy, protection against silver weapons, two men (with no connection) who are wise about these matters, a helicopter and its pilot, an overconfident millionaire, and more.

I note that he's an Appendix N writer. When I read The Old Gods Waken, the influence seemed vague. This one shows more elements that D&D used.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good addition to the Silver John storyline. The last 30 pages or so lose energy as the story transforms into a Hollywoodesque showdown. While the opening of the novel is devoid of action, its slow and methodical exploration of character is more enthralling than the hacking and slashing of the ending.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of the Silver John novels.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entry into Wellman's Appalachian folktales series.

[Michael P Glasgow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great and oh so weird tale set in our beloved Madison County NC mountains.