The Hanging Stranger by Philip K. Dick.

The Hanging Stranger is the second story in a book of short stories by Philip. K. Dick called The Philip. K. Dick Reader.

Wikipedia.com

I've been reading a lot of short stories lately from various authors. It's a good idea to do that when you find yourself writing a lot of short stories. You can get ideas from these authors and watch the ebb and flow of the story in order to create a more focused universe.

I'm really used to writing flash fiction, but I've also written a couple of novel length stories. I think the hardest thing to write is a short story that is about 20 pages. You can't just include a small slice of life like you can with a flash fiction story, because it does require some setup.

However, you've got to find a balance between setup and action as well. If there's too much setup, then you will find yourself running out of room for the other parts of the story.... since you've only got about 20 pages.

Philip K. Dick is great at getting right to the action, but also including enough set up so that the reader knows what's going on.

Yesterday I reviewed Fair Game which I found to be a pretty good short story. Unfortunately the ending was a bit rushed, and it is ultimately not a perfect piece.

The Hanging Stranger is a much better story than Fair Game. I would say that it easily qualifies as a masterpiece by most definitions.

A man has been working in his basement all day. When he comes up he notices a corpse hanging by a rope outside of a building. No one else in town seems to care about the corpse, although they all notice it.

What exactly is going on?

You will find out if you read The Hanging Stranger.

I highly suggest everyone pick up a copy of the Philip K. Dick reader. You might have read some of his novels, but you should probably check out his short stories as well.

The Hanging Stranger is simply amazing.