The Hanging

 Raphus Press have created another beautifully dark, darkly beautiful limited-edition book in Fabio Waki's The Hanging. This is a story of the unsaid, that which is only implied, but the implications loom like thunderheads rolling in unseen at night, the rumble faintly indicating an approaching maelstrom. The descriptive prose reminds one of Cormac McCarthy at his slightest - pure description with no over-riding commentary. The reader is left to pain(t) the picture, allowing for a sparse, but brooding tapestry. The dialogue is obtuse, with dark understanding passing between the characters between the words in a way best characterized by the works of Brian Evenson, particularly his darkest works. The volume of silence is immense, the words only borders or corners of a vast void, with comprehension seeping in through the liminal zones. 

The package is evocative of the prose and the situations within - a dark horse with larger-than-life teeth (or, possibly, teeth bared in terror) and eyes wide with alarum, warns readers from the very cover of the book that they had best beware. A pale equine ghost peers out from behind the front endpaper, haunting the entryway, as if trying to tell you that this is the last warning before you plunge in. 

There really is no "coming out the other side" in this instance. The story, partially because of it's paucity of prose, sticks in the brain, needling thoughts long after one has "finished" the tale. But there is no clean finish. The ragged ends of hints and veiled references flap in the wind like a ghostly vestment. Reading it is a holistic experience, or hole-istic, meaning it leaves holes within the reader. And it's what might fill those holes that agitates the most frisson.

The horses tried to warn you. 

If you're insistent, you can buy a copy at the Raphus Press website or at one of my favorite places to buy books, Ziesings.com. But don't wait too long. These are limited, and they will slip away into the darkness, leaving only questions for the uninitiated. 

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