Short Story Review: "Who Mourns for the Hang Man?"

Author: S.A. BOLICH
Author Website: www.Sabolich.info 
Published: September 2009 by Damnation Books LLC

‘Who Mourns for the Hangman?’ is a short story about a hangman John Barton who goes by the name of Scraggy. He made a deal with a witch to make sure he wouldn’t hang an innocent. Throughout the story scraggy reminisces on how his wife Meg left him because of his job. To Scraggy, his job as a hangman is more important than anything. He refers to his crosspiece as “Jezebel."

The author portrays Scraggy as a man so consumed with his job as a hangman that it makes him see "Jezebel" glowing and shining. Scraggy soon begins to have nightmares with people he has hung and his ghastly love affair with his work soon comes to an end when he learns the identity of the next person he will be hanging.

Although the story is short, it is a little hard to keep up with at first because of so much dialogue in the beginning and the speech used. It is sort of a western dialect or medieval speech. Once you get used to it you really start enjoying the writing. The author really showcased the characters,gave them substance and brought them alive. Once you finish the story you will feel like you have stepped out of an old folklore dark tale. The ending was really surprising.

There isn’t anything bad to say about the story except it left us wanting more. We would love to read more from this author. This is more a dark fantasy, but it does have its dreadfulness, and that we enjoyed very much.

To View an excerpt or to purchase the e book click here
Also Available on Kindle

About the Author: "S.A. Bolich lives in Washington State, works a day job only enough to keep the muse fed, and spends the rest of her time writing or immersing herself in the 19th century in pursuit of the alternate history series she is currently writing. A large family, three horses,six cats, and a huge dog keep her sane. Her work so far has appeared in On Spec,Beneath Ceaseless Skies,Pangaia and Science Fiction Trails, with an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future to her credit as well."