"In the seemingly limitless pantheon of gone-girl literature, Picnic at Hanging Rock might take the prize for best setting. It's a proto- Virgin Suicides, dreamy and haunting, animated by a sense of slightly sickening erotic mystery." -- The New Yorker "[This] cult novel--the first in a thriving genre of 'gone girls'--continues to beguile . and will continue to haunt readers for generations to come." -- The Economist "Pure magic. Every fashion film and NYU undergraduate thesis takes its cues from this lyrical masterpiece. In college I tried to make a satirical remake entitled Lunchtime at Dangling Boulder, but all my actors slept too late." -- Lena Dunham, on the film adaptation "[From the] Victorian hothouse atmosphere and fetishism .

and its focus on the burgeoning sexual curiosity of the girls (and the women) . to Gothic terrors, supernatural wonder, divine mysticism, or the imperialist unconscious . Picnic actively encourages a host of fantasies." -- Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me, The Fever, and Dare Me, in an essay for The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray/DVD edition of the film "A sinister tale . laced with touches of other-worldliness" -- The Guardian "Deliciously horrific." -- The Observer "The fact that most people believed that this palpable fiction was a record of a real event is not merely a tribute to the writer . but a testimony to the atavistic power of its theme." -- The Spectator "Beautifully haunting.

" -- The Sun Herald (Australia).