All dead as doornails in a nasty old cave full of bats on the Hanging Rock.” Lindsay’s 1967 novel about three missing schoolgirls and their governess is an Australian classic. Hanging Rock, which might have been a familiar territory for the native communities, is a place of danger and excitement for the Appleyard girls. The Picnic on the Hanging Rock ends on a more chilling note than it begins with. Picnic at the Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay, Penguin Classics.