Hanging Rock . Victoria K IS PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK REAL OR IMAGINED? The author, in the opening to the first edition, states: “Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction my readers must decide for themselves.” Clearly she’s leaving the mystery open. My take is that the schoolgirls (and Miss McCraw) were crushed under a slab of rock which fell during a mini landslide, or they fell down a deep crevice or chimney. Either way, Hanging Rock is an eerie place and an extraordinary geological formation. You probably knew: Annual events such as picnic and film nights are held under the stars at Hanging Rock every Valentines Day. But did you know: The type of rock, solvsbergite, is extremely unusual and, outside of the Macedon region, is only found in Norway and Sweden. And did you also know: During filming of Picnic at Hanging Rock, watches and clocks of the cast and crew behaved badly. Some stopped, others ran fast, some slow. In the Joan Lindsay’s novel, the watches of the schoolgirls stopped at noon (cue Twilight Zone music).