Hangman's Curse

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Hangman's Curse is a 2001 teen story by Christian author Frank Peretti about two homeschooled teenage twins, one girl, one boy.

Contents 1 Plot introduction 2 Plot summary 3 Literary significance & criticism 4 External links

[edit] Plot introduction

Elijah and Elisha and their parents make up the Veritas Project team, which takes on cases handpicked by the president (Veritas is the Latin word for truth). In Hangman's Curse, Veritas Project takes on a high school where students who were perfectly fine are struck with sudden disease, which moves in horrible stages over time. Soon some of these students are dead, supposedly by the curse of Abel Frye, a legendary student who hung himself at the high school years ago. Strange evidence, group of student witches, and scientific debate lead the plot in unpredictable twists to a climax...

[edit] Plot summary

Straws are found in the property of the stricken students, and their dog (Max) travelling with Veritas Project recognises a strange scent all over the school. Slow chanting of students' names is recorded during an underground séance of outcasts. In the end, it was spiders (the cross-breeding of the male African Spotted Wolf spider and the female brown recluse). They were trapped in the straws, and pheromone was spread on dollar bills, which were used to get the spider to the target. The bitten student began hallucinating Abel Frye, and fell into coma-like stages at the hospital later. Then, due to unbelievably fast reproduction, the school is overrun by the deadly spiders, and Elisha is left among them underground by the student who masterminded the whole thing. A spider expert shows up, with an antidote, saving Elisha from multiple bites after she is rescued. Abel Frye turns out to be a ship that lost its entire crew when it was overrun by the same spiders.

[edit] Literary significance & criticism

While the book is praised greatly by Christians, many (non-Christian) readers decry the novel. They say that Peretti deceived them, making the novel seem like a horror book, only to be disappointed when they found out that it was not. ^{[citation needed]}

Books by Frank E. Peretti
Fiction:	This Present Darkness | Tilly | Piercing the Darkness | Prophet | The Oath | The Visitation | Monster | House
The Veritas Project (teen fiction):	Hangman's Curse | Nightmare Academy
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series (youth fiction):	The Door in the Dragon's Throat | Escape from the Island of Aquarius | The Tombs of Anak | Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea | The Deadly Curse of Toko-rey | The Secret of the Desert Stone | The Legend of Annie Murphy | Flying Blind
Non-fiction:	The Wounded Spirit | No More Victims | No More Bullies
Video Series:	The Wild and Wacky World of Mr. Henry

[edit] External links

• Unofficial Message Board The Unofficial Message Board for the book and movie.