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 Film 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 filled with sugar 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 female African Spotted Wolf spider and the male 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 the name of a ship that lost its entire crew when it was overrun by the same spiders.

The book explores the emotions of highschool students who all want to fit in. The jocks find exceptance among their peers by picking on and beating up the outcasts. The outcasts retaliate by "setting Able Frye" on their tormenters and thus gain a fear and respect from the other students.

[edit] Film

A film based on the book was released in 2003. It stars David Keith as Nate, Mel Harris as Sarah, Leighton Meester as Elisha, and Douglas Smith as Elijah.

There are several differences between the movie in the book. Most notably are:

• Abel Frye was a real student (in the book Abel Frye was the name of a ship) who hung himself in the attic (rather than the stairwell) of the school 10 years ago instead of 70 years ago.
• Blacke Hornsby is given a much bigger role and becomes a love interest to Elisha
• It is discovered that Abel Frye is Norman's uncle.
• Crystal Sparks does not die from her spider bite.

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
Films:	Hangman's Curse | The Visitation

[edit] External links

• Unofficial Message Board The Unofficial forum for the book, movie, and author. Includes many other topics.
• Hangman's Curse on IMDb