The Veritas Project is a government-funded project investigating supernatural occurrences. The team consists of Nate and Sarah Springfield, and their twin children, Elisha and Elijah, a Christian home-schooling family, who use a Biblical approach to accomplish their missions.
There are only two books in the series, the first being Hangman's Curse, but with this particular series they don't necessarily have to be read in order.
Hangman's Curse:
Seemingly random students at a school become suddenly sick and begin acting oddly, losing their sanity and believing they see a ghost named Abel Frye. On all of the affected students' lockers, a hangman symbol is placed by a mysterious person or being. Elisha and Elijah Springfield enroll as students to investigate.
Nightmare Academy:
Elisha and Elijah again enroll in a mysterious school, Knight-Moore Academy, when a missing boy reappears, only able to say two things: I don't know, and Nightmare Academy. When the boy dies, the Veritas team is tasked with finding out what happened to him and what Nightmare Academy is.
These books have a great humor quality. Not quite to the lengths of Ranger's Apprentice and Percy Jackson, but in situations, verbal sallies, and slapstick (gotta love slapstick) it is the literal LOL deal. That, by the way, means Laugh Out Loud, despite what many people seem to think. These have made Trinity laugh (out loud), and those who know her have a good grasp of her jadedness.
Advisory:
These could be classified in the horror genre, which I am not particularly fond of, Hangman's Curse more so than Nightmare Academy. For me they have at times been eye-wateringly scary (eye-watering, not as in tears, as in, you're clutching the book and staring at it so intensely and the scene is so hair-prickling your eyes start watering... might be a condition that I alone have). Not for the faint of heart, not for those who dislike creepy-crawly things, and not a good idea to be read at night.
These are openly Christian books, so if you're not a Christian or this subject makes you uncomfortable, these books aren't for you (well, they are for you, but you don't have to read them, if you understand that).
These are openly conservative books, so if you're a "Christian liberal", or just a liberal, these will definitely not appeal to you. They talk about things like truth, creation, and the Ten Commandments.
And one more thing, something that really disturbed my little sister: with certain copies of the Hangman's Curse, the cover may glow in the dark, so if you're in the habit of keeping books in bed and you don't want to see green glowing runes and such...
A movie was also made, inspired by Hangman's Curse, and by the same name, which I do not recommend. I say inspired by because it differed from the book quite a bit, like an Eragon or a Percy Jackson adaptation. It's definitely not a movie for children, mostly because of the horror aspects of the movie. It does keep the Christian aspects, but the main characters Elisha and Elijah are very different from their book counterparts, and some scenes that were not in the book ended up being very disturbing. And there was creepy music. Lots of creepy music.
On the whole I'd give Hangman's Curse four stars. It has a great, thick plot, those fun mystery aspects, and the Christian values that I love. But it's so darn creepy. Some people like that, and out of horror stories, this is about the only series I'll read. Yet still.
Oh-oh-oh, one last thing. I am awaiting Trinity's Aouthentica excerpt just about as much as you are, and believe me, she'll post one soon OR I WILL. I think she's been waiting for the book recommendation I mentioned in passing, so voilà! You're welcome.
Hannah
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