The Miseries - Book 1: The Hanging Tree1992, Springfield, Illinois. Jack Brooks has spent years trying to bury the shadows of his past. But one haunting weekend at his old high school pulls him back into a darkness he thought he'd escaped.When a mysterious incident traps Jack in the school's cellar, old fears resurface, blurring the line between reality and nightmare. As unsettling events spiral out of control, Jack is forced to confront long-buried secrets-and question what is real, what is imagined, and what is hunting him in the dark.The Hanging Tree is the chilling first book in The Miseries trilogy, a descent into madness, memory, and the horrors we carry with us.