Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

by Patrick Carman

         If you want to convince a friend that reading is fun, Skeleton Creek is an excellent book to use. Patrick Carman is nothing short of genius, you have never seen anything like this. It is the most interactive book you will ever come across. It is a multi-media book; you read a chapter or two, then log on to the given website, type in the password and watch the video. The book is about a boy named Ryan McCray, his friend Sarah Fincher and a place that may or may not be haunted. The words suck you into their inky vortex as you read Ryan’s journal, then you are given the password. You will be in a scramble to get to the nearest computer to find out what is next (and in my case, take a spectacularly impossible fall over the footstool). The video filled me with absolute and complete fascination.

This time, Sarah’s curiosity had gone too far, she went alone to the abandoned gold dredge just outside of town. Which would have been acceptable, except she never got to the door. She was scared off by someone (or something) unexpected. It involves a broken leg, a bunch of the videos, a haunted dredge, and a possible homicide. They discovered that their sleepy town had secrets; secrets that had been buried by a generation (or more!) of lies. Not to mention, this someone (or something) is not above killing, and it has made its intentions clear. They either stop investigating, or never see the light of day again.

         I will repeat it, Patrick Carman is a genius. It was excruciatingly difficult for me to put Skeleton Creek in 4th place instead of 3rd on my top five lists, but I just couldn’t put it in 3rd. The reason for that is, you need to have a computer and internet access readily available. This book is impossibly fantastic. It has everything! In fact, I can’t think of a single thing missing. Every friend of mine has read it and loved it. The only possible negative thing, would be that the videos are realistic and kind of scary (but then again, I jump when the toast pops out of the toaster), but I have had friends as young as eleven read it with no problem. It all depends on your mental state and your ability to handle it. Well, can you handle it?

*edit: This entire series is fantastic. You just can’t go wrong! I recommend it to everyone looking for a good bump in the night read!*