Summary

=Summary:= Skeleton Creek is a novel by Patrick Carman which combines the traditional art of storytelling with modern technology. In order for the reader to fully understand the story they must interact with online content at various points. At its core the novel is a mystery, as the narrator (Ryan) describes, in diary form, all the details of events as they happen. However, several times in the story, Ryan will receive emails from his friend Sarah, telling him to go to her website and enter a password. At this point, the story becomes one of the horror genre, as she uploads videos which shed some light on the characters’ paranormal experiences. The story is very interesting in that it is written by the narrator in diary form as the events happen. After an accident which happened when Ryan and Sarah were exploring an old dredge, Ryan is unable to leave his room while he recuperates, so he is largely dependent on Sarah to unravel the mystery. Her side of the story is told through the videos on her website. The videos on the website are of very good production quality, and can at times rival those of full scale horror movie productions in terms of the shock factor. The final video in particular is very rich in terms of atmosphere, but I won’t spoil it for you. The website’s design is very good in that it builds an air of mystery around the events in the story. There is quite a bit of hidden material such as old films and adverts, photos related to the story and other eastereggs on the website. If the reader so wishes, more content can be found on the internet related to the novel, such as a website which claims that the novel is secretly based on real events. The novel is written for young readers, but in my opinion it could be enjoyed by older readers also. Some of the videos can really be quite shocking, and are in my opinion not appropriate for younger children. In Skeleton Creek, Patrick Carman has created something which breaks the confines of its given medium. It is in fact a multimedia experience, and neither the novel itself nor the online material can be as great as the sum of their parts. A treat for young an old alike, it is a truly unique concept brought to life in an intriguing, entertaining and at times scary fashion.