Spooksville

Last updated

Spooksville is a series of 24 children's horror fiction books by American writer Christopher Pike. All 24 books were first published between 1995 and 1998. [1] The series is set in a remote town in the USA and revolves around the lives of five of its young inhabitants. Although intended for a younger audience than his adult and young adult fiction, they contain some violence and may be considered unsuitable for younger children. A television series based on the book was commissioned and premiered on October 26, 2013, on the Hub Network. [2]

Contents

Plot

The Spooksville novellas centre around a group of friends in their bizarre home town that is host to a wide array of supernatural and unexplained occurrences. The plots of the books often revolve around inter-dimensional travel, extraterrestrial life, interstellar travel, and time travel, as well as the fictional histories of the lost continents of Mu/Lemuria and Atlantis, magic, and a variety of other supernatural forces and entities. The group is caught between exploring the town and escaping trouble and saving the town from the forces of darkness. Although the books are chronological they differ in their relevance to previous stories, there are recurring characters out with the group, as well as recurring places and themes, and the books are not intended as stand alone; however, they may feasibly be read in a different order than below.

Characters

The main characters throughout the series are five young friends: Adam Freeman, the leader; Watch, the brains; and Sara "Sally" Wilcox, the realist, are the only characters to appear in all 24 novels. Cindy Makey appears in the second novella and remains for the rest of the series. As the series progresses the character Bryce Poole is involved more and more and eventually the five young friends become a solid group. Other characters appear frequently, two most notably: the town witch, Ann Templeton, of whom the main characters have differing opinions; and Bum, the friendly and knowledgeable homeless ex-mayor of Spooksville. Both Ann Templeton and Bum help the main characters, usually in the form of information, but sometimes taking a more active role in helping defend the town. George Sanders and Tira Jones are also friends of the main group, but only participate in a few adventures, and are not focused on. Mr. Patton, the owner of Spooksville's army surplus store, appears in a few stories, arming and assisting the group with weapons and explosives. In almost every novella, the group befriends some sort of person or creature who they either assist, or who assists them through the course of the story.

Books

  1. The Secret Path: Newcomer Adam meets Sally and Watch and gets his first taste of how weird his new home is.
  2. The Howling Ghost: The trio searches for a young boy being held hostage by a ghost.
  3. The Haunted Cave: The four kids become trapped in a cave that closes by itself and must find a way out or risk being trapped in it forever.
  4. Aliens in the Sky: The kids get kidnapped by aliens.
  5. The Cold People: Ancient cryonically frozen Atlantians attack the town.
  6. The Witch's Revenge: The kids visit Ann's castle and become trapped in it.
  7. The Dark Corner: Adam, Sally, and Watch visit The Secret Path again to rescue Bryce Poole and find themselves in a different alternate Spooksville.
  8. The Little People (Reprinted as Pan's Realm): A herd of magical creatures invade Spooksville.
  9. The Wishing Stone: The group learns the dangers of wishing when they find a mysterious stone with wish granting powers.
  10. The Wicked Cat: Misfortune follows a cat the kids find.
  11. The Deadly Past: A doorway to the past opens and unleashes dinosaurs and flying reptiles upon the town.
  12. The Hidden Beast: The kids go on a treasure hunt, but must make it past a dragon.
  13. Creature in the Teacher (published as Alien Invasion in the UK): School has begun, but they suspect that their new teacher is a monster.
  14. The Evil House: The kids become trapped in a cursed house on Halloween which turns them into their costumes.
  15. Invasion of the No Ones: Energy-based extradimensional beings crossover into Spooksville, and begin to possess people.
  16. Time Terror: The kids discover a wind-up toy that allows them to travel through time.
  17. The Thing in the Closet: It's a bad time for bed when Cindy is kidnapped by a closet monster.
  18. Attack of the Killer Crabs: Giant crabs attack the beach.
  19. Night of the Vampire: A gang of vampires invade the town and the only way to stop them is to defeat the queen.
  20. The Dangerous Quest: Someone has cast a wicked spell on Watch, and the only way to save him is to journey into another dimension.
  21. The Living Dead: The kids must fight off zombies that rise from the cemetery.
  22. The Creepy Creature: A blob monster from the woods assumes the form of whoever it devours.
  23. Phone Fear: A mysterious voice starts calling the kids over the phone, demanding they do what he says, or else.
  24. The Witch's Gift: Ann calls the kids over to her castle, announcing her plans to leave.

As published in the UK by Hodder Children's Books and in the US by Pocket Books.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Thing from Another World</i> 1951 science fiction film

The Thing from Another World, sometimes referred to as just The Thing, is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporation, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing. The Thing from Another World is based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.

Kevin Christopher McFadden, known by his pseudonym Christopher Pike, is an American author of children's fiction and for mystery-thrillers and supernatural horror fiction, mainly for young adults though he has also published adult fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science fiction film</span> Film genre

Science fiction is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, mutants, interstellar travel, time travel, or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition.

Who Goes There? is a 1938 science fiction horror novella by American author John W. Campbell, written under the pen name Don A. Stuart. Its story follows a group of people trapped in a scientific outpost in Antarctica infested by shapeshifting monsters able to absorb and perfectly imitate any living being, including humans. Who Goes There? was first published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and was also printed as The Thing from Another World, as well as included in the collection by the same title. Its extended, novel version, found in an early manuscript titled Frozen Hell, was finally published in 2019.

<i>The Wee Free Men</i> 2003 Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett

The Wee Free Men is a 2003 comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, which takes place in his Discworld setting. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of the books in the Discworld series. A sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, appeared in 2004 ; a third book called Wintersmith appeared in 2006; and the fourth, I Shall Wear Midnight, was released in September 2010. The final book in the series, The Shepherd's Crown, was released in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garth Nix</span> Australian fantasy writer (born 1963)

Garth Richard Nix is an Australian writer who specialises in children's and young adult fantasy novels, notably the Old Kingdom, Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series. He has frequently been asked if his name is a pseudonym, to which he has responded, "I guess people ask me because it sounds like the perfect name for a writer of fantasy. However, it is my real name."

<i>Again, Dangerous Visions</i> Science fiction short story anthology edited by Harlan Ellison

Again, Dangerous Visions (1972) is a science fiction short story anthology, edited by American author Harlan Ellison. It is the follow-up to Dangerous Visions (1967), also edited by Ellison. Cover art and interior illustrations are by Ed Emshwiller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James H. Schmitz</span> American science fiction writer (1911–1981)

James Henry Schmitz was a German-American science fiction writer.

<i>My Little Pony: The Movie</i> (1986 film) 1986 film

My Little Pony: The Movie is a 1986 American animated musical fantasy film based on the Hasbro toyline My Little Pony. Theatrically released on June 6, 1986, by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, the film features the voices of Danny DeVito, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Rhea Perlman and Tony Randall.

<i>Spirits</i> (TV series) Philippine television drama series

Spirits is a Philippine television drama horror fantasy supernatural mystery series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Directed by Chito S. Roño, it stars John Wayne Sace, Maja Salvador, Rayver Cruz, Jiro Manio, Serena Dalrymple, Mico Aytona, Joseph Bitangcol and Michelle Madrigal. It aired on the network's Primetime Bida line up and worldwide on TFC from December 6, 2004 to May 6, 2005, replacing It Might Be You and was replaced by Mga Anghel na Walang Langit.

<i>Little Gloomy</i>

Little Gloomy is a comic book published by Slave Labor Graphics. The first issue premiered in October 1999. The series was created by Landry Walker and Eric Jones. Little Gloomy stories also regularly appeared in Disney Adventures Magazine, until the magazine stopped production with its November 2007 issue.

<i>Bone Chillers</i> 1996 American comedy horror television series

Bone Chillers is a series of children's horror fiction novels and a TV show created and authored by Betsy Haynes. This series is similar in style and tone to the Goosebumps series. At the end of each television episode, author Betsy Haynes would appear in an educational segment encouraging young viewers to read, write and be creative.

School Bus Graveyard is a series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by Tom B. Stone. The series contained twenty-eight books which were published by Bantam Books from 1994 to 1998.

American Chillers and its predecessor series Michigan Chillers are a series of horror novels for children written by author Christopher Wright under the pen name of Johnathan Rand. The original series began in February 2000, with each book taking place in major cities and places in Wright's home state of Michigan. Its spinoff American Chillers was launched in December 2001 with a national focus, set to cover all fifty states and in the same continuity as the parent series, with its first book introducing a new character who teamed up with the protagonists of Michigan Chillers #1 and 9, while also including cameos by the main characters from five other books in the parent series. It, and every book since, concludes with the main character meeting a kid from another state, who had their own scary adventure and serves as the main character in the next book.

Shadow Zone is a series of 13 children's horror fiction books written in the 1990s by several authors using the pen name J. R. Black.

Deadtime Stories is a series of children's horror fiction novels created by authors Annette Cascone and Gina Cascone writing under the name AG Cascone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human guise</span> Concept of non-human beings disguised as human

A human disguise is a concept in fantasy, folklore, mythology, religion, literature, iconography, and science fiction whereby non-human beings — such as gods, angels, monsters, extraterrestrials, or robots — are able to shapeshift or be disguised to seem human. Stories have depicted the deception as a means used to blend in with people, and science fiction has used the dichotomy to raise questions about what it means to be human.

<i>Spooksville</i> (TV series) 2013 multi-national TV series or program

Spooksville is an action/adventure live action television series that aired on the Hub Network from October 26, 2013 to May 17, 2014. The show is based on the book series of the same name. The show is produced by Jane Startz, who also produced Tuck Everlasting and Ella Enchanted. The show is adapted for TV by James Krieg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kami Garcia</span> American writer

Kami Garcia is an American writer. She is known for writing young adult fiction and graphic novels for DC Comics.

References

  1. Christopher Pike at Fantastic Fiction
  2. "The Hub Seals the Deal for 'Care Bears' CGI Reboot, Christopher Pike's 'Spooksville'". Ad Week. February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.