Skeleton Creek is the first book in Patrick Carman’s New York Times best-selling young adult Skeleton Creek series, published in 2009. The video book, or vook, is a first-person narrative written as the journal of 15-year-old Ryan McCray, who is housebound after suffering an accident. Skeleton Creek is a mystery and ghost story, and the vook includes eight investigative video diaries from Ryan’s best friend, Sarah Fincher. These are available at sarahfincher.com, with access passwords provided at the appropriate points in the narrative.

This study guide refers to the 2009 Scholastic edition of the novel, which is available on openlibrary.org.

Spoiler alert: This guide contains spoilers for the mysteries in the novel and the series.

Plot Summary

Skeleton Creek chronicles Ryan and Sarah’s covert investigation into the history of the small mountain town of Skeleton Creek, Oregon. Under the watchful eyes of parents and other adults who want to keep the town’s secrets, Ryan and Sarah communicate through a series of emails and videos. Ryan records their progress in his journal, along with his thoughts and feelings about the mysterious events that led to a near-fatal accident at the Dredge, the decaying mining machine in the woods of Skeleton Creek.

The journal records events between September 13 through September 19 that take place two weeks after the accident that leaves Ryan bedridden and enduring a forced separation from Sarah. Structured as individually dated entries, each day records multiple entries that include the time of day when Ryan is free to write without adult scrutiny. The entries include in-depth descriptions of Ryan’s emotional responses and careful reflections about the discoveries that Ryan and Sarah make as they investigate Skeleton Creek and the ghost of Old Joe Bush.

Though not separated into chapters or parts, Ryan’s journal can be read in three main parts accompanied by the video diaries at sarahfincher.com. Part 1 (pages 1-60) establishes the tone of the narrative and characterizes Ryan and Sarah. This section also introduces the other characters that will serve as suspects and red herrings during the investigation and provides a basic description of the setting of Skeleton Creek.

This section records events just after the accident, before Ryan resumes communicating covertly with Sarah. It also includes a flashback that describes why and how Ryan and Sarah begin investigating Skeleton Creek. They discover a series of clues in the library and online that they use to slowly piece together information about the Crossbones (a secret society in Skeleton Creek), the New York Gold and Silver Company (intimately tied to the history and development of Skeleton Creek), and the death of Joe Bush at the Dredge. The written elements of this part of the journal conclude once the flashback ends and Ryan refers to one of Sarah’s videos. From the video he is finally able to piece together his memory of the night of the accident, an event that he could only partially recollect. He writes a vivid description of the accident and a series of revelations about his close encounter with Joe Bush that force him to reach out to Sarah despite his anger with and reservations about Sarah following the accident.

This section also includes access to two of Sarah’s video diaries, which take the reader to the Dredge and show the initial encounters with the ghost of Old Joe Bush. The videos work to convince readers that the encounter Ryan describes is real.

Part 2 (pages 61-176) continues the slow build of secrets and conspiracy that suggest the crime and corruption in Skeleton Creek as Ryan and Sarah communicate in secret to unravel the mystery behind Joe Bush’s death and the other irregularities of the town. The teens become increasingly paranoid and isolated just as the danger begins to increase. Authority figures work to discourage their investigation. Ryan and Sarah’s parents continue to monitor and enforce the separation of the friends, forcing the teens to sneak around and carefully communicate through digital technology (emails and videos). Ryan’s father, Paul McCray, is linked to the secret society the Crossbones. Ryan begins to fear his father, and the teens become certain they cannot trust anyone with their discoveries. Meanwhile, Ryan discovers that the ghost of Joe Bush is communicating through the taps that precede and surround his appearances at the Dredge, referencing the existence of a mysterious Alchemist.

This section includes three videos that further develop the conspiracy of the Crossbones. Sarah voices Ryan’s suspicion that Joe Bush was murdered and haunts the Dredge waiting for revenge and suggests that she will likely be safe from the ghost. She resolves to go back to the Dredge to find more clues based on her suspicion that the Dredge hides a secret. Ryan, who is more keenly aware of the danger the ghost represents because of his accident, resolves that he must go with her and makes plans to sneak out.

Part 3 (pages 177-185) is the conclusion of the novel, which ends with a cliffhanger in both the print and video sections of the book. The final written entry directs the reader to the final video, where the pair is seen trapped and asking whoever may find the video to come save them. The conclusion encourages readers to quickly move to the next book in the series, Skeleton Creek: The Ghost in the Machine, and discover what happens to the protagonists.