Skeleton Creek

The final entries of this section rapidly increase in pacing as the narrative moves toward the novel’s climax. Several elements continue to develop the three main themes of The Relationship Between Print, Digital, and New Media, The Relationship Between Young Adults and Authority, and The Impact of Greed and Corruption. Additional narrative moments develop a motif of captivity and isolation that further develops the atmosphere of suspense and paranoia specific to mystery fiction and ghost stories.

Narrative tension also begins to increase, as Ryan’s relationship with his father deteriorates dramatically in this section. A sarcastic allusion to Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” references the unreliable narrator, which suggests Ryan is increasingly impacted by his suspicion and fear. His father remains upbeat during Henry’s visit, suggesting that he is unaware of Ryan’s concerns. Sarah suggests that his confinement to his bed and room may be impacting him, reinforcing the motif of captivity and isolation.

In addition to the increasing tension as Carman develops the atmosphere and pacing, the narrative introduces several additional clues that confuse the protagonists, distracting Ryan and Sarah with red herrings. This section also includes several didactic passages that demonstrate how to interpret transmedia elements such as the sounds in the video. These parts all make for more effective reading while developing the motif of the role of sound in transmedia storytelling.

This section of the narrative includes access to five videos. As with the initial two videos, the passwords are all literary allusions to Gothic mysteries, thrillers, and epistolary novels. Two of the allusions reference additional Edgar Allen Poe stories. “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1842) and “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846) are stories that confront slow torture and extreme psychological tension that works to magnify the novel’s tension as it progresses toward the climax. These stories also deal with captive protagonists, foreshadowing the cliffhanger ending of the novel. The remaining allusions all include dual personalities and/or monstrous, supernatural creatures—sometimes in disguise, foreshadowing Henry’s role as an impersonator of the ghost of Joe Bush. For example, Dr. Jekyll is both an upstanding citizen and the monstrous murderer in Stevenson’s novel. Peter Quint is a villain who is killed and begins possessing the inhabitants of the manor where he died, alluding to the dual identity of Henry while in disguise. Lucy Westenra, a character from Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel Dracula, is praised for her purity and goodness just as Ryan praises Henry. The character is later bitten, becoming a monster that preys on children, just as Henry menaces Ryan and Sarah at the Dredge.

The allusions all foreshadow future plot developments. Neither protagonist is aware of the plot elements that the allusions indicate, suggesting that the references are not examples of coded communications from Sarah to Ryan; rather, such foreshadowing is provided by Carman to help interpret the novel more easily.

The videos in this section also continue to act as dialogue between the friends, providing moments of explication of the various clues and discoveries. They are smoothly edited to combine the footage with Sarah’s voiceover narration. The background in Sarah’s room also demonstrates her growing obsession with the investigation. Like the increasing number of clippings that Ryan adds to his journal, Sarah’s room demonstrates her obsession, with photos and notes posted on the walls. Her method of approaching the investigation is similar to the approach she takes with her videos, editing bits and pieces together to present a story, much like a mystery is pieced together from various clues as they become available.