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skeleton creek passwords
Every password used in a Skeleton Creek book leads to something surprising. Dig deeper online and you’ll find all sorts of connections to haunted places, ghostly stories, and so much more. Happy investigating!
BOOK 1 PASSWORDS
SKELETON CREEK #1
HOUSEOFUSHER The first password in the entire series is a reference to a short story by Edgar Allan Poe called The Fall of the House of Usher. Definitely check this story out! There’s a sinking house, a ghostly encounter, and even a dragon. Nice job Mr. Poe. See if you can make any connections between the house in the story and the dredge in Skeleton Creek.
THERAVEN One of the most popular videos on the Skeleton Creek series, The Raven refers to Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poem. In Skeleton Creek, Ryan obsesses over a raven at his window.
PITANDPENDULUM Refers to yet another famous Edgar Allan Poe story, this one about a prisoner trapped in a darkened cell. If you read the story, you’ll find some parallels with Skeleton Creek, the dredge, and escape from death’s door.
AMONTILLADO A reference to the Cask of Amontillado, an Edgar Allan Poe story about a man who is sealed into a darkened room with brick and mortar. Chilling! There are times when the dredge in Skeleton Creek can feel like a prison, with walls closing in.
DRJEKYLLANDMRHYDE A very famous story by Robert Louis Stevenson about a man with a split personality - one good, one very bad. There’s a character in Skeleton Creek who is not as they appear and has a similar association. Can you guess who that might be?!
PETERQUINT Peter Quint is a strange character in a book called The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The important connection to Skeleton Creek is the idea of an unreliable narrator. Is the person telling you this story speaking the truth?
LUCYWESTENRA This is a fantastic password - Lucy was Dracula’s first victim in the original book! What?!
MILTONARBOGAST The detective in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. In the world of Skeleton Creek, Ryan and Sarah are like Milton, searching for clues in a strange setting.
TANGINABARRONS Tangina Barrons is a clairvoyant and a psychic who sees ghosts. She appears in the Poltergeist films.
BOOK 2 PASSWORDS
SKELETON CREEK #2: GHOST IN THE MACHINE
LEONARDSHELBY is the main character in a movie called Memento. In the film, Leonard has no memory, and must use a series of tattoos on his body to figure out what happened to him.
JACKTORRANCE is the main character in the Stephen King story The Shining. Like Ryan McCray, Jack is a writer who becomes more and more disturbed as the Shining goes on.
CASTLEOFOTRANTO The Castle of Otranto is a book by Horace Walpole first published in 1764 and generally regarded as the first gothic novel.
CARLKOLCHAK is the detective from a 1970’s TV show called The Night Stalker. Carl stumbles onto all sorts of paranormal investigations, just like Ryan and Sarah!
MARYSHELLEY is the writer of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote the story when she was only 18 years old, not much older than Ryan McCray.
THEANCIENTMARINER The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98. In the story, a mariner kills a giant bird and comes upon some very bad luck thereafter.
GEORGELUTZ Mr. Lutz wrote a story that is very scary for the author of Skeleton Creek. The Amityville Horror!
FATHERARISTEUS A Greek god specializing in things very similar to alchemy, which is a major part of Skeleton Creek mythology.
BOOK 3 PASSWORDS
SKELETON CREEK #3: THE CROSSBONES
MRSVEAL The Apparition of Mrs. Veal is a pamphlet that was published anonymously in 1706 and is usually attributed to Daniel Defoe. In the story, Mrs. Veal sends letters to a friend, but the friend later finds out that Mrs. Veal died the day before the letters were sent!
THELADYINWHITE The Woman in White is Wilkie Collins's fifth published novel, written in 1859. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels ever written.
SLAM This password doesn’t reference a famous book or movie, but it does have meaning in the world of Skeleton Creek. When a door slams shut, Ryan and Sarah have to open another one and keep going!
HALLOFMIRRORS A hall of mirrors is designed to confuse anyone who enters, which is very much the case as Ryan and Sarah continue deeper into the mysteries of Skeleton Creek.
RAINSFORD is a famous hunter of big game who gets stranded on a remote island, where he is hunted in a story called The Most Dangerous Game.
MAGIC8BALL We’ve all seen one of these! Ask it a question and it will give you the answer, but often it’s not the answer we’re looking for.
MISTERSMITHERS is a recurring character on The Simpsons television show.
BOOK 5 PASSWORDS
SKELETON CREEK #5: THE PHANTOM ROOM
TELLTALEHEART A famous Edgar Allan Poe story in which the narrator tries to convince the reader of the narrator’s sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed.
PROSPERO is the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose brother, Antonio, had put him out to sea on a boat to die.
SNED is the name of a character with a hidden meaning. You’ll have to read the Phantom Room to untangle the mystery!
ISLANDOFMADNESS Also known as Poveglia, the island of madness is completely abandoned and isolated from the public. Poveglia Island is considered one of the most paranormally-active locations in the entire world.
NIGHTVALE is a popular podcast about a town filled with paranormal activity and weird characters. Not unlike Skeleton Creek!
BOOK 4 PASSWORDS
SKELETON CREEK #4: THE RAVEN
MELANIEDANIELS is a main character in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds.
EDWINDROOD The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870.
FORTUNATO The Edgar Allan Poe story, The Casque of Amontillado, is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. The friend’s name? Fortunato! This password plays an important part in finding a clue in Skeleton Creek.
OSIRIS is the Egyptian Lord of the Underworld and Judge of the Dead, brother-husband to Isis, and one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt.
SPOOKSVILLE This twenty-mile triangle of strange, multicolored light phenomena borders Joplin Missouri, Columbus, Kansas; and, Miami, Oklahoma. Legends say the lights are the lantern of a farm girl who disappeared into the fog one night and was never seen again.
THEREDROOM1849 The Red Room is a satire of Stockholm society. It has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.
THECLAUSE Many secret societies use mysterious documents with all kinds of rules and regulations about membership. In Skeleton Creek, The Clause is just such a document!
RESTINPEACE This is a password specific to Skeleton Creek, and has to do with laying Edgar Allan Poe to rest, along with the Crossbones.