cover image 3:15 Season One: Things That Go Bump in the Night

3:15 Season One: Things That Go Bump in the Night

Patrick Carman. Scholastic Press, $12.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-545-38475-9

Following in the interactive vein of Carman's Skeleton Creek series, this story collection launches a series with three components%E2%80%94audio, text, and video. Kids can visit a Web site and enter a password (provided in the book) to listen to a fairly creepy audio introduction to each of these 10 tales (nine of which were released earlier this year in an app, along with their audio and video components). After returning to the book, readers use another password to gain access to its online video conclusion. Sounding both a welcome and a warning, the audio introductions are somewhat superfluous; more substantive are the synergetic print stories and videos, some of which pack a chilling punch. These include the tale of a teen who is sucked into a mirror when she shoplifts from an antique store; a boy who meets a harrowing end after discovering that he's riding a chairlift with a monster; and a girl who's attacked by a gargoyle that springs to life outside her window. The polished interactive elements should help hook reluctant readers on the print element. Ages 10%E2%80%9314. (Sept.)