A Sneak Peek into Suburbia

If you haven't checked out The Arrival, then you are missing out. It is a beautiful wordless book by Shaun Tan about the arrival of an immigrant man to a bizarre new world. Well, Shaun Tan has created another masterpiece called Tales from Outer Suburbia that publishes in February 2009. This collection of (sub)urban legends for ages 12 and up is a random walk through a strange and fantastical world. Tan's idiosyncratic drawings take mundane suburban life and give it an unconventional makeover. There are all kinds of stories:  some of them with clearly defined outcomes, and others that, in my opinion, are meant to be enjoyed for what they are, with no requisite moral lesson.

There is the story of Eric, for example, an unusual foreign exchange student. Eric had a tendency to sleep and study in the kitchen pantry. He kept to himself, and rarely had questions for his hosts. When he did ask something, it would be about an object or subject that his hosts took for granted. There is a picture of Eric looking curiously at the underside of a postage stamp, and pointing out the serial number on an electrical plug. His hosts would dismiss his strange demeanor as being a "cultural thing." Then, one day, Eric left with just a wave and a good-bye. His hosts didn't even know that he was leaving for good. He did leave them something though . . .

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Then there's a story about a discontented family who always complained about their lives, until they found a secret inner courtyard in their house! The family started having picnics in their inner courtyard, and they enjoyed the privacy and the special secret that only their family knew about . . . or so they thought.

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Another great story is about a place where every household has their own missile. They were just sitting there, in the backyard, waiting for the time when the government may need to use them. Eventually they became so commonplace that people started decorating their missiles. Soon everyone was painting their missile, or using it to grow plants, or store things.

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The artwork in this book is stunning. Tan's style is such an eclectic mix of the real and surreal. Some illustrations are with color, some without, and some juxtapose vibrant hues against a shaded backdrop. The illustration about the inner courtyard looks like a painting that you might see at the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Shaun Tan has let his imagination run wild once again, and I love it! I hope you'll love this book as much as I do. What's the story that your imagination would tell about your neighborhood?

— Nick, STACKS Staffer

Goosebumps HorrorLand -- Get Ready to Play!

We know you have questions about the making of the Goosebumps HorrorLand Video Game, so here are some answers! In this final InkSplot 26 entry about the game, we're giving you Splotters an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating the game. For this insight, I went straight to the source! I sat down and got the scoop from Sam, Senior Producer for the Goosebumps HorrorLand video game:

The game features a unique Goosebumps story, and it's your job as the player to earn frights to unlock the five areas in HorrorLand to move this story forward. How did the team come up with the brand new plotline?

Well, the story of HorrorLand has been told in a lot of places over the years, and we looked at all of them. There was R. L. Stine's classic book One Day at HorrorLand, and also the sequel, Return to HorrorLand. In addition, there was an episode of the TV show based on the original book. And of course, there was Stine's terrific new HorrorLand series, which was only partly written at the time we were developing the game.

We took inspiration from all of these, but in the end decided to tell our own story, with our own twists and turns. The game starts with the idea that one of the Horrors (my favorite characters from the books) decides to start a brand new HorrorLand, kind of like making Disney World when there was already a Disneyland. Without any human supervision, this new park could be scarier, deadlier, and crazier than ever, with no exit and a total disregard for safety.

As the Splotters learned from last week's blog entry, each area of HorrorLand has its own theme with different characters, rides, and attractions. What inspired some of these cool ideas?

When designing the game, we started with the idea, 'What if we were making a real horror-themed amusement park? What would we definitely want to see?' We tried to hit all of the Horror staples: vampires, mummies, swamp monsters, evil robots, scary clowns.

Mummy

For the rides and attractions, we started with things you might find in a "normal" amusement park, but with a fiendish twist. So we have a Batting Cage, but it features live bats. Instead of Bumper Cars we have Bumper Carnage, which has a giant pit in the middle of the arena and where the drivers are really trying to destroy each other. The Calamity Canyon ride was inspired by the Cyclone at Coney Island, which if you've ever seen it, looks like it's about to fall apart. I'm sure the Cyclone is entirely safe, but our ride really is falling apart. In fact, the announcer tells you so at the beginning of the ride, and your job is to dodge missing tracks and duck under collapsing overpasses.

We took inspiration from all of these, but in the end decided to tell our own story, with our own twists and turns. The game starts with the idea that one of the Horrors (my favorite characters from the books) decides to start a brand new HorrorLand, kind of like making Disney World when there was already a Disneyland. Without any human supervision, this new park could be scarier, deadlier, and crazier than ever, with no exit and a total disregard for safety.

As the Splotters learned from last week's blog entry, each area of HorrorLand has its own theme with different characters, rides, and attractions. What inspired some of these cool ideas?

When designing the game, we started with the idea, 'What if we were making a real horror-themed amusement park? What would we definitely want to see?' We tried to hit all of the Horror staples: vampires, mummies, swamp monsters, evil robots, scary clowns.

Mummy

For the rides and attractions, we started with things you might find in a "normal" amusement park, but with a fiendish twist. So we have a Batting Cage, but it features live bats. Instead of Bumper Cars we have Bumper Carnage, which has a giant pit in the middle of the arena and where the drivers are really trying to destroy each other. The Calamity Canyon ride was inspired by the Cyclone at Coney Island, which if you've ever seen it, looks like it's about to fall apart. I'm sure the Cyclone is entirely safe, but our ride really is falling apart. In fact, the announcer tells you so at the beginning of the ride, and your job is to dodge missing tracks and duck under collapsing overpasses.

A Cyber Revolution

I want to tell you about a new book that we have out called Cyberia by Chris Lynch. This book is a very quick read with only 158 pages. It's definitely something to read if you don't have the time or patience to read a big book like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or Inkdeath. And even if you like those books (which I do), you'll like this sci-fi revolution story.

Cyberia is the story of Zane, a boy who lives in an electronics-controlled world. Everything he does is monitored by his computerized room. He talks to his parents through giant screens on his wall, and even his dog, Hugo, is hooked-up to the system. One day Zane gets a gadget that lets him hear what his dog is saying . . . and what other animals are saying as well! He finds out that the animals really hate being wired as much as he does. The animals want a revolution, and Zane is going to have to help them out, but not without getting into trouble. Eventually Zane gets caught and is put under house arrest, but his parents let him have one visitor —a visitor who used to be able to speak to him, but now just licks his nose. I'm sure this isn't the last we will hear from Zane and his dog Hugo.

If this sounds intriguing, than I've got a treat for you. You can read a sneak peak of the book now!
Read an excerpt from Cyberia (PDF)

—Nick, STACKS Staffer

Goosebumps HorrorLand – The Video Game!

October is finally here and things are starting to get scary — and exciting! For over a year, we at Scholastic Interactive have been working on the Goosebumps HorrorLand Video Game, and in a few short weeks, it will be released. But before it gets into the hands of gamers, we wanted to provide dedicated Splotters with exclusive insight into the game.

When the game producers conceived of the game, they decided that the story behind this HorrorLand amusement park should center around its reopening by a group of Horrors, led by a Horror magician named Horrifico. Horrors, as some of you may know from the Goosebumps books, are the green monsters with curled horns that staff HorrorLand (more on them in next week’s blog entry). The Horrors want to build a brand new HorrorLand — bigger and scarier than the original. Without the limitations of human management, the Horrors can create a park that would scare kids again and again (no humans would ever let that happen!). Most importantly, the Horrors want a park that invites kids in but never lets them out. In an effort to attract kids to the park, the Horrors will invite thousands of kids to the park — and this is where the game begins . . . with YOUR invitation to the Grand Opening of HorrorLand!

Like any theme park, HorrorLand is filled with rides and games — all with Goosebumps twists! One game is the Batting Cage, which is like home-run derby, but instead of hitting baseballs you swing at flying bats, the squealing kind! Get it — “Batting” Cage. (Click on the image on the left for a closer look!)

There are rides too, like Calamity Canyon, a rickety roller coaster through an abandoned mine. (Check it out, on the right.) The ride is falling apart and you literally ride for your life, ducking from falling beams and dodging boulders on the track. There are 30 games in HorrorLand — all with cool names like Bumper Carnage, Garlic Crusher, Swamp Stomp, Brain Drain, and Mummy Run. It was fun helping the game producers come up with names. Before the team decided on Calamity Canyon, other name possibilities were Rickety Railroad and Screamer Steamer. I think the best name won out of that bunch!

HorrorLand is a big park with five uniquely themed areas: Carnival of Screams, Vampire Village, Fever Swamp, Mad Labs, and Terror Tombs. You need Frights to unlock these park areas and you can earn them by playing the games.

Beyond the rides and games, what’s really neat about the video game is that it puts you in the driver’s seat of your own Goosebumps adventure with a unique story that unfolds as you play through the game. As you make your way through the park, you’ll meet a little girl named Gigi who has been trapped in the park by the Horrors. Gigi will help you find the pieces of your HorrorLand ticket – the key to escaping the park. She’s eager to leave the park too, and as you play, you’ll find out why.

Be sure to check back next Monday to find out more about the Horrors, including some images that you won't see anywhere else (even in the game)! In the meantime, you can visit the official game site to quench your curiosity.

— Amabel, Scholastic Interactive Staffer

Ink Splot 26 Exclusive -- Inkheart Movie Poster!

As Carly mentioned in her entry last week, the film adaptation of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart is set for release on January 23, 2009.

Can't wait until then? Well, here's a special treat to tide you over: the official movie poster!

(click on the image above for a larger view)

We got the poster directly from Warner Brothers to share with you and only you — no one else in the world gets their paws on this until tomorrow, so don't say we never did anything for you. :-)

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Looking for Miza: Choosing the Book Cover

In last week's entry, Evan introduced our Miza campaign to SAVE THE GORILLAS and promised that you'd meet a special surprise guest blogger today. Well, you're in for a treat because that special surprise guest blogger is Craig Hatkoff, the author of the book behind the movement: Looking for Miza! Here's the inside scoop, directly from Craig himself!

Whoever said, "Never judge a book by its cover," probably wasn't in the book business. In the book world, the book's cover really is important because it is the world's first window into the book and serves as the invitation to open the book and "come on in." One thing we know for sure: it is pretty hard to read a book if you don't look inside.

Elyon Exclusive: Sneak Peek at Book 4!

When I first heard of Patrick Carman, it was years ago. I was at an internal presentation that Scholastic does twice a year, where editors introduce other folks in the company to the books that they're working on. That year, one of those books was The Dark Hills Divide, the first in Patrick Carman's series The Land of Elyon.

As you can imagine, I always leave those presentations absolutely dying to get my hands on advance copies of all the books I've just learned about. That year, The Dark Hills Divide topped my must-have list — the next time I was working at a conference for Scholastic, I waited until about one nano-second after our booth had cleared of actual customers and then literally raced over to snatch up a copy for myself!

Inkdeath Exclusive! Sneak Peek of Chapter 1

Inkworld, then you've got a major treat to look forward to in October: Inkdeath, the final installment of Cornelia Funke's Ink-Trilogy! Completing the story set in motion in Inkheart and continued in Inkspell, the third Ink-Trilogy book will reveal the fates of Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger, Farid, and all your favorite characters from the infamous book within a book.

Not that we had to tell YOU about that — from what we've seen on the message boards, it's obvious that all you Funke fans have spent more than a little time imagining what lies in store after Inkspell.

And what exactly does the next book have in store? Well, I was lucky enough to read an advance copy, but I'm forbidden to say. Like voiceless Resa, my lips are sealed. Except I will say this: Inkdeath is GOOD!

Jealous? Don't be! Here's an exclusive look at the first chapter (PDF)! Give it a read and then tell everyone what YOU think will happen next!

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Chapter 1 from INKDEATH by Cornelia Funke—Original text © 2007 by Dressler Verlag—English translation © 2008 by Anthea Bell—Cover, map and chapter-head illustrations © by Carol Lawson—Chapter-ending illustrations © 2007 by Cornelia Funke.  Published by Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.  All rights reserved.