Summary[]
Springville, known as Spooksville to the main protagonists of the novels, as well as a few secondary characters, is a coastal town in the United States.
History[]
Springville was founded by Madeline Templeton in the 1600s.
Geography[]
Spooksville is an oceanside town, and from the description in The Secret Path, it is presumably located on the West Coast. There are gentle sets of hills to the north and south, as well as a range of rough hills to the east. The ocean lies on the west, where there is a boardwalk, pier, lighthouse, and jetty. The town lies on slope that levels out toward the ocean. Sally claims that the waters of Spooksville are unswimmable, as they are shark infested.
Whether or not Spooksville is based on an actual town is unclear. Christopher Pike, having lived in Los Angeles for most of his life, was most likely inspired by nearby cities on the coast. In Phone Fear, the character Savannah Stranger reveals that she lives in Florence, "thirty kilometers south of [Spooksville]". While there exists a town called Florence in California, the area where Spooksville would exist in relation to it does not match the geography described in the book.
Locations in Spooksville[]
Several locales are featured specifically in the novels.
- The cemetery - Not only functions as the town's cemetery, but contains Madeline Templeton's tombstone, which is also the entrance to the Secret Path.
- The local bakery - this is where the gang hangs out most frequently, and seems to be one of the few normal, non-threatening locations in Spooksville (although Sally claims not to trust the jelly filling in the jelly donuts). It serves donuts, milk, and coffee, as well as assorted other pastries.
- The lighthouse - taken out of operation nearly thirty years before the beginning of the series, the lighthouse went unused until it was burned down following the events of The Howling Ghost.
- The library - an average library with the exception of the head librarian, Mr. Spiney, who has a vivid interest in bones and frequently provides milk enriched with calcium powder to browsers.
- Ann Templeton's castle - built hundreds of years ago by her great-great-great-great grandmother and founder of Spooksville, Madeline Templeton, this castle is where Ann Templeton resides. It is surrounded by a crocodile-infested moat and has an extensive dungeon and tunnel system underneath. It is guarded by trolls, and is home to a vast array of creatures, including a giant, talking spider. The gang has been inside the castle three times, although one of those visits occurred in an alternate version of Spooksville found by taking the Secret Path.
- the Frozen Cow - an ice cream parlor that boasts an assortment of 50 different flavors, all of which (but vanilla) the owner refuses to serve. It is possible to order milkshakes and banana splits, although all products are only made with vanilla ice cream, and no other. The owner, who Sally calls Mr. Freeze, "was a purist and believed the vanilla was the only ice cream worth serving."
Miscellaneous[]
- The local newspaper is called The Daily Disaster. Adam notes in The Howling Ghost, upon reading through archived copies of the newspaper at the library, that the obituary section takes up half of the newspaper, and the most common cause of death is listed as "disappeared".