richard sala's skeleton key

7. Herr Schpook

Shadowy figure with a mysterious past, whose secrets are known only to his obsequious underling, Klaus Bindle.

Bindle reveals to "girl detective" Judy Drood, that Herr Schpook comes from "the old country" where he may or may not be wanted for certain notorious war crimes.

He eventually ends up in a small college town in the US, living in the back of a costume shop where he spends his time spying through peepholes, scheming, snooping, worrying about busy bodies and berating his obsequious underling.

(See: MAD NIGHT)

8. Colleen

Colleen is a normal college student who is thrown into an extraordinary and terrifying situation - nothing less than the end of the world as we know it.

When mankind is attacked and nearly destroyed by grotesque creatures calling themselves "The New People," Colleen - facing horrors beyond her worst nightmares - rises to the occasion and survives, heroically persevering, even when all seems lost. (See THE HIDDEN).

After the events chronicled in THE HIDDEN take place, she makes an uneasy alliance with the man who is actually to blame for the worldwide disaster, Victor Frankenstein. Although she secretly plans to kill him when the moment is right, the two rely on each other to survive in the desolate "New World" and have a number of adventures together.

At one point they learn that Victor's creation, also named "Frankenstein," had been attempting to build a time machine - and they wonder if this could be the key to humanity's salvation.

9. Dr. Lynx

Dr. Lynx is a brilliant surgeon and cranial specialist, engaged in research at the local university, who becomes a pawn in a sinister scheme to revive the disembodied head of the villainous mesmerist, Zolok.

(See: "Thirteen O'Clock" in the book MANIAC KILLER STRIKES AGAIN!)

During her involvement in the Zolok affair, she encounters the singular man of mystery known as Mr. Murmur. She becomes fascinated by him and is ultimately able to assist the shadowy avenger on several exciting adventures, such as The Case of The Crawling Crepuscularist and The Mystery of the Albino Doll.

10. George

George is a curious youngster who tends to find himself in unusual and dangerous situations. Though somewhat diminutive and unskilled in conversation, he is intelligent enough to make shrewd decisions when a crisis does arise.

When he finds himself trapped - alongside the local baby-sitters' club - by family of vampires, he also discovers that he can run a lot faster than he (or anyone else) ever thought he could! George is able to survive his hair-raising night in the house of vampires with the help of gypsy matriarch Madame Rojo (who turns out to be an old-hand at vampire slaying) and the mysterious waif Peculia.

(See: Peculia and the Groon Grove Vampires)

11. Obscurus

No one knows where to find him or how to reach him, but Obscurus is always actively (though rather moodily) keeping an eye on those who interest him, or who he is instructed to watch by "The Man On The Phone," (also known as Mr. Upstairs).

In his remote mountaintop tower, Obscurus has banks of video screens, radios and even a helpful robot or two - all assisting him in his furtive surveillance.

He has connections to the infamous (some say mythical) "school for weird kids", Reynardine, which is where he met former pupils Justine and Peculia. Obscurus and Peculia became close, but had a falling out due to a misunderstanding, and have since become wary and mistrustful of each other.

Justine, who was jealous of their friendship and schemes to keep them apart, becomes Obscurus' assistant, although she is not exactly a model employee. Obscurus knows he can't fully trust her, especially where her interaction with Peculia is concerned, since Justine makes no secret of the fact that she wouldn't mind seeing Peculia come to a sudden, sticky end.

(See: PECULIA)

12. The Creeping Cat

Although the actual identity of The Creeping Cat remains a mystery, some details about the life of this ruthless, methodical killer have come to light.

There was once a group of vigilantes known as The Fellowship of The Creeping Cat. The masked members of this secret society regularly took the law into their own hands. Criminals who, for one reason or another, remained beyond the grasp of the law, were executed ~ gunned down in the street.

Then one night things went tragically wrong and a young husband and wife were caught in the crossfire. Because innocent blood had been spilled, the remorseful fellowship voted to disband forever.

However, there was an orphan involved, and evidence suggests that years later, the now grown child returned, seeking revenge. In the guise of The Creeping Cat, he hunted down and killed all of the former members and (in the event that they were already deceased) their children.

According to official police records, authorities concluded that a failed poet named Avery Finch was the masked killer. However, readers of Avery's private journal know better.

(See: The Fellowship of the Creeping Cat in the book MANIAC KILLER STRIKES AGAIN)

13. Phillipa Knicely

Phillipa Knicely is a normal teenager who accepts a scholarship at a prestigious but somewhat mysterious school ~ far, far away from her family and friends. Once there, Phillipa is confronted with several unnerving experiences. In addition, she is urged by one of her professors, Dr. Frauenhexer, to undergo the school's battery of tests for extrasensory perception. Oddly, the professor seems to know quite a bit more about Phillipa's upbringing than he could have possibly learned from her application.

It turns out that Dr. Frauenhexer has been locating promising candidates for his experiments and luring them to his laboratory. He has discovered a way to harness and strengthen the latent telekinetic powers of the students. He then sets about indoctrinating them ~ training them to become psychic assassins! He plans to offer their services to various governments for a handsome fee.

When Phillipa discovers the truth, she tries to extricate herself from the situation. However, several of the professor's more talented students have managed to push their psychic abilities to such extremes that they are able to conjure up all manner of strange forces and ectoplasmic beings from "beyond the veil."

During one of their attacks on her and her friends, Phillipa finds that her powers have grown stronger, too, and she ultimately defeats them.

She is assisted in her adventures by another student who takes an interest in her ~ young James Jekyll, whose late father had engaged in some dubious experiments of his own.

Eventually she becomes a member of a special government team of extraordinary crime fighters.