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Graveyard School #2
The Skeleton on the Skateboard
Skate and Vickie risk more than skinned knees when they set out to learn enough from the mysterious new skateboarder in town--the only one to master Dead Man's Curve--to beat pugnacious Eddie Hoover in the upcoming competition. Original.
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Tom B. Stone
54 books30 followersTom B. Stone is a pseudonym used by the published author Nola Thacker.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 16, 2019
What do you get when a school is built near a haunted graveyard? You probably get a place where the paranormal occurs on a routine basis. Ryan "Skate" McGraw and his cousin Vickie Wheilson are two of the kids at Grove Hill Elementary, nicknamed Graveyard School. They're avid skateboarders, always up for a challenge, and right now they want to conquer Dead Man's Curve, an extreme downhill run that splits off from Skateboard Hill. Skate repeatedly tries Dead Man's Curve but is thrown from his board every time; the challenge might be impossible, but he's not giving up yet. Eddie Hoover, who isn't passionate about skateboarding yet owns premium gear because his parents can afford it, jeers at Skate for his inability to defeat Dead Man's Curve. Eddie boasts he will do it first, and Skate challenges him right back. The stakes? The first to make it to the bottom of Dead Man's Curve wins the other person's skateboard. For Skate, this contest just became serious.
A stranger has recently been sighted easily skating Dead Man's Curve, but Skate and Vickie hesitate to believe the reports. Who but a professional could pull off such a run? During a late evening practice session, however, Skate and Vickie meet a young guy on Skateboard Hill who fits the description of the mystery rider. Ben Marrow has a peculiar personality, but offers to coach Skate for his faceoff against Eddie. Ben guarantees Skate will win if he coaches him, but Vickie senses something isn't right, and pleads for Skate to decline the offer. Skate doesn't want to dismiss his cousin's concern, but he'd do anything not to lose his skateboard. The showdown will happen on Halloween night, Skate and Eddie versus Dead Man's Curve, but another presence plans to insert itself in the goings-on, an undead presence that wants revenge for a tragic accident many years ago. Can Skate and Eddie shelve their mutual acrimony long enough to survive a spectral enemy beneath Halloween's full moon?
The Graveyard School series isn't as interesting or well-written as R.L. Stine's Goosebumps, but it's good for a bit of fun. By the time of The Skeleton on the Skateboard, the second Graveyard School book, the kids have adapted to their haunted school and think little of needing to resist supernatural forces that are out to harm them. The Skeleton on the Skateboard could be more engaging and make better sense, but Goosebumps fans might get some amusement out of it. I did.
A stranger has recently been sighted easily skating Dead Man's Curve, but Skate and Vickie hesitate to believe the reports. Who but a professional could pull off such a run? During a late evening practice session, however, Skate and Vickie meet a young guy on Skateboard Hill who fits the description of the mystery rider. Ben Marrow has a peculiar personality, but offers to coach Skate for his faceoff against Eddie. Ben guarantees Skate will win if he coaches him, but Vickie senses something isn't right, and pleads for Skate to decline the offer. Skate doesn't want to dismiss his cousin's concern, but he'd do anything not to lose his skateboard. The showdown will happen on Halloween night, Skate and Eddie versus Dead Man's Curve, but another presence plans to insert itself in the goings-on, an undead presence that wants revenge for a tragic accident many years ago. Can Skate and Eddie shelve their mutual acrimony long enough to survive a spectral enemy beneath Halloween's full moon?
The Graveyard School series isn't as interesting or well-written as R.L. Stine's Goosebumps, but it's good for a bit of fun. By the time of The Skeleton on the Skateboard, the second Graveyard School book, the kids have adapted to their haunted school and think little of needing to resist supernatural forces that are out to harm them. The Skeleton on the Skateboard could be more engaging and make better sense, but Goosebumps fans might get some amusement out of it. I did.
August 3, 2022
A children’s “horror” story about a skateboarding contest.
January 3, 2026
8.5/10
I have no interest in skateboarding, however I loved this book.
Ryan “Skate” McGraw loves skateboarding, he is an extremely skilled skater, but unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot skate Dead Man’s Curve, the most challenging track in Grove Hill. Eddie Hoover, another skater at Graveyard School challenges Skate to a contest on Halloween night, which is just a few days away. A best out of three, whoever can make Dead Man’s Curve successfully the most times wins. The winner keeps both his and the losers boards. One night when Skate is at Dead Man’s Curve practicing, a mysterious skater joins him, Ben Marrow. He is extremely skilled, so Skate asks him to coach him for the contest on Halloween. Ben accepts but under the condition that Skate gives him his board in return. Skate declines. Ben promises that they will discuss their deal tomorrow night, however Ben doesn’t show up the next night or the night after. Skates cousin Vickie believes that something strange is happening with Ben…
Positives:
The atmosphere of Dead Man’s Curve was amazing, especially the scenes at night. The atmosphere was so good because the Grove Hill graveyard neighbours it.
Negatives:
The book is overall pretty confusing, especially the ending.
I highly recommend this book. It’s a really fun read with an amazing atmosphere.
I have no interest in skateboarding, however I loved this book.
Ryan “Skate” McGraw loves skateboarding, he is an extremely skilled skater, but unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot skate Dead Man’s Curve, the most challenging track in Grove Hill. Eddie Hoover, another skater at Graveyard School challenges Skate to a contest on Halloween night, which is just a few days away. A best out of three, whoever can make Dead Man’s Curve successfully the most times wins. The winner keeps both his and the losers boards. One night when Skate is at Dead Man’s Curve practicing, a mysterious skater joins him, Ben Marrow. He is extremely skilled, so Skate asks him to coach him for the contest on Halloween. Ben accepts but under the condition that Skate gives him his board in return. Skate declines. Ben promises that they will discuss their deal tomorrow night, however Ben doesn’t show up the next night or the night after. Skates cousin Vickie believes that something strange is happening with Ben…
Positives:
The atmosphere of Dead Man’s Curve was amazing, especially the scenes at night. The atmosphere was so good because the Grove Hill graveyard neighbours it.
Negatives:
The book is overall pretty confusing, especially the ending.
I highly recommend this book. It’s a really fun read with an amazing atmosphere.
September 9, 2019
More like a 2.5
The big reveal from the cover doesn’t happen until 106 pages in. And it does nothing for the plot or characters.
It’s C grade Goosebumps. I know I read this as a kid and I never bought the others in the series so that should say something
Ps: love the authors name though.
The big reveal from the cover doesn’t happen until 106 pages in. And it does nothing for the plot or characters.
It’s C grade Goosebumps. I know I read this as a kid and I never bought the others in the series so that should say something
Ps: love the authors name though.
March 12, 2023
Krótkie i lekkie, szybko sie czyta
November 14, 2025
Today we end this ripoff round with Graveyard School. This entry was the 2nd so we’ll see how it grew after that fair “pilot”. This one got a sequel down the line so it should be decent at least.
Skate McGraw, as the name implies, loves skateboard. He loves a good challenge but his biggest enemy is the local hill known as Dead Man’s Curve. No one has been able to skate through it, especially after someone, well, died on it years ago. Last summer, Skate tried but got hurt and set back a fair bit. Now he’s determined to finally go through it unharmed which as you can imagine is very hard.
Local bully Eddie challenges him to take on the curve. Winner gets the skateboard of the loser. Because of his hatred for this guy, Skate foolshly accepts it. He needs help and he gets it in the form of the mysterious Ben Marrow. Surely he’s not a skeleton that wants to take a soul or anything like that, no sir….
This one was good but mixed in some mild regards. This honestly surprised me with the solid arc it has for Skate. I’d argue it’s one of the better ones in the series, that just gets held back. Compared to a lot of these I read, it does a good job establishing his character. He loves skateboard but gets consumed with the desire to take this challenge.
We see that this takes a toll on his mental health, with him even losing some of his passion for the game as it were. It sells that well and you do see how pushing himself this far doesn’t seem worth it. He has a friend name Viki and their bond is tested through this. It’s hardly deep but it feels focused in terms of having an arc that the characters work through.
Ben is a fair villain, but we don’t get a lot of him. It’s about the build up and how this affects Skate so you don’t get a lot of horror or action. I get why but by the end I can see where it could have put in action or horror along the way. The climax is good but does get a bit short changed. I wanted to know more about Ben and why he’s doing this and even what he fully wants.
I can see a deal with the devil plot that it doesn’t quite commit to. I can this being the skateboard version of Tale of Jake the Snake lol. The ending is decent enough, it even has an epilogue but you can see all the little ways it could be better. The bully works for the story, but I can see how his defeat could have been better given this all ends.
Overall, it does have a solid core with better than average characters and writing. We even get a bit of Polly Hannah, score. It does struggle to fit in horror and have things be as strong as they could so it won’t rank as a major fave. But it’s a solid one for the most part, and better than the first book. The sequel takes place later in the series and I hope it’s good when we get there.
So ends another cycle. Not the strongest batch but most started middling and got better, with most being a tad better than most of what we’ve read lately. I’ll be back in the early quarter of 2026 to see what more we can gleam. Still hoping for some hidden gems.
Don’t know about the next read. Won’t be a lot to end the year but I have ideas, as there are still some stuff I’d like to clear out. We’ll see. See ya then.
Skate McGraw, as the name implies, loves skateboard. He loves a good challenge but his biggest enemy is the local hill known as Dead Man’s Curve. No one has been able to skate through it, especially after someone, well, died on it years ago. Last summer, Skate tried but got hurt and set back a fair bit. Now he’s determined to finally go through it unharmed which as you can imagine is very hard.
Local bully Eddie challenges him to take on the curve. Winner gets the skateboard of the loser. Because of his hatred for this guy, Skate foolshly accepts it. He needs help and he gets it in the form of the mysterious Ben Marrow. Surely he’s not a skeleton that wants to take a soul or anything like that, no sir….
This one was good but mixed in some mild regards. This honestly surprised me with the solid arc it has for Skate. I’d argue it’s one of the better ones in the series, that just gets held back. Compared to a lot of these I read, it does a good job establishing his character. He loves skateboard but gets consumed with the desire to take this challenge.
We see that this takes a toll on his mental health, with him even losing some of his passion for the game as it were. It sells that well and you do see how pushing himself this far doesn’t seem worth it. He has a friend name Viki and their bond is tested through this. It’s hardly deep but it feels focused in terms of having an arc that the characters work through.
Ben is a fair villain, but we don’t get a lot of him. It’s about the build up and how this affects Skate so you don’t get a lot of horror or action. I get why but by the end I can see where it could have put in action or horror along the way. The climax is good but does get a bit short changed. I wanted to know more about Ben and why he’s doing this and even what he fully wants.
I can see a deal with the devil plot that it doesn’t quite commit to. I can this being the skateboard version of Tale of Jake the Snake lol. The ending is decent enough, it even has an epilogue but you can see all the little ways it could be better. The bully works for the story, but I can see how his defeat could have been better given this all ends.
Overall, it does have a solid core with better than average characters and writing. We even get a bit of Polly Hannah, score. It does struggle to fit in horror and have things be as strong as they could so it won’t rank as a major fave. But it’s a solid one for the most part, and better than the first book. The sequel takes place later in the series and I hope it’s good when we get there.
So ends another cycle. Not the strongest batch but most started middling and got better, with most being a tad better than most of what we’ve read lately. I’ll be back in the early quarter of 2026 to see what more we can gleam. Still hoping for some hidden gems.
Don’t know about the next read. Won’t be a lot to end the year but I have ideas, as there are still some stuff I’d like to clear out. We’ll see. See ya then.
July 15, 2019
I have to say that this one was written a little bit better than the first. I actually was able to get into reading it and looked forward to the next one. This book was all about skateboarding.
You can tell Skate was going through the whole peer pressure stage of elementary school because he allowed himself to be pressured into a race down Dead Man’s Curve on his skateboard. I was shocked that many 6th grade students turned out at midnight for the race between him and Eddie Hoover. You couldn’t pay me to sneak out in 6th grade!
What Skate didn’t know is that Ben Marrow had actually struck a deal with Eddie instead of him. He didn’t realize it until the sudden death match. Here, he spent all this time trying to find him and Eddie had gotten to him before he could strike a deal. What he didn’t know about Ben was that he was dead- a skeleton and I guess evil? He seemed to explode into thin air when Skate beat Eddie but he was seen at the end of the book so I was confused by the ending.
You can tell Skate was going through the whole peer pressure stage of elementary school because he allowed himself to be pressured into a race down Dead Man’s Curve on his skateboard. I was shocked that many 6th grade students turned out at midnight for the race between him and Eddie Hoover. You couldn’t pay me to sneak out in 6th grade!
What Skate didn’t know is that Ben Marrow had actually struck a deal with Eddie instead of him. He didn’t realize it until the sudden death match. Here, he spent all this time trying to find him and Eddie had gotten to him before he could strike a deal. What he didn’t know about Ben was that he was dead- a skeleton and I guess evil? He seemed to explode into thin air when Skate beat Eddie but he was seen at the end of the book so I was confused by the ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2025
I re-read this as a 37 year old having read it as a kid when it first came out, I felt nostalgic when I found it in a second hand book shop.
It reminds me of a wannabe Goosebumps, it is a fun and dark concept but it definitely takes much too long to get to the point and the end is very rushed.
Good for a young reader who is open to a ghost story that isn’t scary; cause honestly this book mainly talks about the main character thinking about skateboarding while skateboarding.
It reminds me of a wannabe Goosebumps, it is a fun and dark concept but it definitely takes much too long to get to the point and the end is very rushed.
Good for a young reader who is open to a ghost story that isn’t scary; cause honestly this book mainly talks about the main character thinking about skateboarding while skateboarding.
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December 9, 2021ciocia mi kiedyś dała
January 26, 2023
Jak bym miala jakies 9/10 lat to by mnie to bardzo ciekawiło ale teraz niee.
November 2, 2023
Mi niñez✨
September 29, 2025
A skeleton skateboarder, two 90’s skater kids, a creepy graveyard, and a Halloween setting? Count me in.
I never read this series as a kid, but now I can’t wait to read more.
I never read this series as a kid, but now I can’t wait to read more.
February 2, 2008
Skate, the skateboard fanatic, always wanted to make it down the dead man's curve but he couldn't. He would fall over before he did. One day, skate had been in an argument with Eddie, another skateboarder. One thing led to another and both of them arrived to a conclusion, that whoever makes it down dead man's curve would win the loser's skateboard. Skate couldn't believe what he had just said, but he couldn't take it back now. He had to find a way to pass dead man's curve. Skate must now seek for the mysterious skateboarder that was witnessed to have passed dead man's curve so he can be given advice on how he could pass dead man's curve and defeat Eddie.
September 22, 2016
książka z dzieciństwa! :) pamiętam jak po szkole biegłyśmy z przyjaciółką do biblioteki po kolejne tomy.
when i was a kid i used to read these books (all series ,,graveyard school") and i loved them!
when i was a kid i used to read these books (all series ,,graveyard school") and i loved them!
January 1, 2024
wspaniałe 10 lat temu i wspaniałe teraz
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews