1. Plaque Attack!

Eerie Elementary Classes Are CANCELED! By Jack Chabert Illustrated by Matt Loveridge, based on the art of Sam Ricks

PLAQUE ATTACK! 1 "Everyone, please line up!" Sam Graves shouted. "No running!" Lucy yelled. "No pushing either!" Antonio added. It was morning outside Eerie Elementary. Sam and his best friends were standing on the front steps on hall monitor duty. They were making sure everyone lined up in an orderly fashion.

"Do you think our classmates think we're annoying?" Antonio asked. "They better not think we're annoying!" Lucy exclaimed. "Not after everything we've done for them!" It was true. Sam, Antonio, and Lucy had done a lot. At Eerie Elementary, hall monitors were different. They did more than just patrol the halls. It was their job to protect everyone. The hall monitors were the only students who knew the truth... Eerie Elementary was alive! It was a living, breathing thing that fed on students. A mad scientist named Orson Eerie designed the school. He had found a way to live forever— he became the school. Orson Eerie was the school, and the school was Orson Eerie!

Eerie Elementary was almost one hundred years old. A stone plaque hung high above the front steps. There was a date on the plaque. 1923: the year the school had been built. Students stood lined up around the steps. They were waiting for the doors to open so school could begin.

Sam gazed up at the plaque. A twisted and tangled feeling suddenly spread inside Sam's gut. As hall monitor, Sam could sense things that other students couldn't. He could feel when something was wrong. Right now, Sam had that feeling. Just then, small bits of stone fluttered down, like winter snow. Sam watched as a thin crack sliced across the plaque... CRA-CRA-CRACK!