Wishbone and his friends try to find out who is threatening to destroy the exhibit of a newly-discovered dinosaur at the Oakdale College Museum of Natural History.
While helping Gladys Glendower fix up the old Moonlight Drive-In, Wishbone and his friends try to discover who is responsible for the series of mysterious fires that threaten to destroy the old theater.
After several burglary attempts occur at the bookstore where he is working for the summer, Joe and Wishbone decide to investigate and discover that some of the most important clues to the mystery are in the books themselves.
When they help restore the Skeleton Reef Lighthouse for the Oakland Historical Society, Joe and Wishbone discover that the lighthouse holds the key to incredible treasure and to some dark and dangerous secrets.
In Michigan in the mid-1950s, Lewis Barnavelt is convinced that the series of accidents he and his uncle are experiencing are the result of a curse by a mysterious, hooded figure that may be part of his uncle's past.