Your shortcut to a faster commute... just became a one-way trip into the past.

Aiden just wants to make it to first period on time—and avoid the wrath of Mrs. Gable for the third time this week. To him, the crumbling, fog-shrouded Blackwood Cemetery is not a place for eternal rest; it's a massive, grass-covered shortcut that shaves exactly seven minutes and forty-two seconds off his walk. His best friend, Iain, has always called it a bad idea. Today, he was right.

While cutting through the old, overgrown section of the graveyard, the boys stumble upon a terrifying sight: a man in a tattered, old-fashioned coat, frantically digging up an unmarked grave. Caught in the act, the grave robber pursues them, but this is no ordinary criminal. Possessing a lantern that casts shadows that move on their own, and moving with inhuman speed, the "Crow-Man" seems tied to the very earth of the cemetery.

Barely escaping with their lives, the boys make a horrifying discovery in the mud: a silver key shaped like a crow, pulsing with a strange, cold energy. It's not just a key; it's a connection. And the Crow-Man will stop at nothing to get it back.

Now, Aiden and Iain are on the run, not from a person, but from a living piece of the town's buried history. To survive, they must unravel the mystery of the Crow-Man, unlock the secret of the Key of Roots, and face the terrifying truth of what lies just beneath the surface of Blackwood Village.

If you love spooky middle-grade adventures like Goosebumps or Small Spaces, don't miss The Aiden Adventures: Dead-End Shortcut. The shortcut to trouble has just opened.