Scooby-Doo! and the Hex Files

Scooby-Doo! and the Hex Files
Description
Publisher	Scholastic
Date published	October 1, 1999
# of pages	32
Writer	Gail Herman

Scooby-Doo! and the Hex Files is a book adaptation published by Scholastic, based on the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost.

Premise

The gang visit Ben Ravencroft in Oakhaven amidst the Oakhaven Autumn Fest and wind up dealing with two witches' ghosts.

Synopsis

Mystery Inc. arrive in Oakhaven to visit with famous author, Ben Ravencroft, and discover the town in the middle of celebrating Autumn Fest. While walking around the town's Puritan Village, Scooby-Doo finds a buckle in a gopher hole that Shaggy decides to wear on his shoe. When Velma expresses curiosity about Ben's ancestor, Sarah Ravencroft, he takes her, Daphne and Fred to his mansion and explains her backstory.

Shaggy and Scooby decide to pay a visit to the Oakhaven Restaurant where they eat practically everything. As they leave, full, they bump into and are frightened by the Hex Girls. Running away doesn't help, however, and they instead bump into the Witch's Ghost. Making their way back to the gang, they explain what has happened just as the Hex Girls begin performing. Realizing they're just a band, Shaggy and Scooby are relieved, but Fred and Velma grow suspicious of similarities between them and the ghost.

Fred and Daphne follow Thorn to a shed where they witness, what they think is, her crafting a witch's potion. Velma, Shaggy, Scooby and Ben meanwhile catch the Witch's Ghost, who is revealed to be Thorn's father, Mr. McKnight. The other townspeople step forward as well, revealing themselves to all be the culprits. The Hex Girls admit to not knowing anything about it and reveal that only Thorn is even slightly Wiccan.

Velma is somehow inspired to look at a portrait of Sarah Ravencroft and deciphers that the buckle Shaggy's been wearing on his shoe is actually from Sarah's missing journal. She gives Scooby a few Scooby Snacks to dig it up, which ends up being a bad idea as Ben reveals it to be a spell book and resurrects his trapped ancestor. The plan backfires on him however, when she decides to punish him for her entrapment.

She continues her attack on the living by creating a giant turkey and living pumpkins to go after the gang. Velma and Thorn team up to cast a new imprisonment spell however, ultimately saving the day. Although the mayor fears this has ruined the festival, he decides a giant turkey is a good tourist attraction and Scooby joins the Hex Girls in another performance.

Characters

Main characters:

• Mystery Inc.
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Shaggy Rogers
  • Fred Jones
  • Daphne Blake
  • Velma Dinkley

Supporting characters:

• Hex Girls
  • Thorn
  • Dusk
  • Luna

Villains:

• Witch's Ghost ^{(Mr. McKnight's disguise)}
• Mayor Corey
• Jack ^(mentioned)
• Shopkeepers ^(mentioned)
• Mr. McKnight
• Ben Ravencroft
• Sarah Ravencroft
• Giant turkey ^{(no lines)(redeemed)}
• Living pumpkins ^{(no lines)}

Other characters:

• Gopher ^{(no lines)}
• Townspeople
• Mrs. McKnight ^(mentioned)

Locations

• Oakhaven
  • Puritan village
  • Thorn's shed
  • Ben Ravencroft's mansion
  • Oakhaven Restaurant

Objects

• Puritan buckle
• Puritan hat
• Ham
• French fries
• Beans
• Steak
• Fireballs ^(mentioned)
• Hex Girls' instruments
• Thorn's potion ingredients
• Net
• Fake fangs
• Portrait of Sarah Ravencroft
• Scooby Snacks
• Sarah Ravencroft's spell book
• Giant turkey baster
• Bowl of stuffing
• Bucket of water

Vehicles

• The Mystery Machine ^(mentioned)

Suspects

Suspect	Motive/reason
The Hex Girls	They were doing some sort of ritual, and it looked like they were actually witches.

Culprits

Culprit	Motive/reason
Townspeople as the Witch's Ghost	To make the town a tourist attraction.
Ben Ravencroft	To become all-powerful, and to rule the world.
Sarah Ravencroft	Wanted revenge on the town for imprisoning her.

Notes/Trivia

• The book retells the events of Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, but cut down to just highlight the Hex Girls.

Miscellaneous

• Disguises: Shaggy & Scooby as puritans.
• Scooby Snacks bribe: 7 snacks and 1 box.
• "Ruh-roh" count:
• "Zoinks" count: 1.
• "Jeepers" count: 0.
• "Jinkies" count: 0.

Cultural references

• The title is a play on the name of the television series, The X-Files.
• Shaggy tries melting Sarah Ravencroft with a bucket of water, saying it "worked in The Wizard of Oz".

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

• For some reason, the Mystery Machine is referred to as the "Mystery, Inc. van".

Quotes

Luna: We're kind of like Wiccans, but Thorn really is one! Thorn: Only one-sixteenth blood on my mother's side.