Archives of the Unexplained

by Jennifer | Apr 9, 2026

This is a relatively new series, focusing on creepy or mysterious stories. However, although written by the same author, the first two books in the series are very different.

In the first title, Area 51, Steve Foxe teams up with Fran Bueno to present a slightly creepy but generally informational explanation of the theories, legends, and facts around “Area 51.” The framing story is a young boy attending his unknown uncle’s funeral. TJ, uncomfortable in a black suit with slicked-back red hair, sneaks off on his own and discovers a secret room in his uncle’s house with CIA classified documents. Bueno illustrates this portion like a, as TJ says, “history textbook.” There are images of Eisenhower, a history of the CIA, an explanation of the popular understanding of the events after nuclear testing, and up through the formation of, and public knowledge, of what came to be known as Area 51.

Throughout this section, the colors vary between dull, sandy browns with a few bright reds showing imagined images of mutants and aliens. The story leads up to the development of aircraft meant for intelligence missions and these planes are shown in sleek blacks with secret night-time scenes in dark blue. As TJ continues reading the files, he is interrupted by men in black suits and his mother and he hastily finishes the tales up through the current day, from humorous denials from public figures like Bill Clinton to a thoughtful look at how conspiracies form and current speculations about Area 51. The story ends with an anticlimactic confrontation with the suited men and TJ returns home with his parents, a single bright disc shooting across the night sky.

The second title, Unwanted Guests, features a different illustrator, Naomi Franquiz, and blends several “true” ghost stories into the framing story. Franquiz’ art in the opening story is colorful and includes lots of folds and lines in clothing as well as the background. Foxe sets the framing story by introducing a biracial family moving to a new neighborhood. Minnie, the younger sister, has thick black eyebrows, an exuberant bush of brown curls, a missing tooth, and freckles. She’s dressed in blue overalls and a pink striped shirt. She’s followed by her older brother Jackson. His curls are shaved on the sides with a pompadour style on top and he wears khaki pants and a bright checked orange and yellow sweater. The two siblings bicker over mysterious stains and noises until their dad, with darker skin and a chinstrap beard, sends them off to the park to play. At the park they meet “Theo” a spookily pale kid who presents Asian. Franquiz continues the bright colors with a reddish playscape surface and bright autumn colors in the leaves.

Theo drops hints about their house and then tells them two scary stories. In the first story, a ghost tale from the 1920s, Franquiz switches to a more subdued palette with sepia tones that contrast with the brightly colored contemporary neighborhood. Minnie and Jackson interrupt for explanations of terms like spiritualism and poltergeists and Theo ends the story on an ambiguous, creepy note. After a very nervous night, the siblings approach Theo again and he tells them a second story about yet another Minnie – Minnie Clyde Winston and her bleeding house. This story, which is from the late 1980s, has brighter, more contemporary colors. Minnie is shown as a Black woman with light skin and curly hair and the pools of inexplicable blood are a viscous red. There are a few gruesome images of blood-drenched monsters but the story fades away as Minnie gradually denies the events to reporters to get some peace. As the story ends, readers return to the bright autumn park and Theo hints at a third story, about a young boy named Theodore who disappears in an attic… echoes of the earlier stories he told are revisited in the siblings’ experiences that night and the book ends with a final, ghostly shiver.

Both titles include sources for the unsolved mysteries, but the first book has a more straightforward, historical approach which is mirrored in the simpler, more basic tones of Bueno’s art. The second book, with the lengthier and creepier framing story, has a more gruesome tinge which pairs well with Franquiz’ colorful art and heavily emphasized lines. While both books will appeal to young readers, the first is more likely to interest those who already have an interest in aliens, unsolved mysteries, and history while the second will appeal more to fans of ghost stories and scary tales.

Archives of the Unexplained
By Steve Foxe
Art by  Fran Bueno, and Naomi Franquiz
Macmillan First Second, 2025

NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13)