"Ready to Scare" had potential. A beautiful location. Having a rare chance of seeing a gargoyle as a villain in a Scooby Doo episode. Seeing focus on a relative of Daphne, therefore potential of learning more about Daphne. On first watch, "Ready to Scare" was quite good if not mind blowing, a case of the location and villain being better than the general story (the case with a number of the show's episodes) and did feel that they could have done more with Daphne.
My generally positive but not raving about it opinion still stands, and for the same reasons positive and negative. So loving the location and the villain, as well as the humour, but finding the story on the uneven side and finding the rest of the Mystery Inc more interesting. "Ready to Scare" is not one of the worst episodes of 'What's New Scooby Doo' and is an improvement on the previous episode "Wrestle Maniacs", but it is a long way from being one of the best.
Have always loved it when the Scooby Doo franchise visits exotic locations, and France definitely fits that description. Paris is a beautiful and culturally fascinating place and it is exactly that here. Another standout feature is the gargoyle, who is cool and imposingly menacing. Definitely creep-inducing. The voice acting is very good, especially for the gargoyle.
The animation is colourful and atmospheric, standing out particularly in the Paris landscapes and the creepy character design of the gargoyle. The music has its usual groove and atmosphere. "Ready to Scare" is a very funny episode, Fred's butchering French raises a number of chuckles and the Francs joke is one of the funnier ones of Season 3. The opening scene sets the tone very well and is creepy, while it was nice to know more about Daphne. The ending is not shocking but also not predictable.
Did think though that Daphne felt rather bland here, a problem for an episode where she plays a personal role. Only at the end does she make much impression. Velma's subplot was inconsistent, sometimes it was fun and at other times it did make me cringe.
Also thought that "Ready to Scare" did thin out somewhat in the second half story wise and lost its initial energy.
Pretty good all in all, though doesn't live up to full potential. 7/10.