The Best of John Bellairs: The House with a Clock in Its Walls; The Figure in the Shadows; The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring Hardcover – 1 January 1998

John Bellairs is best known as the author of sixteen gothic mystery novels for young adults comprising the Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon series. The three stories in this book are the first three in the Lewis Barnavelt series, although the last has more to do with his friend, Rose Rita. The tales collected in this book are "The House with a Clock in Its Walls," "The Figure in the Shadows," and "The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring."So far from what I've read of this author, his characters tend to be elderly eccentrics, or ordinary children (no superkids, here). Lewis is resourceful, but with a child's fears and limitations. Most especially, he is afraid that his uncle won't like him, that the kids in his new school will make fun of him, and that he'll never have a friend. His uncle, Jonathan and neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman are very likeable magicians. They play poker with Lewis and make him chocolate chip cookies and cocoa, and generally treat him as a small adult.The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973) - illustrated by Edward GoreyLewis is a newly orphaned, plump ten-year-old, who wears "purple corduroy trousers, the kind that go `whip-whip' when you walk." The author often claimed that his imagination got stuck at ten, and here is Lewis, age ten, going to live with his Uncle Jonathan in New Zebedee, Michigan. The year is 1948, and New Zebedee bears a strong resemblance to Marshall, Michigan, where the author was born--- The Cronin House and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall still stand in Marshall, just as their counterparts do in New Zebedee.The only thing Uncle Jonathan is reluctant to talk about with Lewis is the ticking noise within the walls of his old mansion, recently acquired from a deceased magician.Lewis discovers that his uncle makes midnight excursions throughout the house, stopping and restarting all of the old clocks. He slowly gets involved in the mystery of an undiscovered clock. The wizardly Izzard couple who used to live in the house are both dead, but what did they leave behind and why?There are some genuinely frightening scenes in "The House with a Clock in its Walls"---most especially when Lewis tries to impress a new friend by stealing one of his uncle's magic books and taking it to the graveyard at midnight on Halloween---but I don't want to spoil the story for you (Hint: there's a scene straight out of "Count Magnus" by M.R. James when the lock pops off of the crypt). Let me say that this is a truly scary book, and if the author's imagination got stuck at ten, he must lived an awesomely spooky tenth year."The Figure in the Shadows" (1975) - illustrated by Mercer MayerLewis wants desperately to believe that an old coin belonging to his Great-Great-Grampa Barnavelt has magical powers. He is being bullied at school and starts to wear the old Civil War coin around his neck for protection. Finally Lewis turns on the bully and beats him up, but he soon learns that the coin has other, even darker powers.When Lewis begins to see a shadowy figure in a long coat and starts to get scary messages, he asks his friend, Rose Rita to take the coin and throw it away. She wrestles the coin away from him, but instead of throwing it into the storm drain, she hides it.The bully starts in on Lewis again, and he decides he'll do anything to get the coin back again, even steal it from Rose Rita.This story has a very spooky climax that will scare even the grown-ups who are reading it to their children."The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring" (1976) - illustrated by Richard EgielskiRose Rita is mad at the world. Her friend, Lewis Barnavelt is going to Boy Scout camp for the summer, and he is the only one who appreciates her for what she is: a tomboy with a great pitching arm who has no interest in growing up into the world of proms and pretty gowns. When Mrs. Zimmerman offers to take her on a trip to see the farm she just inherited from her cousin, Oley, Rose Rita jumps at the chance.Unfortunately when Mrs. Zimmerman and Rose Rita arrive at the farmhouse up in the woods of Northern Michigan, it has been ransacked. The ring that Oley had found and believed to be magic has been stolen.When Mrs. Zimmerman herself disappears, it is up to Rose Rita to solve the deepening mystery.Don't expect milksop magic or easy solutions from this author. Rose Rita has to confront both interior and exterior demons, and comes very close to death before Bellairs winds down to his usual cocoa and cookies (well, roasted marshmallows in this story) ending.

John Bellairs was my favorite author in childhood, hands down. I first read The House with a Clock in its Walls when I was, I think, 9 years old, and it's the book that turned me on to fantasy fiction. I read and re-read this book (and his others) so many times as a kid that I'm surprised my grade school library didn't order a second set so that others could read them too!Fast-forward to adulthood. I ran across a reference to this book and remembered it so fondly that I had to buy a copy. That's chancy business; the books (and TV shows and movies and...) that we enjoy when we're kids don't often translate into grown-up entertainment. When you read those books again as an adult, it's easy to feel...disenchanted. So I took a risk in buying this book; I didn't want to feel disenchanted about something I loved so much.The risk paid off. This book has three of the author's books in one. Yes, these stories are clearly children's stories. Bellairs uses simple language and employs brevity over depth. But even though these are children's stories, they're well-told and creative enough that they're still enjoyable for someone more used to 1000 page epics.I've been trying to decide whether this book really is suited for a 9-year-old or if I was just precocious, and I can't decide. The language is probably perfect for the pre-teen set, and I think the underlying themes are, too. In Clock, the story is largely built around Lewis's desire to fit in, which nearly causes the end of the world when he tries to show off in front of one of the cool kids. But would they be too scary? Possibly. I do remember finding them thrillingly scary as a kid, but I also wasn't the type of kid prone to nightmares and monsters under the bed. It probably depends on the individual child.But even if a parent does decide to sit on these books until their child is a little older than I was, parents can enjoy these books themselves while they wait. Hopefully this review will prompt a parent or two to introduce their kids to Bellairs and spark a love of reading that's becoming, in my opinion, a rare thing.

John Bellairs was absolutely brilliant. I read these as a child, and loved them dearly. His way of writing is captivating and engaging. He mixes up scenes of terror with chuckles over cookies and milk and making Napoleon win the battle at Waterloo, or turning the moon black for his friends. These books were such a good influence on a growing girl who had a love for the strange and bizarre, especially with more than a touch of magic. I've started collecting them for MY four children now, and am waiting impatiently to see how they will enjoy them, too!

The book I received was not as pictured. The way it was shipped was really not optimal as it was just placed in a flimsy plastic mailer without any interior support. The book itself was, surprisingly, in pretty good condition.

John Bellairs wrote very charming, scary stories; he was a master at creating lovable, fun characters and dark, spooky plots.All of Bellairs' tales take place in the 1950's, and he captures the conventions of that era in his writing. Be aware that when the characters aren't being tormented by evil entities, they might be smoking cigarettes, drinking booze, and eating food that is high in calories. In addition, the characters in his books ride bicycles without wearing helmets, drive in cars without wearing seat belts, and wear coats made out of real animal fur.I originally read these books in the early 1980's, and all these years later, I still enjoy them - only now I sip a glass of sherry as I read...