Customer Reviews

The House with a Clock in its Walls

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4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
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I first read "The House with a Clock in it's Walls" when I was ten years old. I immediately fell in love with it; reading and re-reading constantly. Now I'm thirty years old, and it is still my favorite. Last year I decided to collect all of his books and re-read them-it's been the most fun I've had in ages. Out of all of the John Bellairs books, this one, in my opinion, is the very best. It's scary and funny, the characters are warm, lovable and due to their magical history, fascinating. I fell in love all over again as I re-read this last week. God bless you, Mr. Bellairs. And thank-you for showing this "little girl" just what great writing is all about.

Louis Barnavelt, recently orphaned, goes to live with his UncleJonathan, whom he's never met. When his arrives in New Zebedee, UncleJonathan picks him up at the airport and takes him to his home--a huge, spooky mansion with secret passages and mysterious rooms.

Uncle Jonathan's best friend, Mrs. Zimmerman, is in the house, and as Louis walks in, he finds her listening to the walls. To his astonishment and delight, Louis discovers that Uncle Jonathan is a wizard, Mrs. Zimmerman is a witch, and they both love poker and chocolate chip cookies.

Louis also discovers that Uncle Jonathan's house was once owned by an evil wizard--a Mr. Izzard who has hidden a magic clock somewhere in the walls of the house--a clock that will bring about the end of the world if it's not found and silenced.

To make matters worse, Louis tries to impress his new friend Tarby by stealing a spell from one of Uncle Jonathan's magic books. They perform the ceremony in the graveyard Halloween night, and succeed in resurrecting the truly evil Mrs. Izzard from the dead.

Can they stop the clock in time, or will Mrs. Izzard succeed in resurrecting her husband and bringing about the end of the world?

I was afraid to read this book as a child--the cover looks really scary, and I was a nightmare-prone child who avoided scary books like the plague. Most kids like scary books though, and this one is perfect for your 5th grade fright fan. Louis is a wonderful character, who goes from being a timid outcast, worried about impressing the kids at school, to a brave young man who summons up courage when he needs to act to save the people he loves. The friendship between Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman is funny, and they are both eccentric enough to be interesting, but not so eccentric as to become annoying.

Bellairs wrote other books about these characters, and they are worth reading, but are not as good as this book. ( )

In reading the tributes to Bellairs by his fans, I thought it was interesting that several people mentioned that they hated reading, and were not good readers until they discovered one of Bellairs' books, and that experience turned them into avid readers. END

I first became acquainted with "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" around the age of eight. It was made into a kids' TV show (an "After School Special", perhaps? I don't remember), and I immediately checked the book out from the library. Over the years I read several other of Bellairs' books, but my favorites were always the books linked with (and continuing the story of) "The House With A Clock In Its Walls". The stories were especially fascinating for me, as they all took place in Michigan, my home state (in fact, "The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring" - book three of the series - takes place in no small part near Petoskey, Michigan, which is only 25 miles from my hometown). When I was in college, I found that the college bookstore had some copies of T.H.W.A.C.I.I.W. for sale, so I bought one. I found the story was just as enjoyable then as it had been 16 years before. I'm now 27, and I STILL enjoy these books! These are truly stories for young and old alike.

I, too, read this book when I was young and I still re-read the series from time to time. When I was young, the cover alone scared me. Even now, the final scene can thrill me if it's late and the room is dark. Brrr.

Horror for children has grown more popular lately, but most of it seems to be this formulaic stuff like Goosebumps. Have any of their stories actually had a happy ending? Bellairs books are frightening, but they do end happily, and they have a depth that Goosebumps books can't match. Full of references to recent history (the stories take place in the 1950s) and more remote history (Lewis is a literate boy) and religious symbolism, these are books that will draw you in.

I read all of John Bellairs' books when I was growing up. *The House With a Clock in Its Walls* is one of the best of the series. It leaves you thoroughly entertained, scared (but not emotionally scarred!) and searching the shelves of your local library for for further information on the many interesting historical and magical references Bellairs interweaves into his stories. The Edward Gorey illustrations complement his narratives perfectly. Read this book and you'll want to read them all.

This is the first and by far the best of Bellairs' juvenile [in the best sense of the word!] fantasy novels. The tone strikes a perfect balance between humor and creepiness, and the magical items and happenings are quite original. This book is a must-read for any Harry Potter fan. Unfortunately the quality of the books declines pretty steeply after this one -- Bellairs fell into a formulaic rut. Equally good is his only(?) adult novel, "The Face In The Frost", which has sadly been out of print for ages.

I suppose I am going to spend a long time looking for another book as suspenseful, well-written, and atmospheric as John Bellair's House With a Clock in Its Walls. I first read this novel at the age of ten and I was immediately captivated by the author's use of setting and character to transport me to a small town in the 1940s where magic is present around every corner. Bellairs' take on the gothic genre is masterful; through wit and economy of words he is able to conjure up everything from a vast Victorian mansion with secret rooms, to a mysterious, kind, and magical uncle, and to an evil witch brought back from the dead. This book is responsible for starting me on an obsessive search for any literature or film related to the "gothic house" story--and only a few works, such as Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House or Angela Carter's short story "The Bloody Chamber," come close to capturing the same sense of magic, dark foreboding, and hous! ! es that are truly living characters. I have often wished that this book were turned into a film; I can seen every frame of it in my head. I think it is marvellously visual and would be highly effective on the screen. If you haven't read this story, you are in for a real treat. It's smart, funny, scary, well-written, and genuine--qualities that are unfortunately hard to find in most adult novels. Likewise, if you enjoy this book, you have the opportunity to delve into the many other Bellairs books which are generally of the same quality of this story. (Besides, the terrific Edward Gorey pictures alone make this book a great read!)

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 House with a Clock in its Walls" (1973) is the first in the Lewis Barnavelt series.

Lewis 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 House with a Clock in its Walls" is a whimsical horror tale involving a deceased wizard's scheme to end the world. The book was illustrated by Edward Gorey (speaking of whimsical horror), and was at one time transformed into a made-for-tv movie for children.

So far from what I've read of Bellairs, 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 skilled in magic, and are very likeable. They perform magic tricks for Lewis and make him chocolate chip cookies and coca, and generally treat him as a small adult. The one thing Uncle Jonathan is reluctant to talk about is the ticking noise within his old house.

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 the 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

Bellairs's first book may well be his best, a chilling ghost story that adds to my suspicion that he thought clocks were intrinsically evil (just joking)

The young hero, a pleasant Charlie Brown type, is sent to live with his Uncle Jonathan at a rambling old mansion with hidden passages and big creaky rooms. He soon discovers that Jonathan is a wizard--so is the crotchety next-door-neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman. And by attempting to impress his friend, Lewis has unleashed a long-dead evil force that is trying to bring about the end of the world...

Aside from the ghost story, there is also an underlying theme concerning Lewis's friend, who taunts him into doing things he knows isn't right. Hopefully, this would affect readers into thinking over what a true friend, like Mrs. Zimmerman, is in comparison to the kids at school.

Lewis is likable because of his truthful portrayal, an ugly duckling with a heart of gold. His uncle Jonathan is a rough diamond with a strange sense of humor, who will win over the readers immediately.

Some readers might be offended by the usage of "white magic" and accidental "black magic," by the heroes of this book, but do keep in mind that the "white magic" is mostly illusions, like a holodeck, and Lewis almost dooms the world because of his dabblings in the "dark side," of which he quickly repents. The magic is of the type in many fantasy novels, unrealistic and dreamlike.

This book is an excellent read!

Poor Lewis...He's recently lost both parents, he's fat, and he's going to live with Uncle Jonathan, a relative he's never met. Lewis discovers that Uncle Jonathan is basically a nice guy, but a little weird. And something about his house is weird too. It's full of clocks, but one of them in particular keeps ticking...and ticking...and ticking...and no one knows where it is.

`The House with a Clock in its Walls' is a genuinely creepy story with strange, likable characters. Several humorous, light touches run throughout the book, but the scary scenes really deliver. Any kid (or adult) who enjoys the Harry Potter books will find this book a welcome addition to their reading while they wait for the next J.K. Rowling outing. Although the book is for both boys and girls, the book will especially attract boys who may not be interested in sports. Highly recommended.

179 pages with great illustrations by Edward Gorey