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The House with a Clock in Its Walls

(Lewis Barnavelt #1)

John Bellairs,

Edward Gorey (Illustrator)

3.77 · Rating details · 15,574 ratings · 1,924 reviews

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman ...more

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Paperback, 180 pages

Published August 3rd 2004 by Puffin Books (first published 1973)

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Community Reviews

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Average rating 3.77 ·

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· 15,574 ratings · 1,924 reviews

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Sep 26, 2018 Jesse (JesseTheReader) added it

This was such a surprisingly fun read! It's honestly one of those adventurous stories that warms your heart. It's full of magic and mystery and it's an all around good time. I'm really curious to see how this translates on the big screen.

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Dec 05, 2010 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: first-loves, super-private-journal, rain-man-reviews, inbetweenworld

one day when i was about 8 or 9, living in some chilly state, i bundled myself up until i looked like a little gray egg, hood over head, the hood's furry fringe making my face a cameo portrait of a round genderless blob, and proceded to wait for my ride in the lobby of my apartment building. a young man came down to use the vending machines there, looked at me, and asked conversationally, "Are you a little boy or a little girl?"... i died a little bit, then squeaked out: "I'm a little girl".

i one day when i was about 8 or 9, living in some chilly state, i bundled myself up until i looked like a little gray egg, hood over head, the hood's furry fringe making my face a cameo portrait of a round genderless blob, and proceded to wait for my ride in the lobby of my apartment building. a young man came down to use the vending machines there, looked at me, and asked conversationally, "Are you a little boy or a little girl?"... i died a little bit, then squeaked out: "I'm a little girl".

i laugh at the story now but i also can't help but remember the sharp flash of humiliation, the quick decision that it was less embarrassing to be a girl mistaken for a boy than to admit that i could have been a boy who looked like a girl, and then of course the ample self-loathing that followed. it is interesting to think about the complicated emotions that my youthful self had to wrestle with.

i recently re-read House with a Clock in Its Walls and was taken aback by the memory of reading it for the first time at age 10 or so - and the memory i had had back then of my moment of mortification and sudden femininity. a memory of a memory! i was never a bullied or angst-ridden child, so that memory pops out as almost uniquely painful. the protagonist Lewis Barnavelt of House With a Clock was the first time i'd read about a hero who was unheroic, who lied to avoid embarrassment, who rather despised himself. reading about him, reading the story of a boy filled with anxiety and doubt and even self-loathing, was almost like a tonic: now here was an author who lived in the real world! here was a protagonist who knew exactly how i felt that day. Lewis Barnevelt is akin to Narnia's Edmund or Eustace - except Aslan does not step in to help him slough off his self-hating nature. he has to do it on his own. he does not go on a quest and he does not save the day; instead he grows by bits and starts, the shedding of each of his dark layers a small triumph - quickly forgotten by Lewis, almost unbearably affecting to me. ...more

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Nov 11, 2017 Robin Hobb rated it really liked it

It has become harder and harder, I think, to find books for kids that are appropriately spooky without being gross out bloody or simply horribly dark.

John Bellairs walks that difficult line. The adventure is scary, and the danger is real, as is the magic. A huge plus is the boy's relationship with Uncle Jonathan who takes him in, and his uncle's friendship with Mrs. Zimmermann. Long before we were touting 'strong female characters with agency,' Mrs. Zimmermann existed! It's a pleasure to see ...more

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Nov 17, 2015 Calista rated it really liked it

Shelves: classic, genre-fantasy, genre-mystery, genre-horror-gothic, histiorical, bage-middle-grade, own, series, series-unfinished, 1970-1974

I read this book as a child. I wanted to read it again before the movie came out this month. I have to admit that most of the book faded from my memory till not much was left. It was interesting, as I read this it was like little puffs of smoke which were memories went off in my head and I would think, 'oh yeah', I remember that now. It was almost like reading this for the first time with some deja vu thrown in.

Lewis Barnavelt is an orphan and he goes to live with his uncle in Michigan. I know I read this book as a child. I wanted to read it again before the movie came out this month. I have to admit that most of the book faded from my memory till not much was left. It was interesting, as I read this it was like little puffs of smoke which were memories went off in my head and I would think, 'oh yeah', I remember that now. It was almost like reading this for the first time with some deja vu thrown in.

Lewis Barnavelt is an orphan and he goes to live with his uncle in Michigan. I know Michigan is a big state with lots of different settings in it, but the setting felt more like New England to me than Michigan. I love the picture of the house they live in. It is this awesome Adams family or Munsters type house. I dream of a house like that some day.

Lewis finds out his relatives is a witch and he has some magic interest in himself. If you listen to the walls there is a loud ticking you can hear in any room in the house behind the wall. Lewis ends up raising the dead and it sets off a chain of events that lead to the conclusion of the book. There were chills, there were creeps, there were monsters in this amazing beginning for John Bellairs. I think John is super talented and I love his writing. It is straight forward with such a clear voice. I also enjoy the character of Lewis. He is like Johnny Dixon in that he is not popular and he is not normal or into normal things. Lewis is overweight and can't play sports. He is scared of most things accept when it counts and his courage shines through. I can only think that John Bellairs was much the same way as a child. Smart and not as skilled fitting in. It is wonderful to have a different type of hero.

I am excited to see this movie and I hope they do a good job with the movie. I am thinking I might need to go back and read many of my books from childhood as I have forgotten them so completely. It was the same thing with the Egypt game. Stories fade from my mind over time and it's almost like reading it for the first time. Interesting. ...more

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May 07, 2019 J.L. Sutton rated it liked it

John Bellairs' The House with a Clock in Its Walls is another boy saves the world from destruction adventure that I enjoyed. Should be a fun read for all ages; it has enough creepiness and danger to keep the tension up to its conclusion. 3.5 stars.

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Jul 12, 2007 Brian rated it really liked it

This book scared the tar out of me when I was ten. I could barely fall asleep at night but I loved it. I used it as a read aloud to my fourth graders and they would BEG each day to hear more. Occasionally I would look up from my reading to see 20 horrified faces with their eyes wide open in anticipation of what would come next. Plus cool drawings by Edward Gorey.

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Feb 20, 2016 C. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: riedel-titles-2016

An outrageous fact: the more magical and creative a book, the more authors gear it to children. If in doubt that there is a grown-up market, let me set it straight! John Bellairs wrote “The House With A Clock In Its Walls” in 1973. I wish I had known of it after I was a child! I would have been even more delighted with every nuance of mystery, suspense, and humour when its protagonist Lewis Barnavelt, matched my age. This book dwells on no sadness but our introduction to Lewis is poignant: he is ...more

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Jul 12, 2018 Steven rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, ya, read-in-2018

This was okay. I read it since the movie is coming out soon, but I should have saved the story for the movie, which I'm hoping has a tighter plot and that the clock plays more of a role than a side tale for 95% and then a last minute "big deal" in the last 5%.

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Apr 20, 2007 Janine rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: folks who like it when their skin crwls and the hairs on the back of their neck stand up.

Shelves: kidsbooks

I actually had a woman come into the bookstore I worked at demanding a refund for this book. She had bought all of them for her nephew and it scared the bejesus out of him. She read one herself and was "shocked that anyone would let a child read such a thing." She said that one of our employees recommended it to her (Don, who is the only source I trust for children's lit. He is a God when it comes to kids books.) but she hadn't actually READ it before giving it to her nephew. Congratulations ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 JV (semi-hiatus) rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, fantasy, there-was-a-crooked-man, kids-these-days

"You may be wondering why I don't just tear down the wall and rip out the clock. Well, it wouldn't do any good. It sounds like it's behind every wall: up in the attic, down in the cellar, in the closets and storerooms and parlors. And sometimes it seems to be slowing down. I keep hoping it will stop. But then it picks up and keeps going. I don't know what to do."

Orphaned Lewis Barnavelt always felt there's an unusual phenomenon going on in his Uncle Jonathan's Victorian-inspired mansion in New ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Scott Rhee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens, dark-fantasy

John Bellairs published "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" in 1973. I was one year old at the time. I had somehow managed to skip over this one when I was a young reader, or, if I had read it, I don't recall doing so. I found a dog-eared, faded Dell Yearling edition at my local library's used book sale recently. I wish I could say that it beckoned me, but, alas, it was merely one in a pile of books that I bought that day. It has, until a few short days ago, rested comfortably, anonymously, on John Bellairs published "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" in 1973. I was one year old at the time. I had somehow managed to skip over this one when I was a young reader, or, if I had read it, I don't recall doing so. I found a dog-eared, faded Dell Yearling edition at my local library's used book sale recently. I wish I could say that it beckoned me, but, alas, it was merely one in a pile of books that I bought that day. It has, until a few short days ago, rested comfortably, anonymously, on a shelf in my bedroom. I picked it up arbitrarily, as I tend to do with books, and I began to read.

The joy of reading is one that I developed early, thanks in large part to my parents and grandparents, as well as my many elementary school teachers. I was fortunate to have liberal parents who did not discourage me from reading certain types of books. They did not steer me away from the books I tended to like---books with spaceships, green scaly astronauts, haunted houses, werewolves, and unicorns on the cover. They did not tell me my reading choices were "silly" or "immature". They encouraged me to read anything and everything, which I did. I still do.

The reason for stating this is because I had friends who had parents and teachers that, unfortunately, taught them that there are "silly" books not worth reading, as opposed to "serious" literature, the kind that has stood the test of time and taken on the label of "classic". Literary snobs would call these types of books "canonical". Everything else, according to these people, is fluff. "Popular" literature is beneath them. It's sad to say, but many of those friends of mine have children who are probably banned from reading the likes of J.K. Rowling, R.L. Stine, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Stephen King, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Walter Dean Myers. Oh, what they are missing…

Reading Bellairs's wonderful novel reminded me of my days in school, when going to the library was better than an evening at the movies or spending time at an amusement park. It triggered that excitement that I had, looking at the vast shelves upon shelves of ancient wisdom bound within the pages of those glorious tomes, knowing that I had access to all of it. To think that some people purposely deny themselves the luxury and excitement of reading is a depressing thought, and to deny one's children such a pleasure is unacceptable. But I digress...

Bellairs was the forerunner for dark fantasy authors like Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and John Connolly, and his stories were a perfect blend of supernatural creepiness and tween angst black humor.

"THWACIIW" introduces readers to Lewis Barnavelt, a ten-year-old who, at the beginning of the story, has lost his parents in a car accident and is forced to live with his Uncle Jonathon in New Zebedee, Michigan.

Uncle Jonathon is a bit eccentric, to say the least, but he is friendly and is excited to have Lewis stay with him. He has a thing with clocks---the house is full of them, tick-rocking away---and a weirdly flirtatious relationship with the widow next door, Mrs. Zimmerman, with whom Lewis is immediately enamored due to the fact that she is constantly bringing him fresh-baked cookies.

Nights are odd in the large, beautiful, but somewhat eerie house. Before bed, Uncle Jonathon walks through every room of the house, turning off all the clocks. Late at night, in bed, Lewis can inexplicably hear the rhythmic ticking of a distant clock, seemingly within the walls.

After some initial investigating, Lewis discovers some very frightening things. Some of them turn out to be not-so-frightening: Uncle Jonathon, it turns out, is an amateur wizard, and Mrs. Zimmerman is a witch. They aren't bad witches, though. The frightening thing he learns is that the original owner of the house, a man named Izard and his wife, were also practitioners of witchcraft. The bad kind: black magic. They despised everyone in the entire world and hoped to destroy it, but their deaths prevented them from getting around to it. Unfortunately, Lewis accidentally releases the ghost of the late Mrs. Izard, who is searching for her late husband's clock in the walls, which has the ability to end the world. On top of that, Lewis is dealing with bullies at school, and he isn't doing well in math class.

To say that I loved this book is an understatement. It is a truly fun, creepy little Gothic horror story with just the right amount of humor to make it palatable for most children and take the edge off the truly scary bits. It is, also, apparently the first in a series featuring young Lewis Barnavelt. I'm not sure how many books in the series Bellairs wrote, but I am sure that they are all wonderful.

If you don't mind reading something "silly", and if you especially don't mind letting your children read such silly fluff, you could certainly do worse than finding a copy of this wonderful book. ...more

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Oct 28, 2018 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I saw this book around last Halloween and decided to read it this year. Then I found out they were making a movie, too. No idea how the movie is, I have yet to see it, but the book was pretty darn great.

It's a children's book but like a famous German entertainer always said: what's good for children can't be bad for adults. ;)

Lewis lost his parents and so comes to live with his uncle Jonathan. Uncle Jonathan is ... eccentric, shall we say. So is his best friend, Mrs. Zimmermann. And they have ...more

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Sep 07, 2018 Ken rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A great creepy story with plenty of magic and mystery that will appeal to people of all ages.
The idea of a mysterious ticking noice from a hidden clock is such a fascinating concept!

This children’s favourite first came to my attention due to the forthcoming film adaptation, theres so many great elements to this book that judging by the tailer will introduce this great story to a wider audience.
I’m looking forward to seeing it!

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Oct 18, 2018 ABookwormWithWine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: murder-mystery-thriller, classics, fantasy, juvenile-fiction, made-me-chuckle, ghosts, drama, male-authors, magical, horror

/ 5

Apparently I am really loving the spooky Juvenile fiction lately. The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs wasn't overly spooky, but there was definitely a scene or 2 that got a little intense. How did I not know these existed?!

What it's about: Lewis Barnavelt is suddenly orphaned after his parents die in a car accident, and he goes to live with his uncle Jonathan. Lewis quickly finds out that both his uncle and his uncle's next door neighbor Mrs. Zimmermann are witches, and ...more

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Oct 07, 2016 Obsidian rated it liked it

Shelves: genres-for-everyone-dws, fall-fear-challenge-2016

Well I read this one and only realized now that it counts towards The Dead Writers Society October 2016 Genre challenge. So that's one less thing to worry about before the end of the month. I am also going to be reading this for the Horror Aficionados Fall Fear Challenge.

I read this as a kid and remember being haunted for a couple of days after finishing. The imagery, the illustrations, everything about the book scared me to (almost) death. I lived at the time in an old steel mill town and all Well I read this one and only realized now that it counts towards The Dead Writers Society October 2016 Genre challenge. So that's one less thing to worry about before the end of the month. I am also going to be reading this for the Horror Aficionados Fall Fear Challenge.

I read this as a kid and remember being haunted for a couple of days after finishing. The imagery, the illustrations, everything about the book scared me to (almost) death. I lived at the time in an old steel mill town and all of the homes had some quirky aspects to them. We had Victorian style homes as well as hundred year old houses with random towers and odd shaped roofs. So for me, I was able to picture the town of New Zebedee, Michigan because it felt very similar to my own.

Now as an adult I was hoping to feel those same thrills and chills. Instead I felt mostly annoyance for Lewis who kept doing things in order to keep a friend and who seemed to be almost always crying. His personality does a miraculous change in the end, and we have a random new character introduced who we had heard nothing about before. I know that there are a bunch more books in this series. According to Goodreads there are 12 books. However, I don't know if I would want to continue on since the rest of the books may taint my memory further of this book.

"The House With the Clock in Its Walls" has the main character moving to Zebedee to live with his Uncle Johnathon after his parents died in a car accident. Being met by a giant of a man with red hair all over, Lewis is initially afraid, but is soon enchanted with the home that his uncle lives in. His uncle's best friend and general pain in the butt friend Mrs. Zimmerman lives next door and has the run of the home.

Though Lewis is fascinated by the home, he realizes early on that something weird is going on with his uncle getting up in the middle of the night and looking for something. And pretty soon Lewis due to him trying to impress his friend Tarby puts everyone in danger when he plays with something he does not have any real knowledge of at all.

Lewis is described as overweight and loves to read. You get to see illustrations of him in the book and he is depicted as roundish with his head always pointing to the ground it seemed to me. Lewis doesn't have a lot of self confidence and it seems that when things don't go his way (which is often) he runs away in tears. Things seem to be better when he meets a boy named Tarby who is the most popular boy at his school, who teaches Lewis how to play baseball. However, when Lewis feels Tarby pulling away he does what he can to get him to still be his friend.

Uncle Jonathon seemed clueless about things that Lewis was doing and how he was doing at school. I wanted more interaction with him and Lewis. Heck Mrs. Zimmerman had more sense about what was going on and I wish she had a conversation with Lewis. It would have been great if Lewis had learned earlier on that you can't keep someone in a friendship they are not feeling.

The writing was good, though I can see as a kid why the book scared the crap out of me. Bellairs is quite good at making you feel jumpy while you are reading. There are several points in the book you will hold your breath and be scared to death. The illustrations help with that too.

I think the flow wasn't very good though. It seemed like the book went almost through an entire year. And we really only focused on the summer months and then October and November. There is a significant event that takes place right on Halloween, so those who need to read this book for some bingo squares, it fills quite a few.

The ending was a bit of a letdown. I wanted more an epic battle I guess. And then to have the book kind of just go to Lewis being fine about things because hey he met another friend was a bit funny to me. ...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Leah Adams rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Leah by: Self

This is a book that I have read since I was 11 years old. I love it so much, and it has been so influential in my life, that I even have a tattoo of the Ace of Nitwits.

It is the story of 11 year old Lewis Barnavelt and is set in the fictional town of Marshall, Michigan in the 1950's. He is a young boy whose parents have just died. He is overweight and generally an outcast from his schoolmates. He has been sent to live with his Uncle Jonathon, who lives in an old ramshackle mansion next door to ...more

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Feb 03, 2018 Latasha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, library-books

Where is that ticking coming from?!

I read this with some friends and glad I did. I wish this series had been part of my childhood. The story was fun & imaginative and just enough scary for youngsters.

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Aug 31, 2018 Cameron Chaney rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, middle-grade, series, spooky, 2018

This isn't my favorite of John Bellairs books, but it is definitely charming and spooky. A must if you enjoy children's horror! I'm looking forward to the movie coming later this October.

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Jul 13, 2012 Michelle Isenhoff rated it it was ok

This book was odd. Recommended to me by a friend, I had high expectations that simply weren’t met. It starts out with ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt on his way to his uncle’s house after his parents’ deaths. Uncle Jonathan is a minor magician, and he lives in an old mansion formerly inhabited by an evil wizard. Strangely, the walls in the house tick. Jonathan’s neighbor, a peculiar old woman named Mrs. Zimmerman, also dabbles in magic. Together they try to learn the old house’s secrets. At one This book was odd. Recommended to me by a friend, I had high expectations that simply weren’t met. It starts out with ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt on his way to his uncle’s house after his parents’ deaths. Uncle Jonathan is a minor magician, and he lives in an old mansion formerly inhabited by an evil wizard. Strangely, the walls in the house tick. Jonathan’s neighbor, a peculiar old woman named Mrs. Zimmerman, also dabbles in magic. Together they try to learn the old house’s secrets. At one point, Lewis dips into one of his uncle’s forbidden magic books, then he and his friend sneak into the graveyard to try a spell to raise the dead. Their success nearly leads to the end of the world.

The whole setup has a bizarre, creepy feel. Yes, Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman are good wizards, but they are so odd. I never warmed to them (or any other character). They have strange personalities and do odd, random things. I never felt I had a handle on who they are or why they did what they did. They didn’t make sense. And some plot events, like the time the three are chased in their car in the middle of the night, are never explained. What was that all about, anyway? It just builds on a series of weird events that don’t really make a solid picture at the end. It feels disjointed.

It was fairly predictable. I didn’t like the characters. The pictures were even stylized in a way that didn’t appeal to me. Twice it put me to sleep. I almost didn’t finish. I don’t usually rate books on my blog, but this one gets a two. That’s mostly because the suspense was okay and the old mansion was really cool. So why did I bother reviewing it? Because I know this book has been highly acclaimed and the series has sold well (maybe later books explain some things?). But I just didn’t get it.

How’s the content? Wikipedia calls it “children’s gothic horror,” though it isn’t terrible. A dead person comes to life via a spell, but most magic is innocent. Scenes from Harry Potter are far worse. Lewis’ hand is once guided by an unseen force. A Ouija board is mentioned but not used. It’s mostly creepy hype. I think there may have been one mild profanity, but I’m not sure. Like I said, I fell asleep twice and had to reread portions.

Can you tell I was disappointed? But obviously a lot of people like it. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Completely Melanie rated it liked it

This was just ok for me. I read it with my son before the movie came out because we were planning on going to see the movie. After reading it and having seen trailers for the movie, I was guessing that the movie was going to be very different from the book and better than it as well. After watching the movie, my assumptions were correct. The movie was really good, though they changed and added so much more, but in this case, I prefer this movie over the book. The story is about a boy named Lewis ...more

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Jan 28, 2020 Juli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-audiobooks-2020

What a magical story! I loved this book!

Lewis Barnavelt lost his parents and he is scared about coming to live with his Uncle Jonathan. He's heard rumors that his uncle is a bit weird....and it's just distressing to a child to be thrust into the unknown. But soon he learns to love his Uncle Jonathan and his eccentric neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman. They love and accept Lewis. Plus, both Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman are witches! The old house abounds with magic and all sorts of exciting things! ...more

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May 12, 2015 Wart Hill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

love John Bellairs. creepy, fun, kind of sweet in spots. great read.

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Oct 03, 2018 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries, fantasy, own, read-aloud, middle-grade, horror

I only vaguely remember reading this as a kid. I remember things like his corduroys going whip-whip as he walks, which is still the best way to describe corduroy pants! I remember the Fuse Box Dwarf, who jumps out and says, "Dreeb! Dreeb!" when you go into the cellar. I think I read it when I was a bit older, not the target audience, and I remember hearing a lot about it as a kid. I know there are lots of people who cite this as one of their all time favorite books. It's not one of my favorites, ...more

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Jan 16, 2018 Tyler J [They/He] Gray rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, 1970s, own-physical, middle-grade, a-series-im-in-the-middle-of-thing

4.25

I really enjoyed my first John Bellairs book!

I really enjoyed the character of Lewis. Well I enjoyed his uncle Johnathan and his next-door neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman too. Lewis felt like a real 10 year old to me. He wants to have a friend, he gets teased for being fat, he cries and it's ok. Uncle Johnathan is a good uncle too and I enjoyed seeing their friendship between him and Mrs. Zimmerman.

I also really liked how, yes there is evil people using magic but Johnathan and Mrs. Zimmerman use ...more

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Aug 01, 2018 Lauren Stoolfire rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, mystery, middle-grade

I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation and thought it looked like a lot of fun, so naturally I wanted to try the book before I saw it. Unfortunately I wasn't as big of a fan as I thought I would be, but either way I'm still really excited for the movie.

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Aug 03, 2010 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fantasy

Here's another book where I bounced back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. There are a few flaws but on the whole an enjoyable little book (I had one caveat, but I'll mention it later after a "Spoiler" warning).

I sort "rediscovered" YA and juvenile books "again" a while back. I usually find myself (when I read one) wondering if I'd have reacted any differently if I still had small kids at home or if I were still sharing them with my own kids. This one was as I said before overall a good book and ...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Adult readers who like Harry Potter

Shelves: horror, part-of-a-series, owned-copy, children-s-book

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked young Louis and his Uncle and his next door neighbor friend, who both happened to be powerful Sorcerers. They had some fun discussions, and did some cool little magic tricks to keep little Louis from feeling so lonely since he's not terribly popular. The house was a character in itself. Definitely creepy, especially knowing what it was built for. There were some moments scary enough to give a grownup a good start, but not too scary for a kid, particularly ...more

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Mar 29, 2018 Eliza rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade

I reread this on audiobook this weekend but didn't mark it on goodreads till now but i loved it just as much i did before i can't wait to see the movie now

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Jan 04, 2020 Alexandra rated it liked it

Shelves: made-into-movies, own-on-audible, avail-on-kindle, isa-blake-ideas, middle-grade-fantasy, middle-grade, read-in-2020, lewis-barnavelt-series

Robin Hobb's review says it better than I could. I do want to point out that this book is set in 1948, so there are a few references to things our current crop of kids will likely be unfamiliar with. It also is kid-level creepy/scary.

For a reader in the target audience age I think enjoyment will depend on having some tolerance for those things.

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Apr 16, 2018 Will rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: 2018, childrens-lit, horror

I saw a recent movie trailer for an upcoming release that is based on this novel. I was intrigued as I had never heard of it before. The scenes looked interesting enough so I figured I would read the source material.

Perhaps this is one of those pieces of literature that speaks to a young person but does not necessarily translate once you're an older adult who has seen some sh*t. This is meant for children after all.

I found the characters one dimensional and our protagonist, Lewis, very much ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: Is it possible to add?	3	16	Mar 21, 2019 08:29AM
Goodreads Librari...: New book added although it's just another edition	2	16	Sep 16, 2018 10:32PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Middle-Grade book series from the 90s, one character dies at the end of one of the books and coins are placed on his/her eyes. [s]	7	350	May 09, 2018 11:16AM
Horror Aficionados : the House With a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs	48	49	Feb 07, 2018 09:55AM
What is the most memorable or influential book you read as a child and why?	5	25	Nov 03, 2013 08:20AM

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About John Bellairs

John Bellairs

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John Bellairs (1938–1991) was an American novelist working primarily in the Gothic genre. He is best-known for the children's classic The House with a Clock in its Walls 1973) and for the pathbreaking fantasy novel The Face in the Frost (1969). Bellairs held a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University and a master's in English from the University of Chicago. He combined writing and teaching ...more

Other books in the series

Lewis Barnavelt (1 - 10 of 12 books)

Books by John Bellairs

The Curse of the Blue Figurine (Johnny Dixon, #1)

The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt, #2)

The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (Lewis Barnavelt, #3)

The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt (Johnny Dixon, #2)

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Trivia About The House with a ...

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Quotes from The House with a ...

“He invented the Fuse Box Dwarf, a little man who popped out at you from behind the paint cans in the cellarway and screamed, "Dreeb! Dreeb! I am the Fuse Box Dwarf!" Lewis was not scared by the little man, and he felt that those who scream "Dreeb" are more to be pitied than censured.” — 33 likes

“He held the book up to his nose. It smelled like Old Spice talcum powder. Books that smelled that way were usually fun to read. He threw the book onto his bed and went to his suitcase. After rummaging about for awhile, he came up with a long, narrow box of chocolate-covered mints. He loved to eat candy while he read, and lots of his favorite books at home had brown smudges on the corners of the pages.” — 29 likes

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