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Anthony Monday Mysteries #4
The Mansion in the Mist
While spending the summer in an old house on a desolate Canadian island, Anthony Monday and Miss Eells discover a chest that can transport them to another world and a maniacal group who are plotting the destructon of people on Earth.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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462 people want to read
About the author
John Bellairs
64 books565 followersJohn Bellairs (1938–1991) was an American novelist. He is best known for the children's classic The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973) and the 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 later lived and wrote in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
April 22, 2022
Wow! I loved this book. This book was published in 1992 and John Bellairs died in 1993 so this is one of the last completed novels he wrote. Anthony Monday was the first series he started and he added this on at the end.
I thought this was a great book. It might be my favorite Anthony Monday book of the 4. I had so much fun reading it and I loved the creepy, gothic feel to it. It's a portal fantasy. This time, Anthony and company are at a remote cabin in Canada for the summer and they find a truck that transports them to another world, a dangerous creepy world.
John Bellairs does tone and setting so well. I love it. This is it, the last book that John had any thing to do with that I have no read. I've completed my goal and read them all. They have been delightful and I only wish I would have read them all when I was young and enjoyed them more. John Bellairs is an underrated treasure.
I thought the mansion was super creepy and being out in the middle of nowhere added to the feeling of isolation and being on your own.
I am working on my niece and nephew reading this, but so far, they have not bitten.
I thought this was a great book. It might be my favorite Anthony Monday book of the 4. I had so much fun reading it and I loved the creepy, gothic feel to it. It's a portal fantasy. This time, Anthony and company are at a remote cabin in Canada for the summer and they find a truck that transports them to another world, a dangerous creepy world.
John Bellairs does tone and setting so well. I love it. This is it, the last book that John had any thing to do with that I have no read. I've completed my goal and read them all. They have been delightful and I only wish I would have read them all when I was young and enjoyed them more. John Bellairs is an underrated treasure.
I thought the mansion was super creepy and being out in the middle of nowhere added to the feeling of isolation and being on your own.
I am working on my niece and nephew reading this, but so far, they have not bitten.
July 3, 2013
Reaching the end of John Bellairs' works published up to this death, I realize that the books became more contrived and poorly plotted as time went on, ending in manners of happenstance, deus ex machina. Despite the drop-off from his earlier works, I can't help but enjoy them, and this one at least has some unique oddities to it most particularly the incorporation of extra dimensions that I only wish Bellairs had spent a greater time crafting with the detail he routinely committed to describing historical settings. The portion of the book taking place in a cabin within the Canadian wilderness is superbly creepy, but then, with the break of a windowpane, the action is forced back to Bellairs' typical locale and the employment of random chance to move his characters forward in the plot. If only it had stayed in Canada, this could have been one of his strongest stories. It's sad to reach the end of Bellairs' output, but I'm eager to delve into the stories completed and later originated by Brad Strickland.
July 9, 2010
The last novel Bellairs completed before his untimely death. It's one of my favorites. I love the weirdness of it - the strange other world, the withered Autarchs, the mysterious mansion. It's great to see Anthony being proactive in resolving the conflict, he really drives the story forward and there's a great sense of stakes. I think this is also the only book where Bellairs shows us things that happen that are not from the point of view of the protagonists, and the result is some fine suspense. Anthony Monday's last adventure is a high point. It just makes it more tragic that Bellairs left us just as he was upping the game.
July 6, 2011
Not his best. Not at all scary and badly edited. There is far too much 'telling' and not enough 'showing'. I had to wonder how a passage like this following get by his editor?
"When Miss Eells, Anthony, and Emerson came to, they felt very dizzy and scared to death."
After a quick google search I discovered Bellairs died in '91. This was published in '92. I guess it was an unfinished manuscript hastily cobbled together for print. Too bad as it could have been good. I noticed that "The Secret of the Underground Room" was published in '90 and that one was plenty creepy with all the characteristic Bellairs charm. It's good to know he had not lost his touch with age.
"When Miss Eells, Anthony, and Emerson came to, they felt very dizzy and scared to death."
After a quick google search I discovered Bellairs died in '91. This was published in '92. I guess it was an unfinished manuscript hastily cobbled together for print. Too bad as it could have been good. I noticed that "The Secret of the Underground Room" was published in '90 and that one was plenty creepy with all the characteristic Bellairs charm. It's good to know he had not lost his touch with age.
August 26, 2011
Anthony Monday is looking forward to spending his summer with his librarian friend, Miss Eells, and her brother Emerson at their summer cabin. While they’re there, however, some strange things begin to happen. Anthony discovers a chest that transports him to another dimension/world where a secret society known as the Autarchs has set up their headquarters. They plan to use their powers (through the Logos Cube) to bring everyone on earth to their world where they will rule over them. The only glitch in their plan is that they cannot find the cube. When Anthony and his friends learn of the Autarchs’ plan, they begin their own search for the cube. They have an advantage to start with – they have the clue that can lead them to the cube. But the Autarch’s leader quickly crushes any hope they have when he destroys their means of transportation between worlds. By then, Emerson is determined to find the cube and save the world – will he and Anthony be able to find another way into the Autarchs’ world?
This dark and creepy tale will leave young readers slightly shivery. The Autarchs are pretty scary, but nothing truly horrible happens to Anthony or his friends. Some of the plot relies heavily on convenient coincidences (like finding a copy of the Autarchs’ mansion in a local town, and happening to discover a magical desk in Miss Eell’s coworker’s home at a library function), but the suspense throughout and the exciting resolution have an ameliorating effect. Kids might not relate to Anthony, wondering why his closest friends are older adults (and not teenagers like himself). They may also be looking for books with more action, and this has a lot of quiet moments. I’m still quite fond of John Bellairs’ work, however, and this book – new to me – brought back memories of my enjoyment of his other stories.
This dark and creepy tale will leave young readers slightly shivery. The Autarchs are pretty scary, but nothing truly horrible happens to Anthony or his friends. Some of the plot relies heavily on convenient coincidences (like finding a copy of the Autarchs’ mansion in a local town, and happening to discover a magical desk in Miss Eell’s coworker’s home at a library function), but the suspense throughout and the exciting resolution have an ameliorating effect. Kids might not relate to Anthony, wondering why his closest friends are older adults (and not teenagers like himself). They may also be looking for books with more action, and this has a lot of quiet moments. I’m still quite fond of John Bellairs’ work, however, and this book – new to me – brought back memories of my enjoyment of his other stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2013
For some reason whenever I go to any Ocean State Job Lot, they always have the same John Bellairs books and I've purchased all the ones I could find in their chaotic, messy piles of books. This happens to be the only one from the Anthony Monday series I could find, and since I bought it for a dollar and it was the last one in the series, I decided to read the first three before completing this one. And now, I have finished the series.
I wasn't a big fan of the third book, but this one was excellent. The plot was great and it was paced quickly enough that I never got bored. Like the other books, they are short so I read it in one sitting.
I was hoping that the series would be wrapped up in this fourth and final book. But after learning that John Bellairs died and this was published after his death, I'm not even sure he was going to end the series here. But that's okay; you can pretty much read these in any order and it doesn't matter that the series just ends with no proper conclusion.
If you are venturing into the work of John Bellairs, definitely pick up this series and give it a try. It is middle grade, but creepy enough and kind of dark and violent sometmes, so I think other age groups can enjoy it. Good classic American Gothic fiction.
R.I.P. Mr. Bellairs.
I wasn't a big fan of the third book, but this one was excellent. The plot was great and it was paced quickly enough that I never got bored. Like the other books, they are short so I read it in one sitting.
I was hoping that the series would be wrapped up in this fourth and final book. But after learning that John Bellairs died and this was published after his death, I'm not even sure he was going to end the series here. But that's okay; you can pretty much read these in any order and it doesn't matter that the series just ends with no proper conclusion.
If you are venturing into the work of John Bellairs, definitely pick up this series and give it a try. It is middle grade, but creepy enough and kind of dark and violent sometmes, so I think other age groups can enjoy it. Good classic American Gothic fiction.
R.I.P. Mr. Bellairs.
June 10, 2011
I think this is the first Anthony Monday book I've read... which is odd since this is the last in his series, and indeed the last book that John Bellairs finished. I have read quite a few of John Bellairs and Brad Strickland's books. Of course, the Anthony Monday series is substantially the same as the Johnny Dixon and Lewis Barnavelt series (my favorite), so there were no surprises on the tone, characters or basic plot.
However, the whole inter-dimensional concept, the Autarchs and all of that good stuff tickled me absolutely pink. As has been noted, it is a bit more sci-fi than the Bellairs norm, but no less creepy... and just that little bit more surreal. Who else has ever written kid's fiction like this?
In short, tons of fun, and I wish I had discovered these books when I was eight or nine. Maybe it's just me, but I think John Bellairs's books would make for an interesting academic study.
However, the whole inter-dimensional concept, the Autarchs and all of that good stuff tickled me absolutely pink. As has been noted, it is a bit more sci-fi than the Bellairs norm, but no less creepy... and just that little bit more surreal. Who else has ever written kid's fiction like this?
In short, tons of fun, and I wish I had discovered these books when I was eight or nine. Maybe it's just me, but I think John Bellairs's books would make for an interesting academic study.
September 23, 2020
A fun, fast-paced book in which 13-year-old Anthony Monday and his senior citizen friends, Miss Eells, a librarian, and her brother, Emerson Eells (in their late 60s) stumble across another dimension, the sorcerer denizens of which want to take over the Earth. This happens while they are vacationing in Emerson's summer cottage on an unnamed island in northern Canada. The characters are interesting, although the sorcerers are little more than stock evil beings, and the atmosphere of the other dimension is suitably creepy and dismal. This is one of the last middle grade novels that John Bellairs wrote before he passed. I have read most of his spooky middle grade novels, and it is a good addition to his oeuvre. Bellairs is very good with fast-paced plots and creepy atmospheres, but doesn't spend a lot of time on characterization, although his main characters are interesting--people the reader might want to be friends with.
October 25, 2008
Any children's book illustrated by Edward Gorey has got to be all right. I've read the three-novel "House with the Clock in its Walls," so when a seventh grader I was working with directed me to this one, I came prepared to enjoy some spine-tingling, chilling fun, and I wasn't disappointed. I love Bellair's matter-of-fact tone and the books' setting in a rather pedestrian and bland 1950ish small town America. Now today, that same seventh grader and were reading a part of "Vengeance of the Witch-Finder" (finished by Brad Strickland after Bellairs's death) which was tremendously exciting.
July 8, 2011
I can't remember if I read this one as a child or not, but I just read it today, and I was underwhelmed. Part of me thinks that maybe I'm just a grown-up now, and I can see the myriad flaws, but no, I reread several of his books just a few years ago, and really enjoyed them. I think this was subjectively not as good as his best stuff, and much more pat and simplistic in its plot and ending.
August 26, 2018
A perfect chilling summer read!! :D
April 23, 2016
The last of the novels that John Bellairs finished before his untimely death, THE MANSION IN THE MIST really showcases the strengths and weakness of Bellairs as a writer.
This book features Anthony Monday, his librarian friend Miss Eells, and her brother, Emerson setting off for a quiet Summer vacation. As one would expect, it isn't actually very quiet, as Emerson reveals that their vacation destination was the site of some mysterious happenings, including the disappearance of three tourists. Things get creepy, and Anthony, Miss Eells, and Emerson eventually find themselves working to save the world from other-dimensional evildoers.
As usual, Bellairs is great when it comes to creating mood and setting. His prose is effortless, and filled with strong imagery and memorable moments. But, Bellairs's weak spots are also here: plot developments that come out of nowhere, weak characterization, and an over-reliance on coincidence.
But, really, Bellairs's books occupy their own unique universe -- lodged firmly between Roald Dahl, HP Lovecraft, and Stephen King, his books are scary and tap into adolescent fears and feelings, they are creepy without being terrifying, and everything mostly works out for the best, at least for most folks.
I started reading the Bellairs books two-and-a-half years ago, and I've found them to be entertaining and worthwhile. Some are better than others, but each had something unique enough to make it worth the time and effort. It's a shame he didn't get a chance to write more, because his voice was one worth seeking out.
This book features Anthony Monday, his librarian friend Miss Eells, and her brother, Emerson setting off for a quiet Summer vacation. As one would expect, it isn't actually very quiet, as Emerson reveals that their vacation destination was the site of some mysterious happenings, including the disappearance of three tourists. Things get creepy, and Anthony, Miss Eells, and Emerson eventually find themselves working to save the world from other-dimensional evildoers.
As usual, Bellairs is great when it comes to creating mood and setting. His prose is effortless, and filled with strong imagery and memorable moments. But, Bellairs's weak spots are also here: plot developments that come out of nowhere, weak characterization, and an over-reliance on coincidence.
But, really, Bellairs's books occupy their own unique universe -- lodged firmly between Roald Dahl, HP Lovecraft, and Stephen King, his books are scary and tap into adolescent fears and feelings, they are creepy without being terrifying, and everything mostly works out for the best, at least for most folks.
I started reading the Bellairs books two-and-a-half years ago, and I've found them to be entertaining and worthwhile. Some are better than others, but each had something unique enough to make it worth the time and effort. It's a shame he didn't get a chance to write more, because his voice was one worth seeking out.
October 29, 2008
I'd read this books several times as an adolescent and I always thought kindly on it. I recently just reread it and realized it was crap. The book is filled with plot holes, deus ex machinae, ginormous leaps in logic that belie the author's unstructured story development.
It's a perfect example of a NaNoWriMo, if such things existed when John Bellairs wrote this. Don't get me wrong, he's a talented guy, but I think he was capable of far more. There's evidence of that in his other novels! It's just that this one... sucks balls.
It's still wildly evocative - he was a master at creating a time and place and weird images, that's undeniable. But I think he was often baffled by the people he made up, and to me that felt very evident in reading this book again. His characters in this novel are stupid and only stumble upon the right answers because he shoves the right answers in their pockets. Anthony and Miss Ells deserve far better. I couldn't help wondering if Brad Strickland could turn this wreck into an enjoyable read.
Forget this one unless you WANT to put your eyes out with knitting needles and read one of Bellairs' Johnny Dixon stories instead.
It's a perfect example of a NaNoWriMo, if such things existed when John Bellairs wrote this. Don't get me wrong, he's a talented guy, but I think he was capable of far more. There's evidence of that in his other novels! It's just that this one... sucks balls.
It's still wildly evocative - he was a master at creating a time and place and weird images, that's undeniable. But I think he was often baffled by the people he made up, and to me that felt very evident in reading this book again. His characters in this novel are stupid and only stumble upon the right answers because he shoves the right answers in their pockets. Anthony and Miss Ells deserve far better. I couldn't help wondering if Brad Strickland could turn this wreck into an enjoyable read.
Forget this one unless you WANT to put your eyes out with knitting needles and read one of Bellairs' Johnny Dixon stories instead.
September 3, 2014
John Bellairs for me always conjures up nostalgia from my Elementary and Middle School days and as I surely got older the creepy settings and memorable period (Most if not all his stories take place in the 1950's)characters he created always stayed with me shaping my love for the Gothic mystery book. It can come as no surprise then that when I got older and got working I quickly started to buy Bellairs' work. The great thing about this author is he created 3 similar but different flavors in the 3 characters that make up his stories. Each one is the main character of their respective series, each one is admirable in their own way, each one has vulnerabilities, each one has something inside them that makes them special. For the Mansion in the Mist our hero is called Anthony Monday and he's got a friend called Miss Eells.
The Mansion in the Mist is one of the very first outings I took within Bellairs' Gothic mysteries. Unfortunately I started from the very last book in the series and worked my way backwards so if you'd like to do that start off with very first introduction to Anthony Monday get the book titled "The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn" 1978.
The Mansion in the Mist is one of the very first outings I took within Bellairs' Gothic mysteries. Unfortunately I started from the very last book in the series and worked my way backwards so if you'd like to do that start off with very first introduction to Anthony Monday get the book titled "The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn" 1978.
March 14, 2008
I am a HUGE John Bellairs fan. His death was a big blow, and I am afraid that I am not as big a fan of Brad Strickland as I would like to be. Bellairs had a way with weaving a plot and getting the reader drawn into the action. After a little while some of the plots do get predictable: Miss Ells breaks things, she and her brother doubt what Anthony senses/feels/sees, etc.... In the long run things sort themselves out (or do they...). The stories are light on the awful violence (but it does happen--people do die in these books, and they do not always die "nice" deaths.), and they are heavy on the psychological scares, which is really nice! I enjoy reading and rereading them. You have to hunt used bookstores for them now, because I am not sure how many titles are still in print.
August 14, 2017
Starts off decent and nicely creepy, but quickly becomes meh. My biggest issue was that the discovery of the bad guy's old house relies on a massive coincidence and pure luck. Would have been better if they found it by investigating. Maybe find out who owned the Canadian cabin before Edward and then connect that person to the house in Mississippi.
Also didn't like how Emerson jumps to the right conclusions based on very little information. And what was up with the ghostly whisperings. They are never explained.
Also didn't like how Emerson jumps to the right conclusions based on very little information. And what was up with the ghostly whisperings. They are never explained.
April 16, 2020
I loved John Bellairs as a kid and was captivated by the Edward Gorey covers of these books. I like the world building and the premise--the parallel world and the Autarchs were creepy and great--but thought the story was a little thin. The writing was stiff and it felt like everything that happened was too convenient, and it felt dated by comparisons to modern middle grade novels of the horror genre. Still, I would love to see a Tim Burton-esque adaptation of this, bonus points if it's stop-motion a la Nightmare Before Christmas.
November 18, 2018
Sadly, Bellairs last completed book before his untimely death isn't one of his best. However, I wonder if it was actually completed. A lot of it has a rushed and meandering quality, as though he wrote a draft to find the story, but then died before edits helped refine it. I guess we'll never know. I was going to give it just two stars, but elements of the ending were so strange and pointed the way to a much more exotic direction for these books, that I'll give it three.
July 11, 2021
I had read several John Bellairs books when I was a kid and I was feeling nostalgic so I had purchased a few randomly a while back. I am fairly certain that I never read this one as it was originally published in 1992, I did enjoy the gothic 1950s setting. I felt that the ending was a tad too rushed. But overall it was a fun read.
May 29, 2017
I like all of these books. I'm sure I could find things to be critical about, but I don't want to. I love the spooky atmosphere combined with the coziness of the characters' lives - working in a library, puttering around, making quips.
April 5, 2020
This creepy, atmospheric novel was full of hi jinks and danger! While it was never a super scary story you could feel the tension on every page; wondering if there was a man in a robe about to disintegrate your very being.
April 14, 2020
This was a recommendation by a close friend. It was good, but I probably won’t remember much about it. I love that a librarian could be such close friends with a 12 year old. I feel like this book is trying to do what John Connolly’s The Gates did much better.
September 8, 2020
A bit hard to follow at times , yet I still drank in every scene . Suspenseful in the way you know everything will turn out in the end. Even if I never write a suspenseful novel I know my time was worth it from imagining heroic efforts and interesting relationships and people.
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December 23, 2020An entertaining installment to this series - more overtly magical driven than others I’ve read. As seems the par for Bellairs - things seem to fall in line a bit too conveniently easy at the end but I’m willing to look past it. The positives overwhelm.
September 30, 2018
Sad that this is the last Anthony Monday, I like it better than the Barneveldt books.
October 2, 2020
Read out loud to the boys. One of my favorite of John Bellairs.
August 19, 2019
This concludes the "shortest" of John Bellairs series. I felt perhaps that nostalgia took over and I expected more out of these. This one suffers from many of the same issue as the earlier books in the series: There's a bit took much happenstance behind the plot rather than choices made by the protagonists.
I will say that the continuity is better in this book. (I'm wondering if Lamp From the Warlock's Tomb was intended to be the 2nd book.) But the pacing is seriously off. It starts off with the three characters going to spend some time at a remote cabin that Emerson owns. Previous visitors vanished under mysterious circumstances, so naturally, Anthony stumbles across a magical chest that acts as a gateway to another world. There's some mischief involved, but the gateway is destroyed before anything can be done. When they coincidentally make their way back to the world, we get the build up and resolution of the story super quickly.
I will say that the continuity is better in this book. (I'm wondering if Lamp From the Warlock's Tomb was intended to be the 2nd book.) But the pacing is seriously off. It starts off with the three characters going to spend some time at a remote cabin that Emerson owns. Previous visitors vanished under mysterious circumstances, so naturally, Anthony stumbles across a magical chest that acts as a gateway to another world. There's some mischief involved, but the gateway is destroyed before anything can be done. When they coincidentally make their way back to the world, we get the build up and resolution of the story super quickly.
July 31, 2025
This was my first John Bellairs book. I thought it would be The House with a Clock in Its Walls, but I decided to go with this one first. As an introduction to the man's work, I say it was good. I definitely got a feel for his writing style and way of storytelling. It gets me more excited for his other books.
With that said, the book is nothing special. The characters are simple, but likable. The story is a bit generic, but it has some fun ideas, like different dimensions. The idea wasn't used in horror all that much back then, so it was cool to read. The apnosphere is good and honestly it's a really great horror story for kids. It won't scar them, but creep them out just enough to leave an impact.
I will admit, this is mostly written for kids; it has a simplistic writing style and a not-so-grand story. Yet, if an adult wanted to check it out out of curiosity, I'd say yes. Something was waiting for them in the mist.
With that said, the book is nothing special. The characters are simple, but likable. The story is a bit generic, but it has some fun ideas, like different dimensions. The idea wasn't used in horror all that much back then, so it was cool to read. The apnosphere is good and honestly it's a really great horror story for kids. It won't scar them, but creep them out just enough to leave an impact.
I will admit, this is mostly written for kids; it has a simplistic writing style and a not-so-grand story. Yet, if an adult wanted to check it out out of curiosity, I'd say yes. Something was waiting for them in the mist.
Read
October 19, 2023I remember reading this as a kid in the mid 90s and being pretty turned off Anthony Monday's books in general, and it's apparent why--Emerson is far more of a main character here than Anthony. I don't remember balking at the premise, but rereading it as an adult, I got more than a few whiffs of Hellraiser (Autarchs = PG Cenobites?). The Temple of the Winds and busting up some flowerpots makes me think Bellairs (or one of his kids) maybe played a little Zelda, too.
Parallel dimensions are very cool, but this one wasn't nearly as spooky as The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb.
Parallel dimensions are very cool, but this one wasn't nearly as spooky as The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb.
October 19, 2021
A nice send off for Anthony Monday. This story is more fantastic like the Trolley to Yesterday, but has that missing element of the clue trail / puzzle. I still think the first book was the best of the four, but this one is better than Weatherend.
Now that I'm done with these 4, I'll probably donate them. I have too many other books on my shelf that haven't been read once, so I can't justify rereading these again.
Now that I'm done with these 4, I'll probably donate them. I have too many other books on my shelf that haven't been read once, so I can't justify rereading these again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews