SOLVED. A shapeshifting guardian haunts an abandoned house; statue found in hollowed book (lots of detail) [s]

[Ryan]

A long time ago, I read a number of books by the same author (it may or may not have been a series, but the books were all in the same vein either way). My memory of them is very blurred, but there are a few details I can remember.

First of all, I'm almost certain the author was male, because I remember my teacher recommending him to me (though of course I can't remember his name). I would consider them to be written at a middle-school reading level or higher, although I don't know for sure. The books aren't classics, but they aren't particularly recent - I would guess '80s or '90s. The other details I remember are pretty specific to individual books, and I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of two separate books.

One of the books, the one I remember better, involved an eerie mansion/manor house (or some kind of building like that) that was guarded by a shape-shifting 'watcher' type of thing. There was a poem in the book about how the watcher could be anything, and I specifically remember the creepy verse saying it could be even a "puddle of moonlight on the floor." Also, I believe the presence of the watcher thing turned candle flames blue, and I have a random specific memory of the male MC struggling to strike a match to light a candle or lamp or whatever when he finally went into the house at the climax of the book. There was also a statue/figurine that the character(s) found inside a hollowed-out book that had some significance to the development of the plot, enough to even be mentioned in the title, though I don't know what that significance was. I'm pretty sure the title was of the form "The x, the y, and the z" or something like that, where either the x, y, or z was "statue" or something.

The second of the two that I can remember is the more morbid one, I suppose. The characters are at a summer home or something of the 'recently deceased rich uncle's mysterious country estate' type, and the mystery-ish plot begins when the characters are playing with a ball and accidentally smash a plaster bust out in the yard, and a human skull is found inside. The plot goes on to include something to do with a curse or something that takes them to another world or does something when they do something with an ace of spades card in a specific location within the house (I think a fireplace had something to do with it?). (My memory of this one is obviously a little less clear.. :P)

Thanks for your help in advance! I've been searching for this book series for a while. If you want any clarifications or details, I'll do my best to give more info!

[Kris]

Ryan, I moved your request to the "Unsolved" folder because you're looking for a specific book. Good luck with your request!

[Lou]

Maybe John Bellairs?

[Ryan]

^That's the one! Thanks Lou :) Solved.

[Shelia]

So what is the name of the book

[Lou]

From what I could tell the various details were from four or five different books; I think the one with a watcher in a mansion would be The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, and The Curse of the Blue Figurine for the statue in a book. The candle flame might be The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb.

I couldn't begin to guess about the skull in plaster, ace of spades, fireplace, or traveling to another world. They're probably from yet another book (or books) though, since Ryan remembered them as separate from the other three.

I think in this case the solution was not so much a book as an author.

[Ryan]

Right, I guess I wasn't looking for a particular book (although it is really helpful to know that I was actually thinking of those 4 or 5) - I was only interested in the author, since that was what all my disjointed memories of the books had in common.

That being said, if I am supposed to get a solid book title answer before moving the thread to the "Solved" folder, then here they are:

The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt
This book was the one with the guardian who turns candle flames blue. I confirmed this here and here.

The Curse of the Blue Figurine
This was the one about the statue in the hollowed-out book, like Lou said.

The Mansion in the Mist
This was the one about going to another world, and it does involve the ace of spades (see here); I'm still assuming that this is the one that also included the bits about the fireplace and the skull in the plaster, but I can't confirm those parts for sure.

Thanks again for the help!

[Kris]

Ryan, glad you found your author - and thanks for the providing the book titles!

By the way, this group is great for helping people with different types of book requests: a specific book, a book series, an author, or a book theme.

[Lou]

Really, you were looking for a book, it's just that that book turned out to be a partial bibliography instead.