The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Encyclopedia
The House With a Clock in Its Walls is a gothic horror novel directed at child readers. It was written by John Bellairs
and originally published in 1973. The book was illustrated by Edward Gorey
.
moves to the (fictional) town of New Zebedee, Michigan
, to live with his mysterious uncle Jonathan Barnavelt. Jonathan turns out to be a mediocre, though well-intentioned, wizard, while his next-door neighbor and good friend, Florence Zimmermann, is a far more powerful good witch. Jonathan's house was previously owned by Isaac and Selenna Izard, a sinister couple who had dedicated their lives to evil magic, and plotted to bring about the end of the world. Before dying, Isaac constructed the titular clock
that he hid somewhere inside the walls of the house, where it eternally ticks, still attempting to pull the world into the magical alignment, which would permit him to destroy it.
Lewis manages to befriend a local boy named Tarby, who is everything he is not—popular, athletic, thin, and so on—but the two soon begin to drift back apart. Lewis tries to win Tarby back by demonstrating how to raise the dead in the local cemetery on Halloween but only succeeds in releasing Selenna from her tomb
. An escalating series of encounters with the sorceress' ghost builds to a final confrontation in the basement of Jonathan's house, where Lewis must summon up his courage and prevent her from finishing her husband's work and bringing on Doomsday
.
As the story ends, Lewis announces that he has found a new friend, a girl named Rose Rita Pottinger
.
. After Bellairs' death in 1991, author Brad Strickland
took over writing the series, which as of 2008 was still in production.
.
John Bellairs
John Anthony Bellairs was an American author, best known for his well-respected fantasy novel The Face in the Frost as well as many gothic mystery novels for young adults featuring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon.-Biography:After earning degrees at University of Notre Dame and...
and originally published in 1973. The book was illustrated by Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
.
Plot
The book begins when the recently orphaned Lewis BarnaveltLewis Barnavelt
Lewis Barnavelt is a fictional character who appears in a series of children's gothic horror novels by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland. In each book, Lewis and his group of friends face and overcome various evil forces usually bent on ending the world....
moves to the (fictional) town of New Zebedee, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, to live with his mysterious uncle Jonathan Barnavelt. Jonathan turns out to be a mediocre, though well-intentioned, wizard, while his next-door neighbor and good friend, Florence Zimmermann, is a far more powerful good witch. Jonathan's house was previously owned by Isaac and Selenna Izard, a sinister couple who had dedicated their lives to evil magic, and plotted to bring about the end of the world. Before dying, Isaac constructed the titular clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
that he hid somewhere inside the walls of the house, where it eternally ticks, still attempting to pull the world into the magical alignment, which would permit him to destroy it.
Lewis manages to befriend a local boy named Tarby, who is everything he is not—popular, athletic, thin, and so on—but the two soon begin to drift back apart. Lewis tries to win Tarby back by demonstrating how to raise the dead in the local cemetery on Halloween but only succeeds in releasing Selenna from her tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
. An escalating series of encounters with the sorceress' ghost builds to a final confrontation in the basement of Jonathan's house, where Lewis must summon up his courage and prevent her from finishing her husband's work and bringing on Doomsday
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
.
As the story ends, Lewis announces that he has found a new friend, a girl named Rose Rita Pottinger
Rose Rita Pottinger
Rose Rita Pottinger is a fictional character who appears in a series of children's gothic horror novels by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland.The series is set in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the fictional town of New Zebedee, Michigan...
.
Other books in the Lewis Barnavelt Series
This is the first in a series of books by John BellairsJohn Bellairs
John Anthony Bellairs was an American author, best known for his well-respected fantasy novel The Face in the Frost as well as many gothic mystery novels for young adults featuring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon.-Biography:After earning degrees at University of Notre Dame and...
. After Bellairs' death in 1991, author Brad Strickland
Brad Strickland
William Bradley Strickland is an American author known primarily for his fantasy and science fiction. He was born in New Holland, Georgia....
took over writing the series, which as of 2008 was still in production.
- The Figure in the Shadows (1975)
- The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring (1976)
- The Ghost in the Mirror (1993)
- The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder (1993)
- The Doom of the Haunted Opera (1995)
- The Specter From The Magician's Museum (1998)
- The Beast Under the Wizard's Bridge (2000)
- The Tower at the End of the World (2001)
- The Whistle, The Grave, and The Ghost (2003)
- The House Where Nobody Lived (2006)
- The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer (2008)
Adaptations
The book was used as the basis for one of the three segments in the 1979 television anthology Once Upon A Midnight Scary, hosted by Vincent PriceVincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
.