Read Series: Johnny Dixon
by Author John Bellairs
The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost (1997)
The thing I love the most about the John Bellairs books is the artwork by Edward Gorey. This story is a bit patchy, but fun to read aloud. Our 'hero' Johnny Dixon spends much of this story in a coma (possibly from some sort of demonic possession, and Fergie and the professor are the heroes in thi...
Chessmen of Doom (2000)
In The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder, Johnny Dixon's best friend Fergie steals an enchanted book from the library, and slowly falls under the spell of evil sorcerer Jarmyn Thanatos. In The Chessmen of Doom, Johnny and his friends must unravel the baffling riddle in Peregrine Childermass's w...
The Curse of the Blue Figurine (2004)
Continuing on in my comfort reading binge, I slipped into juvenile fiction to re-read this John Bellairs book. I loved his books when I was younger -- from the Edward Gorey covers to the creepy mysteries therein I always preferred the Johnny Dixon/Professor Childermass books to the Lewis/Rose Rit...
The Secret of the Underground Room (1992)
Gruff and lovable Father Higgins is one of the better supporting characters in John Bellairs' many books.And in "The Secret of the Underground Room," the evil-battling priest slips into the spotlight in an intriguing ghost story. Though not Bellairs' best, it's a chilling and fast-paced thriller ...
The Eyes of the Killer Robot (1998)
Gothic horror for children. Bellairs was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid, but this is my first time reading this particular book. The problem with reading Bellairs as an adult is that it seems unbelievable when the characters don't seem to learn anything from book to book - Johnny ge...
The Trolley to Yesterday (2004)
I loved all John Bellairs books as a kid & teen, including this one. Reading it again, I was surprised to realize how willy-nilly the plot is and how broadly the characters are painted. The protagonists--an elderly professor and two teenage boys in 1950s Massachusetts--spend most of the story b...