The Doom of the Haunted Opera

John Bellairs, completed by Brad Strickland

Dial Books for Young Readers. $14.99
(paper, Puffin $4.50)

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The Doom of the Haunted Opera is the scariest John Bellairs book since Lewis and his Uncle Jonathan first appeared in The House with a Clock in Its Walls. The mysterious Mr. Vanderhelm plans to use a fearsome spell disguised as an opera to become the King of the Dead. Since all the wizards and witches of New Zebedee are missing, Lewis and Rose Rita are on their own!

John Bellairs died in 1991, leaving behind notes for several unfinished novels. Now Brad Strickland does an excellent job of continuing Lewis' loony but chilling adventures in the best Bellairs style. Haunted Opera was written from the last of Bellairs' notes. Strickland plans to write more books about Lewis and other Bellairs characters, but from now on, he is on his own. He should do well.

 

Also starring Lewis and Rose Rita, by John Bellairs:

The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Dial Books, 1973
The Figure in the Shadows. Dial Books, 1975
The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring. Dial Books, 1976

And completed by Brad Strickland:

The Ghost in the Mirror. Dial Books, 1993
The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder. Dial Books, 1993
The Doom of the Haunted Opera. Dial Books, 1995

And written by Brad Strickland:

The Specter from the Magician's Musuem. Dial Books, 1998
The Beast under the Wizard's Bridge. Dial Books, 2000. 

 

This review copyright 1996 by Wendy Morris
Information last updated January 7, 2001

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