Underappreciated Author: John Bellairs

by Novel Nematode (Feb. 26, 2010)

(Originally published at novelnematode.wordpress.com)

Our first author to be profiled in Criminally Underappreciated is the master of the macabre, the sultan of suspense and the earl of eerie – John Bellairs!

I first discovered his book The Curse of the Blue Figurine in grade school and was immediately hooked. I stayed up all night reading the tense, supernatural gothic mystery (with the lights on, closet doors firmly closed, and ushabtis locked away, of course) and couldn’t stop until I was sure that Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass didn’t meet a grisly end.

After that delightful night of scares, surprises, and spirits, I began to scour my local library for more.  Thankfully, Mr. Bellairs was a prolific writer and I gleefully filled my days reading and rereading his brilliantly written, clever, and undeniably creepy stories.

To this day, however, I have not managed to meet a single person (in the flesh) who has read a John Bellairs novel. I truly encourage you to pick up one of his many books. Though they were written to suit a young adult audience, they more than stand up to the test of time and are eminently enjoyable.

Why He Is Underappreciated:

Bellairs died in 1991, so his books aren’t exactly current. Moreover, the novels are set in the past (The Curse of the Blue Figurine takes place  in 1951), a decision that seems to have fallen out of favour with young readers, who prefer a contemporary setting.

I am sure that he is quite well-loved by older readers, but after an onslaught of supernatural romances such as Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and Beastly, a skimming of the dustjacket might leave youngsters asking “where is the tortured, twisted, unrequited love?”

Perhaps when well-written, suspenseful, supernatural mysteries that don’t leave a saccharine taste in your mouth come back into vogue, John Bellairs will be king.

Why You Should Read His Books:

How are John Bellairs’ books worth reading? Let me count the ways.

• Superb storytelling. Not simply a good, solid Nancy Drew-esque mystery, but an edge-of-your-seat, macabre tale set in an immersive world where anything is possible. Though I have read and reread his books so often that my copies are soft, velvety and falling apart, I still get these nostalgic urges to pull them out of my bookshelf and stay up all night.
• They will actually give you chills and thrills. I am not ashamed to say that some of these stories still give me the willies. Bellairs is a master of atmosphere and fills his books with creepy locations, lurking menaces, and a really fantastic sense of the unknown. You don’t know what is going to happen when you turn the page. You may think you have reached the climax and that things can’t possibly get any stranger or more tense, and yet you haven’t even scratched the surface. Bellairs fills his stories with enough twists and turns to always keep you guessing.
• Memorable characters. Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass, Anthony Monday and Miss Eells are all a part of my childhood. They are smart, funny, utterly human, and spectacularly sympathetic characters who you want to follow on adventures again and again and again, even if they give you the creeps. Thankfully Bellairs wrote each of his boyish protagonists a series of their own, so there’s no need to stop!
• They’re not just spooky… Bellairs is the kind of skilled author that can infuse even the scariest situation with his wry wit.
• You’ll learn something. As an English professor with a lifelong interest in history and archaeology, Bellairs was a bit of a know-it-all in the best sense. He integrates his considerable knowledge archaeological artifacts into The Curse of the Blue Figurine, which sparked my great interest in Ancient Egyptian history and mythology.
• Edward Gorey! The covers of all of the John Bellairs books that I read were by Edward Gorey, a famous artist known for his macabre illustrations. Edward Gorey’s evocative gothic cover art drew me in immediately, and John Bellairs did not disappoint. Sometimes it’s quite all right to judge a book by its cover, you might discover a gem!

These are some of my favourite books of John Bellairs’. He has an extensive biblography, and for more information on these or any of this other titles please visit Bellairsia. I will not include synopses now as I plan to review these books in detail in the near future!