Sunday, November 22, 2015

Time Capsule: Nov. 22, 1935

After Johnny Dixon has a run-in with school bully Eddie Tompke, Gramma Dixon helps treat Johnny's cut finger:

"As Gramma fussed over him she went on about the Tompkes and their relations, the Tadmans and the Sweets and the Schemanskes. Gramma was like that.  She had lived in Duston Heights all her life, and she knew everything about everybody." - The Cure of the Blue Figurine (1983)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Unpublished Blog Post Found On The Laptop Of A Long-Retired New York Advertising Executive

Pope Francis
Next time...next time it will be better. Haven’t yet found the nun who was waving that black squiggly flag. Paint the runway white and gold? Nah, it didn’t work that last time, either. Someone said his Fiat driver was found on Uber, but I must check it first. A flash mob of people outside Saint Michael’s Cathedral acting out an open Communion line, complete with Papal ferula-shaped selfie sticks. Should be interesting.  Those kids might be on to something.  Does open up a new field, though.... And this time he got to visit the White House. Humpf.  Znerb. Tweb.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Survey: Your Favorite Johnny Dixon Book?

Here's your chance to vote for your favorite book in the Johnny Dixon series.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Thus Spake Zebulon Patriach

It's always fun to see contemporary artists take on the work on John Bellairs, such as these storyboards by Anissa Espinosa of The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost.  Good work!

Friday, July 31, 2015

The Gargoyle in the Dump

And now for something completely different - and unexpected: The Gargoyle in the Dump is a recently discovered, never-before-published story by John Bellairs to be published September 2015 from Open Road Media.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Survey: Your Favorite Anthony Monday Book?

Here's your chance to vote for your favorite book in the Anthony Monday series.

What's What: Magna Carta

Professor Childermass boasts that the name Childermass is "ancient and honorable" with one of his ancestors alongside the barons who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta [The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull, 9].

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Memoriam: Christopher Lee

We learned today of the passing of Sir Christopher Lee, the iconic British actor who gained fame for his many films roles, beginning with Frankenstein's monster (1957) and Count Dracula (1958), continuing with Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014), and two films of the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002 and 2005).

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Who's Who: Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

Lewis envisions himself wearing Grampa Barnavelt's lucky coin, imagining that he was this figure [The Figure in the Shadows; 61].

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Answers Blowing in the Wind

I was on the mend a week or so ago from a dog bite when a flood of questions entered the mind. Would I have to get a tetanus shot? Would the dog have to get a tetanus shot? Should I have bit back? Why are idioms called idioms and not, say, qualinyms? The amount of questions reminded me, when I found my pending posts file at the Bellairsia office, that I have been meaning to post a few words about questions and answers as a way to address those pointless websites where people ask questions that they couldn't manage to find answers to themselves.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Survey: Your Favorite Lewis Barnavelt Book?

Here's your chance to vote for your favorite book in the Lewis Barnavelt series.

Who's Who: C. S. Forester

Rose Rita had just begun reading a book by this author about a naval captain during the Napoleonic wars [The Specter from the Magician's Museum; 35].  Lewis later reads a rousing sea adventure by the same author [The Tower at the End of the World; 78].

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Who's Who: Rocky Marciano

After sleepless nights from worrying about the Keller family in the Hawaii House, Jonathan says his nephew looks like he went a few round with this world heavyweight champion (The House where Nobody Lived; 116).

Friday, February 13, 2015

Staging "Heartbreak House"

The fifth - and we assume final - in a series of articles about Bellairs performing with the College of Saint Teresa Drama Department.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Swift As A Shadow, Short As Any Dream

Since we're celebrating The Figure in the Shadows this year we thought we might as well point out that today in the United States and Canada - February 2 - is the only day of the year when "figure in the shadows" refers to a rodent named Phil.