The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs (1993)

After both his parents die, LEWIS, a quiet ten-year old boy, goes to live with his mysterious Uncle Jonathan. UNCLE JONATHAN is a heavyset, boisterous man who lives in a mansion. Lewis likes living there the mansion is cool and Uncle Jonathan is like a big kid. And Jonathan can do magic.

Lewis explores the town it s beautiful and old, with a sense of antiquity that makes it a rather surreal and mysterious place, in rather a Mark Twain sort of style. It made me miss the old New England town where I grew up.

Subtle magical stuff happens, particularly in Jonathan s house. Jonathan tells Lewis about the former owner of the house, a reclusive wizard whom Jonathan blames for the constant sound of ticking that emanates from inside every wall.

At school, Lewis is unpopular with everyone except a daring heartthrob named TARBY. Tarby is extremely popular and takes Lewis under his wing. Lewis is happy to be Tarby s friend, though Tarby s a little mean and Lewis is a little insecure. Lewis goes to great lengths to impress Tarby, who s not impressed by much, and is a bit of a jerk to Lewis once he realizes that Lewis has a friend-crush on him.

Trying to show off, Lewis uses one of Jonathan s magic books to raise the dead, and accidentally summons the dead wife of the house s former owner. Spooky stuff starts happening. Lewis discovers that MRS. IZARD, the undead witch that he raised, is somehow plotting to destroy the world though the use of the clock that ticks in the walls of Jonathan s house. MRS. ZIMMERMAN, Jonathan s elderly witch friend, helps them to hold back Mrs. Izard for a while. They locate the source of the ticking, which is connected somehow to Mrs. Izard's plot of end the world. As this is the first book in a series, we're pretty safe in the assumption that they will foil the villain and emerge victorious - and boy, do they ever. This is about the happiest ending to a book I've ever read, and it comes out of nowhere. But it's that spirit of randomness, dealt liberally throughout the story, that makes it enjoyable.

What an excellent spooky environment. The setting of this story is quite rich magic tombs, secret passageways, furniture that does unexpected things everything in this story is hiding something fantastic. It s a great place for a scary story you never know what s going to do something weird next. It s got the rich childlike wonder and adventuresomeness of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe plus the hyper-real eerie harshness of an Edward Gorey drawing.

The story overall is quite engaging. After some initial aimlessness for the first few chapters, nothing of great urgency happens the story really takes off with the threat of evil magic and Lewis faltering relationship with Tarby. Just the right amount of time is spent on the Lewis-Tarby issue; unlike a lot of teen dramas, in which the character would have agonized over his popularity, Lewis is strong enough to keep his attention focused on his own more dire problems.

Great characters, too. Lewis has a great, strong, sensitive personality. He is occasionally vulnerable to insecurities and fears, but not unreasonably so although he may feel bad about himself, he never sacrifices his identity or tries to be someone he s not. In addition to his intelligence and curiosity, he s an awfully brave person. His uncle Jonathan and Jonathan s friend Mrs. Zimmerman are both interesting as well they have great chemistry together and are wonderfully eccentric.

There s two other books in the series The Figure in the Shadows and The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring so there s plenty more to read. It s a fabulous universe full of exciting and unpredictable elements that sustain lots of adventures. The book is mainly confined to the house, but it does venture out occasionally to school, to the cemetery, and the surrounding countryside all of which have the same exciting, suspenseful dark tone. A dark, Tim-Burton-meets-Roald-Dahl-meets-Lemony-Snicket type series of adventures of a young orphan and his wizard Uncle in a small spooky town.