The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull

The Johnny Dixon Series, Book 3

By: John Bellairs

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

A bookish boy searches for his missing best friend in this spooky tale by the author of The House with a Clock in Its Walls.

On a country lane in snowbound 1950s New Hampshire, a car goes skidding off the road. Professor Childermass and Johnny Dixon escape unscathed, but their car is stuck, and they are forced to walk into town. Johnny doesn’t mind. A curious young man, he has fun anytime the professor takes him out, because he’s treated like an adult. Together they’ve gotten into all sorts of supernatural scrapes, and this winter night they’ll face their toughest challenge yet.

When Childermass suddenly vanishes, Johnny is the only one who can find him. The mystery is linked to a tiny skull taken from a child’s dollhouse, which seems to have powers too terrible to guess at. With the help of a crusty old Irish priest, Johnny chases the clues to his friend’s disappearance all the way to the rocky coast of Maine, where something evil hungers for revenge.

The Johnny Dixon novels are charmingly old-school and shot through with suspense, and The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull may be the most chilling of them all.

©1983 John Bellairs (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

John Bellairs is the best!

Another adventure about Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass. Lots of excitement thrills and chills and with a satisfying ending. I always enjoy Johnny Heller’s readings of these books.

Excellent audio of my favorite childhood books

I am struck, coming back to these books 35 years after I first read them, how excellent the writing is. Heller and Guidall both do a sensational job of narration.