The House with a Clock in Its Walls

By: John Bellairs

Narrated by: George Guidall

A haunting gothic tale by master mystery writer John Bellairs - soon to be a major motion picture starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black!

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his Uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both witches! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls - a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it!

©1973 John Bellairs (P)1992 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The House with a Clock in Its Walls will cast its spell for a long time." (The New York Times Book Review)

Fun!

Admittedly, I read this book because of the upcoming Jack Black movie adaption, and after reading I'm now stoked to see how the filmmakers handle the material. It has a lot of potential! The other concern I had was that one character preforms a magic spell that brings someone back from the dead and several other characters talk about preforming a seance which some parents (such as my mother, may she rest in peace) might have an objection to letting their children read (I'm also the kid who wasn't allowed to read Harry Potter growing up, so take that last paragraph with a grain of salt). But really this was a fun book with some wonderfully loveable and quirky characters and I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie later this year!

Audible Amazing

Love Audible! First book, whole family enjoyed it together. Wonderful. Looking forward to next. Amazing.

Finely!

Audio is a little crackly but I've been waiting for this recording with George Guidall for years.

Great book

We listened to it a a family. Our little guy really enjoyed it! It is funny and had a good deal of mystery.

Fun children's story

The narrator was excellent. The story was fun and interesting for pre-teens. It was mostly just plot, however. Very little depth or character development.