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Title: The Doom of the Haunted Opera by John Bellairs, Brad Strickland ISBN: 0-14-037657-7 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The story
Comment: This book is actually based on a town. In fact its the one i live in. Their is an old opera house that is all run down and John Bellairs wrote a book about it. He also based "The House With the Clock in its Walls" off a Marshall house.
Rating: 5
Summary: "The dead will rise..."
Comment: "Doom of the Haunted Opera" is one of my favorite books by John Bellairs/Brad Strickland, a good mix of spookiness, humor, supernatural megalomania, and a dash of real human fears. Lewis Barnavelt and Rose Rita Pottinger are at their best here.
Jonathan Barnavelt receives the news that a friend -- another wizard -- has recently died, and posthumously asks that Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann take care of his old magical objects. The two leave New Zebedee, and Rose Rita and Lewis are left to their own devices. They explore an old opera house and find a crumbling old opera called "Day of Doom," by Immanuel Vanderhelm. As Lewis finds the opera, he sees a ghostly dead man who calls out "Beware the doom of the haunted opera! He means to be King of the Dead!"
Then a strange man appears in the town, claiming to Vanderhelm's grandson. He means to put on as performance of the opera, and at first everything appears to be all right. But soon all the adults in the town are enamored -- and enspelled -- by Henry Vanderhelm, communications with the outside world are cut off, wizards are locked in their houses, and Lewis sees a tomb statue come alive in the graveyard. With the help of a well-meaning ghost and a grandmotherly witch, can Rose Rita and Lewis hope to stop the raising of the dead?
Anyone who has suffered through a badly-performed opera will enjoy the idea of one being a necromancer's spell. The imaginative plot base is only one of the appealing things about "Doom." The incredibly grim and tense plot is leavened by humor, such as Jailbird the whistling cat and Finster, a ghost who inadvertantly freaks out Lewis with ghostly intonations, then makes himself sound more friendly. Aside from the usual fears of evil sorcerers, there is also the chilling fact that the capable adults are not present throughout much of the book -- we get to see how Lewis and Rose Rita can try to handle the situation on their own. Any kid who has had to deal with a crisis on their own can relate to the fear and frustration of the heroes in this book.
Lewis is, as always, a sweet timid boy who has more guts than he knows. Rose Rita is his equal friend (she can't really be classified as a sidekick) who has to take matters into her own hands when Lewis vanishes. Mrs. Jaeger is a little too vague to be entirely believable, but the idea of an absent-minded grandmotherly witch is a nice one. The deceased Finster is a good source for plot-related info, and mildly amusing as well. And Vanderhelm is an outstandingly sinister villain.
Full of the funny and the spooky, this is a first-rate thriller for fans of fantasy, horror, and John Bellairs. Excellent read.
Rating: 4
Summary: A good book for those into mystery, and horror stories.
Comment: I felt that this book really drew me into its plot. The evil man trying to produce this opera made me realize how charming and innocent people sound when you don't have all the pieces of their life story. It was also exciting to see Rose Rita, and Mrs. Jaeger coming together to thicken and enrich the plot. The only criticism is that there's not much of an epilogue at the end of this story.
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Title: The Specter from the Magician's Museum by Brad Strickland, John Bellairs, Edward Gorey, Lisa Moore ISBN: 0140386521 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder by John Bellairs, Brad Strickland, Edward Gorey ISBN: 0140375112 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Ghost in the Mirror by John Bellairs, Brad Strickland, Edward Gorey ISBN: 0140349340 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs, Mercer Mayer ISBN: 0140363378 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: January, 1993 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Tower at the End of the World by Brad Strickland, S. D. Schindler, John Bellairs ISBN: 0803726201 Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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