the house with a clock in its walls edward gorey

E.g., his circumstances matter, whereas in a lot of stories for children offing the parents before we get going is just a bit of plot contrivance. The main character of the first two books, Lewis Barnavelt, is the rare orphan-sent-to-his-eccentric-uncle-after-his-parents-die who is actually sad about what’s happened to him and yet who is able to make a new home. The other thing I really liked were the characters. It’s the kind of magic that can operate within an otherwise mundane world without being a big deal and yet drive the story of two preteens and the eccentric adults in their lives along just fine. Magic is a hobby, but if you come across something bad and dangerous (or it’s in your house already), you have to do something about it. The main magicians aren’t out there looking for evil. But there’s some dark magic out there that is very bad and powerful: hidden clocks intended to bring about the end of the world, a ring intended to give its wearer power over an evil spirit, a Hand of Glory made from a hanged man that can paralyze anyone who sees it. It’s low-key and subtle, for the most part: little rituals that do small things, weird magic mirrors and little artifacts.

Magic in this world is a mundanely scholarly subject: you can study it and wield some minor and subtle powers if you know your stuff. The magic in the book was one of the two things that really hooked me and I still like it. It’s not a book where the people who can use magic are throwing fireballs around. I hear from some people that it’s not bad, but I can tell from the trailers alone that it’s not what I’d want.

The House With a Clock in its Walls is one of those books that I never really wanted to see adapted as a film or TV series, and I wanted that even less when I heard Eli Roth had signed to direct an adaptation.

The house with a clock in its walls edward gorey