John Bellairs: Difference between revisions

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* [[And I Must Scream]]: Selenna Izard seems to have been a case of this before she is summoned in ''The House With a Clock in Its Walls''.

* [[Bizarrchitecture]]: In ''The Tower At The End Of The World''

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The series in general does this, either with a book that the characters are reading, or books finished after Bellairs' from a previous minor aspect in another book, usually the ''The House With a Clock In Its Walls'', Lewis, Mrs. Zimmermann, and Uncle Jonathan escape from Mrs. Izzard by crossing a river because [[The Oldest Ones in ~~The~~ Book|"evil can't cross running water"]]. This comes up again in ''The Figure in the Shadows'', when the purity of water is also what counters all curses, thus wiping Eliphaz Moss's ghost from the coin. The same bridge comes up in the book "The Beast of the Wizard's Bridge" (written/finished by Brad Strickland with Bellairs' characters.) Tarby, an Izard (Once mentioned and the other in a plot-revelant situation), Doomsday clocks(or where the clock was), the Bridge.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The series in general does this, either with a book that the characters are reading, or books finished after Bellairs' from a previous minor aspect in another book, usually the ''The House With a Clock In Its Walls'', Lewis, Mrs. Zimmermann, and Uncle Jonathan escape from Mrs. Izzard by crossing a river because [[The Oldest Ones in the Book|"evil can't cross running water"]]. This comes up again in ''The Figure in the Shadows'', when the purity of water is also what counters all curses, thus wiping Eliphaz Moss's ghost from the coin. The same bridge comes up in the book "The Beast of the Wizard's Bridge" (written/finished by Brad Strickland with Bellairs' characters.) Tarby, an Izard (Once mentioned and the other in a plot-revelant situation), Doomsday clocks(or where the clock was), the Bridge.

* [[Cool Old Guy]] / [[Cool Old Lady]]: Bellairs LOVED this trope. Prospero and Roger Bacon in ''The Face in the Frost''. Uncle Johnathan and Mrs. Zimmerman. Prof Childermass and [[Badass Preacher|Father Higgins]]. Miss Eells and her brother Emerson.

* [[Creepy Cemetery]]: Full of [[Doctor Who ~~(TV)~~|weeping angels]]

* [[Creepy Cemetery]]: Full of [[Doctor Who|weeping angels]]

* [[Creepy Circus Music|Creepy Piano Music]]: Puts a spell on everyone but the protagonist children in ''The Doom of the Haunted Opera''

* [[A Day in ~~The~~ Limelight]]: Rose Rita and Mrs. Zimmerman get a book all to themselves. The Professor and Fergie get theirs in "the Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost." Father Higgins steps in in "The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull" with a full one coming in "The Secret of the Underground Room". Averted hard with the Professor's Father (who gave all of his sons names from Tobias Smollett Novels), a near-illiterate sister, who has two illiterate children, and brother, F.C.F. Childermass, who is mentioned to be dead, and logically might have a couple of children.

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Rose Rita and Mrs. Zimmerman get a book all to themselves. The Professor and Fergie get theirs in "the Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost." Father Higgins steps in in "The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull" with a full one coming in "The Secret of the Underground Room". Averted hard with the Professor's Father (who gave all of his sons names from Tobias Smollett Novels), a near-illiterate sister, who has two illiterate children, and brother, F.C.F. Childermass, who is mentioned to be dead, and logically might have a couple of children.

* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: Johnny's middle name, and the Professor's Family, we find out a great deal about them, far more than the family of any other, however, with the exception of a semi-"[[Ass Pull]]" invoked in the final two Johnny Dixon books involving {{spoiler|the Professor's Brother}}, {{spoiler|Humphrey, who went from dead, to faking his own death,}} none of them ever physically appear within the books themselves (unless you count {{spoiler|Perry's ghost in "The Chessmen of Doom" and Johnny's vision in "The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull")}}

* [[The End of the World As We Know It]]: In ''The Tower at the [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|End of the World]],'' natch. This is also what would happen if Selenna Izzard succeeds in using the titular clock to bring about Doomsday.

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: In ''The Tower at the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|End of the World]],'' natch. This is also what would happen if Selenna Izzard succeeds in using the titular clock to bring about Doomsday.

* [[Evil Brit]]: {{spoiler|Edmund Stallybrass in "The Chessmen of Doom", Dr. Rufus Masterman in "The Secret of the Underground Room" in the Johnny Dixon series, and Malachiah Prutt in "The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder", Dr. Plimico and her [[Fake Brit]] husband, Evaristaus Sloane, in "The Eyes of the Killer Robot"}} Inverted with: {{spoiler|Cousin Pelham, Bertie, and co.}}

* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: Every main villain in Bellairs novel is one of these. Many them tend to also be undead and are plotting the [[The End of the World As We Know It]].

* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: Every main villain in Bellairs novel is one of these. Many them tend to also be undead and are plotting the [[The End of the World as We Know It]].

* [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin]]: The titles of most of the books. ''The House With a Clock in Its Walls'' (guess what's in the walls of the house), ''The Curse of the Blue Figurine'' (there's a blue figurine, and it's cursed) and ''The Lamp From The Warlock's Tomb'' (go on, guess what that's about.) Others, while still simple titles, aren't quite as clear in their meaning and significance (''The Dark Secret of Weatherend'', ''The Figure in the Shadows'').

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: The titles of most of the books. ''The House With a Clock in Its Walls'' (guess what's in the walls of the house), ''The Curse of the Blue Figurine'' (there's a blue figurine, and it's cursed) and ''The Lamp From The Warlock's Tomb'' (go on, guess what that's about.) Others, while still simple titles, aren't quite as clear in their meaning and significance (''The Dark Secret of Weatherend'', ''The Figure in the Shadows'').

* [[The Fifties]]: When a lot of the books take place.

* [[Genre Shift]]: The Trolley To Yesterday is a time-travel story (and a steampunk one at that!). This has lead to something of a [[Broken Base]], including a case where Brad Strickland wanted to write a sequel to it, but the editor won't allow it because she hated Trolley To Yesterday!

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* [[Literal Genie]]: The demon Asmodai in ''The Letter, The Witch and the Ring''. The titular ring is a magic ring that grants wishes — by allowing the wearer to invoke the demon. Upon finally getting possession of the ring, the villain wishes to be young and beautiful and to live for a thousand years — then vanishes. The heroes later notice a young willow tree nearby...

* [[More Deadly Than the Male]]: Mrs. Zimmerman to Uncle Jonathan. Rose Rita to Lewis

* [[Never Mess ~~With~~ Granny]]: Mrs. Zimmerman

* [[Never Mess with Granny]]: Mrs. Zimmerman

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: Happens a lot, with a great deal of suspense ratcheted up from what isn't seen or isn't happening. As just a few examples among many: Lewis finding Izzard's papers in the old piano, only to be 'attacked' by moths; his search of the house across the street for Mrs. Izard; in the sequel, the dream of the titular figure walking along the old country road, and the figure itself always being [[In the Hood]]; Johnny Dixon fleeing the mummy through the secret passage from the mausoleum, then knowing it is coming for him in the darkness of Staunton Herald...

* [[Ominous Fog]] + [[Fog of Doom]]: Cuts off New Zebedee from the rest of the world

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* [[Small Reference Pools]]: Inverted and taken [[Up to Eleven]] , there's the magic and salt Pillars, Roman Emperors besides Caesar, Nero, Caligula, and Claudius (taken from "[[Small Reference Pools]]") with Hadrian, Otho, Vitellus, and Trajan, this same brother was a huge fan of General Nicholas Herkimer, Halley's Comet, Heraldry on Ancient Shields in France, Hamlet and that's just from a whopping TWO books in the Johnny Dixon series. The subtrope [[Britain Is Only London]] is averted heavily even when important actions take place in Britain, London is mentioned only as the place where the characters travel through. Glastonbury -- Yes, Bristol -- Yes, Isle of Lundy --- Definitely. London is mentioned in the works with Bellairs' characters as much as several other places in England. And once it was two stations on London Underground. {{spoiler|and yes it was important to the plot.}} Another time was in relation to Sherlock Holmes.

* [[Status Quo Is God]]: Invoked only once with the {{spoiler|Return of Father Higgins at the end of "The Secret of the Underground Room"}} All other times not invoked, which includes Lewis and his belt buckle, the Windrows, Perry's body, heck, even {{spoiler|Humphrey's "Death"}} lasts for less than one book.

* [[Things That Go Bump in ~~The~~ Night]]

* [[Things That Go Bump in the Night]]

* [[Tomboy]]: Rose Rita

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Black-magic users Isaac and Selenna Izzard in ''The House With A Clock In Its Walls'', although they're both already dead by the time the story actually starts.