# Help: trying to find young-adult novels illustrated by Edward Gorey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124 "2004-02-08T15:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/1 "2004-02-08T15:24:25Z")
The other day, a fragment of a memory dislodged itself from the detritus at the bottom of my subconscious and floated to the top, and now it’s puzzling me to no end: When I was about 11 or 12, I read a series of chapter books concerning a boy living with his aunt and uncle (or maybe great-aunt and great-uncle - some relatives who were not his parents, anyways.) His aunt and uncle were involved in witchcraft, and they had some adventures related to this. Not terribly descriptive, I know, but here’s what I remember the most about them: there were illustrations scattered throughout the books that were either done by Edward Gorey or someone trying to copy his style (i.e. moody, dark, black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings.) Anyone else remember these, or am I just deluding myself? ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/2 "2004-02-08T15:33:34Z")
I don’t know the book you’re talking about, but if you think you’d remember the title if you saw it, [this site](http://www.fearofdolls.com/gorey.html) might help. Good luck and let us know if you figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/3 "2004-02-08T15:45:36Z")
Maybe _The House With A Clock In Its Walls_ by John Bellairs? It’s illustrated by Gorey and the plot is pretty much what you described – an orphaned boy goes to live with his uncle, who is a rather mysterious magician/wizard type guy. It’s the first in a rather loosely connected series, some of the other titles focus on other children and their adventures, and the orphan boy is more of a secondary character, but they all tie in together somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/4 "2004-02-08T16:53:36Z")
Delphica’s right–it sounds as if you’re talking about John Bellairs’ _Lewis Barnevelt_ series. He had a couple other series (_Johnny Dixon_, _Anthony Monday_) that weren’t connected to each other or to Lewis’ series, and almost all the books seem to have been illustrated by Edward Gorey. I refer to them as “juvenile gothics”, and I generally find them more entertaining, and disturbing, than a lot of the books sold for adults. Bellairs was an excellent writer. I don’t have quite all of his books, but I’m getting close! ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/5 "2004-02-08T17:01:45Z")
I adored The House with a Clock in its Walls when I was a kid- it’s definitely the book you’re looking for. The last time I was at Barnes and Noble, I saw a book which collected several of Bellairs books in one volume. I wish I’d bought it. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-trying-to-find-young-adult-novels-illustrated-by-edward-gorey/228124/6 "2004-02-08T18:03:02Z")
Yup, that looks like it. Many thanks to you all, and let me just say that I love this site. 🙂