the house with a clock in its walls by john bellairs

Have a beer at Dark Horse Brewing, where roughly 4,000 mugs hang from the walls and ceiling.

When the sun turns in, take a seat at colorful Brooks Memorial Fountain to watch the nightly light show described by Lewis. Go for a stroll through Oakridge Cemetery, whose tombstones and mausoleums served as the backdrop for a pivotal scene in the book. It feels like a game, trying to pinpoint the real-life places that made their way onto the page, whether in words or in the form of Edward Gorey’s evocative illustrations. No matter when you visit Marshall, a little imagination is all it takes to get happily lost in Lewis’ New Zebedee. For ticket info and to register for the free walking tours, call the library at 26. Call 26 for details and tickets.Ī children’s tea with Bellairs’ characters takes place on the Cronin House lawn Sept. 21, it will host an evening reception with magicians and book signings by author Brad Strickland, who continued to write Lewis Barnavelt mysteries after Bellairs died in 1991 of cardiovascular disease at age 53. The Cronin House is at the center of a couple of events during The House With a Clock in Its Walls Weekend. (The basement is still “super creepy,” Hamilton admitted, although he hasn’t heard any tick-tock sounds emanating from the walls.) A little time and a lot of money later, the Cronin House looks regal again. The parquet floors were so warped that some of the doors wouldn’t open.

The home needed some magic when Hamilton bought it it was in shambles. “People walk through the yard all the time - treat it like a park,” Hamilton said with a laugh. He’s even grown accustomed to fans taking selfies on his front lawn. He was in the dark about another well-known Marshall fact: The Cronin sisters, who lived in the house until the early 2000s, would always hand out full-size candy bars on Halloween. “I just thought I was buying this cool house in the middle of nowhere,” said Hamilton, who grew up in Indiana and was in the market for a second home in the Midwest. Hamilton had no idea the house was a local celebrity of sorts when he purchased the fixer-upper in 2016.

The house with a clock in its walls by john bellairs