Characters

Lewis Barnevelt : is John Bellairs's first young protagonist, a timid, chubby boy whose actions and interests are akin to those of the author as a thirteen year-old growing up in Marshall. We are introduced to Lewis's strange but somewhat familiar world in The House with a Clock in its Walls .

Lewis is the only son of Charlie Barnavelt and his (unnamed) wife, both of whom died sometime in 1948 in an automobile accident in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After this traumatizing ordeal, Lewis is sent to live with Charlie's brother, Jonathan, in New Zebedee, Michigan.

Lewis is very much a loner in his new surroundings, usually content to stay at home and read or visit with his uncle or next-door neighbor Mrs. Zimmermann - or even take part in one of their poker games! He does get out of his new home, the three-story monolith at 100 High Street, enough to explore New Zebedee though his low self-esteem prevents him from maintaining friendships with those his own age.

Rose Rita Pottinger:

'Jonathan Van Olden Barnavelt"

Lewis soon learns a few things about his uncle. One, he has an A.B. degree from Michigan Agricultural College in Animal Husbandry. Secondly, and more importantly, Jonathan is a wizard, though not as powerful as their neighbor, Florence Zimmermann, who just happens to be a witch. Jonathan calls himself a "parlor magician," one who can conjure up grandiose illusions of historic battles and even eclipse the moon. Whatever his limitations, in House, he and Zimmermann must use all their abilities to stop the impending End of the World at the hand of the evil Izards. With help from Lewis, the trio finds a way to stop the ticking clock inside their house.

Throughout the Barnavelt series "Weird Beard," or "Brush Mush" (both typical good-natured insults cast on Jonathan by Mrs. Zimmermann), is a voice of reason and good-humor who must take on a new role as parental figure in Lewis's life.

Mrs. Florence Zimmerman : John Bellairs's lavender-loving witch, the woman with a passion for purple, has been entertaining readers since she was first introduced in 1973's classic The House with a Clock in its Walls. She lives in New Zebedee, Michigan, next door to the Barnavelts - Uncle Jonathan and his young nephew Lewis. Described as being "not a cruel witch with a black hat and a broom and an evil laugh, but a friendly, likable, next-door-neighbor witch, [The Figure in the Shadows, " Zimmermann plays the role of a motherly advisor in House, introduced to readers after Lewis gets off the bus in a strange town and led by a man he has never met before to a new home he has never seen.