The Figure In the Shadows (13 page)

The party went on for hours until finally everyone was so tired they could hardly keep their eyes open. Rose Rita and Mrs. Zimmermann went home, and the other two dragged themselves off to bed.

Several days later, Lewis was in the front hall tugging at a boot that just would not go on. Suddenly the mail slot flapped, and a smooth white packet fell onto the doormat. At first, Lewis was terrified. But then, after he had calmed down, he hobbled over to the door and picked the envelope up. Lewis started to laugh. It was the Charles Atlas booklet.

John Bellairs was the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of many Gothic novels:
The Curse of the Blue Figurine, The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, The Lamp from the Warlock’s Tomb, The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull, The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost, The Chessmen of Doom, The Eyes of the Killer Robot
, and the novels starring Lewis Barnavelt, Rose Rita Pottinger, and Mrs. Zimmermann—
The House with a Clock in Its Walls, The Figure in the Shadows, The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, and The Ghost in the Mirror
(completed by Brad Strickland).

John Bellairs died in 1991. However, there are several more books that Mr. Bellairs left that Puffin will be publishing. Brad Strickland, a longtime Bellairs fan, will be completing them, just as he did
The Ghost in the Mirror.

Mercer Mayer is the creator of many acclaimed picture books, including the classic
There’s a Nightmare in My Closet, There’s an Alligator Under My Bed,
and
There’s Something in My Attic.
He and his wife and children share their Connecticut farm with a dog, a cat, and four horses.