Jonathan Barnavelt receives the news that a friend -- another wizard -- has recently died, and posthumously asks that Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann take care of his old magical objects. The two leave New Zebedee, and Rose Rita and Lewis are left to their own devices. They explore an old opera house and find a crumbling old opera called "Day of Doom," by Immanuel Vanderhelm. As Lewis finds the opera, he sees a ghostly dead man who calls out "Beware the doom of the haunted opera! He means to be King of the Dead!"

Then a strange man appears in the town, claiming to Vanderhelm's grandson. He means to put on as performance of the opera, and at first everything appears to be all right. But soon all the adults in the town are enamored -- and enspelled -- by Henry Vanderhelm, communications with the outside world are cut off, wizards are locked in their houses, and Lewis sees a tomb statue come alive in the graveyard. With the help of a well-meaning ghost and a grandmotherly witch, can Rose Rita and Lewis hope to stop the raising of the dead?

Anyone who has suffered through a badly-performed opera will enjoy the idea of one being a necromancer's spell. The imaginative plot base is only one of the appealing things about "Doom." The incredibly grim and tense plot is leavened by humor, such as Jailbird the whistling cat and Finster, a ghost who inadvertantly freaks out Lewis with ghostly intonations, then makes himself sound more friendly. Aside from the usual fears of evil sorcerers, there is also the chilling fact that the capable adults are not present throughout much of the book -- we get to see how Lewis and Rose Rita can try to handle the situation on their own. Any kid who has had to deal with a crisis on their own can relate to the fear and frustration of the heroes in this book.

Lewis is, as always, a sweet timid boy who has more guts than he knows. Rose Rita is his equal friend (she can't really be classified as a sidekick) who has to take matters into her own hands when Lewis vanishes. Mrs. Jaeger is a little too vague to be entirely believable, but the idea of an absent-minded grandmotherly witch is a nice one. The deceased Finster is a good source for plot-related info, and mildly amusing as well. And Vanderhelm is an outstandingly sinister villain.

Full of the funny and the spooky, this is a first-rate thriller for fans of fantasy, horror, and John Bellairs. Excellent read.


A good book for those into mystery, and horror stories.   February 29, 2000
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I felt that this book really drew me into its plot. The evil man trying to produce this opera made me realize how charming and innocent people sound when you don't have all the pieces of their life story. It was also exciting to see Rose Rita, and Mrs. Jaeger coming together to thicken and enrich the plot. The only criticism is that there's not much of an epilogue at the end of this story.


This was a pretty good book   February 11, 1998
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have reviewed this book as 8. It was a great book but it needed a better ending. Rose Rita and Lewis go searching through a sealed up opera house when Lewis finds a lost piece of Music. Little did he know he was bring a evil ghost back to life to try to take over the world.


Very smooth transition from author to author   January 3, 1998
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Brad Strickland must have faced a considerable task when he began the completion of John Bellair's books. For years, John's heroes of Anthony Monday, Johnny Dixon, Lewis Barnavelt and Rose Rita Pottinger kept the reader busy as they explored and fell into all sorts of settings and supernatural events. From the Windrow curse to the dark secret of Weatherend, the books that Bellairs wrote captivated me, and it certainly wasn't just because of the plot twists and ever-changing settings. Bellairs had a style of writing that made his books close to the reader, even with a setting in another time or even another dimension. Brad Strickland has proved that the transition from the now unfortunately late Bellairs to him is going smoothly. His Hand of the Necromancer did not fail as he went "solo", and neither does the Doom of the Haunted Opera, which was begun by Bellairs as a sketch and finished by Strickland.

Our Lewis Barnavelt and Rose Rita are stuck in cozy (But boring) little New Zebedee, waiting for excitement. Discovering an old opera score, the excitement quickly comes when all adults in the town are swept up in the music rush. The composer of the opera's grandson comes to town, and it is quickly revealed that he has more interests with New Zebedee's inhabitants than just performing a dusty old work and setting up shop at the local Four Seasons Hotel. But unfortunately, pending the performance of an aria from the opera called "The Sealing", a mysterious fog has descended upon New Zebedee and trapped everyone inside it. And the sinister machinations of our dear villain (posing as the willing opera conducter, and world famous singer as well) go deeper and deeper...

This book was very good; it provided the familiar characters fans of Bellairs' have grown to love yet produced a new predicament (the sealing off of the town, though this curiously resembles Lewis's imprisonment inside Barnavelt Manor in a previous Bellairs/Strickland novel, The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder) and a new villain. Certainly Brad Strickland has pulled it off; Doom of the Haunted Opera is true Bellairs, yet Strickland has also managed to add a little of his own flavor into the story without warping its style. Not as climactic and eerie as the Ghost in the Mirror (which I consider to be an incredible achievement) or as creepy as The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie, but very good. With the new books out, Bellairs' series have not died. Brad Strickland has managed to continue the Bellairs spirit, but also with something new.