Johnny Dixon is a fictional American boy featured in a series of twelve children's gothic horror novels, 1983 to 1999, written by John Bellairs or his successor Brad Strickland. In each book, 12-year-old Johnny and his group of friends face and overcome evil forces usually bent on ending the world.[1][2][3] Alternatively, Johnny Dixon is the book series ("Johnny Dixon and the Professor" in ISFDB).[4]

The series is set in the early 1950s. Johnny lives with his paternal grandparents in fictional Duston Heights, Massachusetts. His mother has died of cancer some time prior to the beginning of the series, and his father is a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. Johnny's best friend, history professor Roderick Childermass, lives across the street. In The Mummy, the Will and the Crypt, Johnny meets a boy his own age, Byron Q. "Fergie" Ferguson, at a Boy Scouts camp. Thenceforth, Johnny, Fergie, and Professor Childermass (who is typically referred to as simply "the professor") are the three principal characters of the series.

Series bibliography

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# Title Month Year Chapters Pages Writer Illustrator
01 The Curse of the Blue Figurine[5] May 1983 12 200 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
02 The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt[6] Nov 1983 16 168 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
03 The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull[7] Nov 1984 11 170 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
04 The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost[8] Nov 1985 15 147 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
05 The Eyes of the Killer Robot[9] Oct 1986 17 167 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
06 The Trolley to Yesterday[10] Jul 1989 18 183 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
07 The Chessmen of Doom[11] Nov 1989 16 155 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
08 The Secret of the Underground Room[12] Mar 1990 13 127 John Bellairs Edward Gorey
09 The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie[13] Sep 1994 15 153 John Bellairs (outline) and Brad Strickland (written by) † Edward Gorey
10 The Hand of the Necromancer[14] Sep 1996 18 168 Brad Strickland Edward Gorey
11 The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder[15] Oct 1997 16 149 Brad Strickland Edward Gorey
12 The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost[16] Sep 1999 15 166 Brad Strickland Edward Gorey
† One Johnny Dixon book was outlined by Bellairs and completed by Strickland.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bell, Bob: "Bellairs' Book Fast-Paced Thriller", Edmonton Journal, November 12, 1986.
  2. ^ "BookPicks: Kids' Books", Herald-Journal, May 12, 2004.
  3. ^ Clendineng, Sarah: "What's Happening @ Your Library: Halloween Reads", Fort Madison Daily Democrat, October 24, 2007.
  4. ^ Johnny Dixon and the Professor series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  5. ^ Bellairs, John. The Curse of the Blue Figurine. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1983. ISBN 0803712650
  6. ^ Bellairs, John. The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1983. ISBN 0803700296
  7. ^ Bellairs, John. The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1984. ISBN 0803701209
  8. ^ Bellairs, John. The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1985. ISBN 0803701705
  9. ^ Bellairs, John. The Eyes of the Killer Robot. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1986. ISBN 0803703244
  10. ^ Bellairs, John. The Trolley to Yesterday. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989. ISBN 0803705816
  11. ^ Bellairs, John. The Chessmen of Doom. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989. ISBN 0803707509
  12. ^ Bellairs, John. The Secret of the Underground Room. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1990. ISBN 0803708645
  13. ^ Bellairs, John. Completed by Brad Strickland. The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994. ISBN 0803714629
  14. ^ Strickland, Brad. The Hand of the Necromancer. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996. ISBN 0803718292
  15. ^ Strickland, Brad. The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997. ISBN 0803718314
  16. ^ Strickland, Brad. The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1999. ISBN 0803722222