The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt

Johnny Dixon #2

by John Bellairs

A clever young man and an eccentric professor search for a missing fortune, in this spooky adventure full of “marvelous surprises” (Publishers Weekly)   H. Bagwell Glomus built an empire out of cereal. In the 1920s, his Oaty Crisps were the most popular breakfast in the United States, and Mr. Glomus was the wealthiest man in the little town of Gildersleeve, Massachusetts. But he was not a happy man. In 1936, he took his own life and his will was never found. Legend has it that his last will and testament is hidden somewhere in his office, but so far, no one has been able to find it and claim the $10,000 reward. Yet, no one has looked as hard as Johnny Dixon.   A precocious young boy who’s happier reading old books than playing outside, Johnny has a best friend in the eccentric old Professor Childermass, who knows every detail of Mr. Glomus’s story—except the location of the will. Together, along with a new pal from Boy Scout camp named Fergie, they intend to crack the puzzle—but before they can claim their prize, they must defeat an ancient evil a living mummy intent on destroying them.   From the award-winning author of The House with a Clock in Its Walls, the Johnny Dixon stories are a refreshingly old-fashioned series of adventure and supernatural mystery. In the world of young adult suspense, few authors have the magic touch of John Bellairs.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Childrens

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

John Bellairs (1938–1991) was an American novelist. He is best known for the children's classic The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973) and the fantasy novel The Face in the Frost (1969). Bellairs held a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University and a master's in English from the University of Chicago. He later lived and wrote in Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these books. This is about Johnny Dixon and he needs money to help his grandparents so they can pay their doctor bills. A widow is looking for a lost Will and she will pay 10,000 who can solve the puzzle of where it is. Surprise - Johnny finds the Will.

Written in the 80s, it has a gothic feel to them and they are set in the 50s. It is a safe and cozy creepy factor. These are great for pre-teens and teens. Heck, I still enjoy them. They aren't groundbreaking or all that surprising. They are a great read a night in front of the fire, or snuggled in bed to just relax too.

Many of these books are being forgotten and I hope they have a resurgence. They are fun books and need to stick around for the next generation.

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read: November 2019!

Loved just as much as I did the first time I read it. It's a perfect autumn read. :)

[Tricia Harrild · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Bellairs is a great pick for ghost stories and magic and evil deeds. They are an easy read and I really wish I could find them as audio versions.

[Samantha Hohmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

read on my grandma’s back porch in one sitting, elite experience

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Bellairs continues to improve as a writer, and the second in the JOHNNY DIXON books. As with previous books, there is a nice mix of mystery and spookiness. This time, Johnny is trying to find a long-lost will left behind by an eccentric millionaire. Of course, things are never easy for poor Johnny, and pretty soon he's in the need of help from The Professor. This book has some genuinely creepy moments, and Bellairs does a nice job of getting into Johnny's thoughts and motivations. Bellairs continues to impress me with his consistency, and I honestly can't believe no movie studio or TV producer hasn't snapped up the rights to Bellairs catalogue -- it seems like such a perfect fit! (Of course, they'd probably screw it up . . . but I'm sure Bellairs' heirs wouldn't mind some money thrown their direction!)


Highly recommended!

[Bruce Nordstrom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read John Bellairs' "The Face in the Frost," about 1970, and I loved it. Funny, frightening, could not put it down. Told myself that I gotta read more by this guy.

So here all these years later, I am reading my second book by John Bellairs. And I am really disappointed by it. I will grant you that this book is aimed at an early teen audience. But still some of the characters seemed so cast by formula. There is the young boy, orphaned, living with his grandparents. He is highly intellegant, plucky, but lonely. And across the street lives the eccentric old professor... And then there is the mystery of the missing will... There are ghosts. Abandoned mansions... Black magic...

But it all seems to lack the depth to make it truly mysterious, or frightening.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gothic horror at Bellairs' best. I vacillate between which set of characters I enjoy the most, but Johnny Dixon and the good professor most frequently wind up at the top. This is one of their best adventures and is strengthened by its interesting non-supernatural subplot of Johnny's new friendship and struggles at being without his mother and father. This is one I've read both as the Edward Gorey illustrated edition and a newer one, and the brilliance of Gorey's illustration - even if just the cover and back - casts the reading experience in a completely different light. Brilliant macabre novel that is suitable for young and old alike.

[Liaken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bellairs' scary mysteries. I loved them as a child, too. They were just scary enough so I would make a running leap for the bed in the darkened room, but not scary enough to keep me awake. I also feel like he takes his young characters seriously. That even when the young mind is passionately irrational, it is still real.

I read the copy with Edward Gorey's perfect illustrations. Really, he's the perfect choice.

[Heather Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it, I found it, I green and yellow found it!

I fell in love with this book as a kid. For years, I couldn't remember enough to find it again... just the phrase "a tisket a gasket a will in a wicker basket" that haunted me like Johnny Dixon's troubles haunt him. Now that I've found it again, I'm pleased to say that it is as satisfying as I remembered, and better than the first Johnny Dixon book!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is billed as the sequel to The Curse of the Blue Figurine but you don't really need to read the first one. It just has the same main characters. It stands alone and the whole Glomis riddle and property would be amazing to see. Great plot especially the suspense of creeping around in the underground passage. Really feels like you're there. Sign of great writing.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it about the combination of John Bellairs's writing and Edward Gorey's covers and frontspieces that makes these books still legitimately creepy? Also, pretty much all of his books take place in New England, which is a plus in my book.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this next offering in the Johnny Dixon series. Not as much creep factor as the first book but still decent. I do love the way that John Bellairs can get into the mind of a child. I also appreciate that Bellairs never fails to give me a Shakespeare reference!

[Erica Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just want to thank Ann for giving me a John Bellairs before leaving the bookstore all those years ago. No middle reader author compares.

[Tiffany Spencer]

The Mummy The Will And The Crypt
John and the Professor are at Mr. Glomus’s mansion looking at art. He’s rich and got wealthy from creating a health drink and then a cereal (and cereal company). There’s a tour guide in his office telling his history and how he went through a depression, got interested in witchcraft, and then was found dead in his office. Because of odd notes in his diary, his family think he left a will in that very room. There’s a ten thousand dollar reward for anyone who can decipher the clues (on a table) that will lead to the will. Then the tour ends. There’s a chess set, a Greek newspaper, and a sign from someone tea shop. The Professor just thinks Glomus was off in the head toward the end, but Johnny can’t stop thinking about the clues.

Later he finds Grandma sitting rigidly in the living room. She’s talking nonsense about he got out of school early but it’s nine o'clock at night. The Professor and Grandpa sit Johnny down and tell him there’s something wrong with his grandma. The Professor is about to tell Johnny something about his cousin that Johnny figures out has to do with her having a brain tumor. So, an ambulance comes for grandma, and the Professor and Granpa goes together. Johnny stays home. It’s confirmed days later that Grandma does have a brain tumor. She’ll have to have an operation to find out if it’s malignant or benign. The Professor one day tells Johnny he needs to get away and go on a vacation.

Jonny is outraged by the suggestion, but the Professor explains later that he’s not doing his grandma any good by staying there. So, during Massachusetts State Physical Fitness Week, He tells him that a group of Boy Scouts from this area will be taking a bus trip to the White Mountains to a scout camp. A few days later, he’s on the bus. On the way to the mountain, he works on the clues he found at the mansion (in a guidebook). Johnny thinks about how the money will come in handy for his grandma’s operation and how finding the will would make him famous.

Johnny is enjoying himself with kids his age. They come across a place called Stanton Herald. It sounds familiar but he can’t think of why. He becomes acquainted with a boy named Byron Ferguson. He prefers “Fergie”. They become fast friends and bond over odd facts. Later he realizes the chess set is from Stanton and on the newspaper is a word that’s circled that means “Herald (Stanton Herald). Johnny then runs out the room to the dining room and asks Mr. Bredlinger if he knows who owns the mansion with the towers and the church. He says it’s the man who has the cereal company.

Johnny goes into town the next day with Mr. Bredlinger to use the phone. At the house, he recognizes a young man reading the paper. The man stares at him hatefully. The Professor said the surgery went well. They got the tumor out but it was malignant. John tells him he thinks according to the clues that the will is in the estate. The Professor tells him to put it out of his mind and enjoy his vacation. When he hangs up the lady over the hotel is glowering at him. When he goes to get in Bredlinger’s car there’s a photo of some boys outside a shop with a skeleton aiming an arrow at them. There’s a poem that says “While you do cheer death may be near”.

The drawing is somewhat familiar and it’s clear that this is a death threat. He doesn’t tell Mr, Bredlinger. But he does show Fergie. He says it's from a book the Pilgrims made so they’d learn their ABC’s. johnny tells Fergie what he knows about the table and all the objects. Then he tells him that he thinks the will is at the estate. Fergie says they ought to sneak out that night and see if they can get into the estate. So they meet up that night. When they finally reach the arch, there’s a man there with a riffle aimed right at them.

It's the bug-eyed man that was at the hotel. Fergie stands up to him and then the man backs down (and wimps out)/ He tells them to break into his house and steal his gun if they want. They tell him that’s not what they want. He says his name is Chadwick Glomus and his grandfather was Max or “Herbie”. He says that every time he has free time he comes up to look for the will. He says he figured he might have known about the will. He saw him in his grandfather’s cereal shop. He says he hopes he finds it. He doesn’t want anyone in his family to get a red cent. He says his family is a mess because of his grandfather. He shoveled out crap cereal and then got involved in witchcraft. They’re kind of weirded out by him so they make up their excuses to get back to camp. He says if they stay they’ll show them a secret passage. (He now seems lonely). He seems to pick up on their weariness and tell them he’s not a murderer. The gun isn���t even loaded.

The secret passageway is in an outhouse behind a fireplace. There’s a set of steps leading into the passage. Then he tells them about the guardian. He tells them he called it up and it’s still there. He says it can be anything. If it catches you. It kills you and you resemble a mummy. He says there people disappeared and he bets they were caught too by the mummy. He says it comes for whoever gets too close to the will. Neither Fergie or Johnny believe him and they follow him into the passageway. Eventually, they stop at the chapel and Chadwick says they should stop there and he takes them back. Johnny is disappointed because he knows if he can just get into the estate he can find the will. On the way back on the road they find a riffle and a flashlight with the initials CG. Fergie says it’s a joke and then says they should just get back to camp and get some rest.

The next morning, Johnny hears some ladies serving lunch talking about Chadwick’s disappearance (and the others). Fergie tho (again) doesn’t think there’s any truth to it. But for days, Chad still isn’t found. Sunday he returns home. Later Johnny gets the bad news that his father’s plane was shot down in enemy territory. In North Korea. There’s been no word if he survived or not. Months go back and still there’s no word. His thoughts turn toward the will again. Grandma is ok but what if her illness comes back? Atleast he’d have the money to pay for it. Jonny gets panicked because Grandma has to go for a checkup. So, he plans to go up to New Hampshire to the estate. It’s a risk but one that excites him. He decides to go alone and not tell Fergie or the Professor.

Grandpa, Grandma, and the Professor find out Johnny is gone after reading the note he left them. The lady at the hotel (Mrs. Woodley (whose being nicer) settles him in and gives him something to eat. By this time Johnny has a cold and has come down with a fever. Later that night, he accidentally drops his flashlight out the window. When he goes to get it he hears her talking to Chad. She’s saying he’s but she’s learned how to control the guardian and she’s done some things he wouldn’t believe. She couldn’t let him find the will because she feels like she’’s deserved to have some comforts. She couldn’t take the chance of finding out what the will said. She said she wasn’t sure if he was close or not. But now he’ll soon have someone joining him soon. She read his lips when he was making his phone call. She can read lips. She says he won’t get close. Tomorrow he’ll be meet with an “accident”. Johnny finds out this is Glomus’s sister. A shape moves from her window. Johnny decides to get the hell out of there that night.

The Professor finds out from Fergie want Jonny’s up to and they head for Kacamugus Center. When they get to hotel, Mrs. Woodley tells them no one’s there but her, but the Professor sees in her eyes she’s lying (must be nice to have this skill). He sees Johnny’s matchbox as proof he’s been there, but Mrs. Woodly says it’s her. He remembers what Johnny told him about this woman not liking her things broken. He tells her if she doesn’t want it to happen again tell her where Johnny is, but the witch uses her magic on him (causing his hand to hurt) and kicks them out. She tells them if they do find him they won’t like what they see.
J
ohnny meanwhile has headed to the estate and to the secret room. Because the opening gets suck, he has to pull himself through. He keeps going until he gets to the crypt and goes inside. It's stuck on something. He finds a man in a yellow raincoat. His hand is weathered like a mummy. It’s Chad. There are a series of steps and a door that leads to the church. Another door leads him back outside. Johnny figures out that the tea shop reference connects to an inscription that he finds somewhere on the grounds. Vines leads to a doorway over the church. Now he can see the inscription clearly. There’s a crack that has been smoothed over with plaster. He pries at the crack until the slab starts to move. Inside the box is a can of bullion cubes. He opens then inside are just that (chicken bullion cubes).

As he climbs down the vine and prepares to go back through the passage, he sees a mummy coming toward him. Johnny makes his way to the mansion to hide from the man. Inside Something starts to sing a song about a taisket a tasket a will in a wicker basket. The house starts to shake so he finds his way to the balcony. When he goes out he sees headlights in the distance. He notices a statue outside that says “Godfrey” and recognizes him from history books. His last name is the same as was on the bullion cubes. Then the house starts to shake more and a fire ignites from insi Then something hits him in the head and he blacks out. When he wakes up the Professor is sitting there.

He finds out he’s been unconscious for two days. He finds out the mansion has burned down. He was lying in the bushes when they found him. But they got him out of there. No secret who started the accidents. The Professor found it all in a diary. He says she’s gone to glory slumped over a witch box. They claimed it was a heart attack. Jonny says he thinks the will is inside the statue and asks if the police can investigate. The professor says he supposes the statue is probably still on the ground in the rubble. The police he finds out also found Johnny’s mummified remains and the remains of three other people that went missing. They must have broken into the mansion and Mrs. Woodly found out. The Professor finds out what Johnny’s been fearing and tells him his grandmother isn’t dying. The letter he saw was about his grandpa’s brother who died and had no money so his grandpa managed to get the money from his other rich brother. The letter was probably just thanking him.

The Professor tells Johnny that his father has been found but even if not and his grandparents died he’d adopt him. The statue does contain the will but it was burnt to ashes in the fire. After a week, Johnny returns home. The will loses interest for him now because his grandmother is ok. When he gets home one day there’s a lady waiting for him. She says her name is Annabelle Glomus and her husband was H Glomus. Then he writes him a check. The surprises don’t end there. A car pulls up and it’s Johnny’s father.de.

My Thoughts
Another good story in the series! There was a vengeful witch. I always like stories where there’s one of these (with no conscious) and is out to get someone for some reason or the other. Not that bad a reason either. She didn’t want to share what was in the will if it was found. But that makes me question why you’d hide a will in the first place. If you don’t want your family to get anything in the will just don’t write them in *to* get anything. Hiding it seems a little unnecessary. Or don’t make a will at all. There was also a secret tunnel which I also love to read about in stories. Secret passages. Secret rooms. I’ve often wished I had a house with a secret room! That would be *very* cool. My secret room would definitely be soundproofed. Then there was a very logical concern. The fear of not having enough money to take care of a family member if they should become sick because you know you don’t have enough money. You don’t even have to be dirt poor, It’s just a nagging through at the back of some people’s minds that can be overwhelming if you let it be. I definitely could relate to Johnny's hysteria. He did get a little carried away but I understood why he was worried about this.

Rating: 7

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a surprise. It is a 5th grade reading level and I read it along with one of my 2nd grade students to give her some support with vocabulary, etc. and ended up really enjoying it. I'm guessing is set sometime around the early 1950's so behaviors, language etc. were a little unusual compared to today. Johnny is 12, living with his grandparents. His mother has died and his father in a pilot in the Korean War. Oddly enough his good friend is an elderly professor. The professor, second main character, is described a "crabby" throughout but is genuinely fond of Johnny. The mystery begins with Johnny and the professor visiting the former home and now museum of a cereal manufacturer. When he died his will was missing and the widow offered a $10K reward if anyone could discover its whereabouts. Johnny's grandmother needs surgery and he is determined to find the will and use the reward for her. Bellairs has written others which I would also read.

[Brent Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a few John Bellairs books as a kid and I remembered them being pretty scary. Now I'm 34, and this is one I hadn't read before. While this book was charming and expanded Johnny Dixon's world, I found myself wishing it was scarier! Sure, it was made for kids, but it felt less scary than your average "Goosebumps" book. I think "The Curse of the Blue Figurine" by Bellairs is a bit better overall. This one takes a while to get going. That being said, the character of "Fergie" is a classic. What a great foil to the shy Johnny. All in all, I got spooked exactly one time in 168 pages, laughed out loud twice, and said "oh no!" once. So the book had some effect, certainly. It just either needed to get through the prologue faster or have a climax that justified the long setup! I'm going to continue moving through the Johnny Dixon books and I'm hoping this one is just a lesser book in the series rather than the standard I should expect going forward.

[scarlettraces · Rating 2 out of 5]

i rememember Bellairs as a writer of children's books that were just on the too side of creepy (actually the House With a Clock in Its Walls, and one that must have been by the same publisher in the same format, because he doesn't seem to have written a book where the cutlery wakes up at night and has dance parties. it also wasn't gothic. the library in my town was small and i was a wuss.)

reading this one, i found it more as if the early 1950s setting was an excuse for the oldfashioned writing than the other way round, the mystery unappealing, and the supernatural unscary. he has his fans though, so don't let me put you off.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time, Johnny Dixon just happens to be at Boy Scout Camp when he might have stumbled across the answer to the mystery of a missing will. The usual creepy black magicky stuff goes on, some nifty puzzles and a little too lickety split sort of ending. One of the nicest parts of this book is how Johnny makes a new friend (Fergie) and how he experiences near-constant worry about his grandmother's illness and his father in the Korean War.

I wish this reissue hadn't replaced the Gorey cover with this, well, gory one. Still good creepy middle grades stuff.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book flows well and the lead up to the climax is nicely tense and well executed. Johnny's fears, leaps to conclusions and motivations are thoroughly believable for a 12 year old boy, particularly one who has recently lost his parents- mother is dead and father is away at war. As an adult I find the shorter choppy sentences a bit tiresome in places, but not so much that I couldn't read it.

My only complaint is the time. The book opens in the autumn of 1951, but the first book starts in winter of 1951 and is very clear that this is when Johnny and the Professor become friends.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved all John Bellairs books as a kid. I'm working on rereading them. I don't love the Johnny Dixon books as much as the Lewis Barnavelt books because the characters aren't nearly as awesome. But this second book was better than the Curse of the Blue Figurine. The mystery was pretty good and even page-turning in parts. It's disappointing to discover that these books aren't as good as I remember them being. I also miss the Edward Gorey covers.

[trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love john bellairs because his books are creepy and atmospheric, and funnily child-inappropriate in ways children's books are not today. i bought a ton of these brand-new for a dollar each! at salvation army, and will donate them to my school's library... once i've read them all, of course. hehe. call me a philistine, but i'd rather read john bellairs's children's mysteries than john ashbery's so-called poems anytime! (j.a. being the 'real' stuff i'm also currently reading)

[louisa]

Bellairs! So strange and strangely paced. Parts fly by in true (even as an adult) terror, darker and more occult than you would expect, while others are about the unexpected but very real and very scary parts of being a kid. Bellairs is decidedly not factory-produced like other children's serials. There are no expected beats or rhythms, and I like him for it. That and the occult glass harmonica!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, in my humble opinion, the best of the John Bellairs mysteries. Recommended by a super cool school librarian (don't laugh - all nerdy kids love their librarians), every single thing about it facsinated me as a kid. Atmospheric, intelligent and just scary enough, after finishing this one, I went on to read every Bellairs book I could find. I devoured them all and read each one many, many times.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovered this writer by finding a book of his at a relative's summer home in Indiana. A fun series filled with mystery and supernatural powers. I also like the fact that the kid is smart and knows about Latin and poems and such. In this story, Johnnie is under a lot of pressure worrying about loved ones... and he decides to take a chance to help them... but ends up facing a lot of frightening and life-threatening situations.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man oh man -- John Bellairs: still great. Five stars might be overkill, but I really enjoyed this one. The writing kind of reminds me of a more subdued Roald Dahl, if he were more focused on supernatural Gothic horror, etc. The trademarks are all there: cantankerous old adults, goofy (disgruntled but) friendly characters, bizarre puzzles and mysteries. If this were the comicsverse, I could see really enjoying a Johnny Dixon / Matilda crossover. Just sayin'.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting writing. Bellairs is brilliant. Johnny Dixon and young person becomes obsessive about a riddle he feels he knows he will solve but the clues don't add up. For Johnny it may be to late before he can put clues together, by using his strong will power he attempts on his own to solve the riddle and mystery that surrounds the too famous Glomus's last will and testament, and if it actually exists.

[Tanvir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is another one fo those scary ones. This one is crazy. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes scary stufff. I am a personal fan of John Bellairs. This book is about a mummy who guards a crypt. Lewis tries to get money from the mummy's will, so that he can save his grandma. This is a quest to find the mummy's will

[Marjanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Johnny Dixon series. I was as fun as I expected. This was an interesting story and it was nice to see some more character development, especially for Johnny. My only problem was that the story wrapped up too neatly.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Children's fiction. Mystery/adventure. A decent mystery that should charm kids that are into such things. The story centers mainly on the missing will and not so much on the mummy or the crypt, but the story is appropriately spooky for the month of October.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, never having read John Bellairs before, but... eh. It didn't light my world on fire. The ending didn't address many of the questions I had... I dunno. I'll probably read more, but this sadly didn't wow me.