Johnny Dixon (series) explained

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).

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

	Title	Month	Year	Chapters	Pages	Writer	Illustrator
01	The Curse of the Blue Figurine^[4]	May	1983	12	200	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
02	The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt^[5]	Nov	1983	16	168	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
03	The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull^[6]	Nov	1984	11	170	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
04	The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost^[7]	Nov	1985	15	147	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
05	The Eyes of the Killer Robot^[8]	Oct	1986	17	167	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
06	The Trolley to Yesterday^[9]	Jul	1989	18	183	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
07	The Chessmen of Doom^[10]	Nov	1989	16	155	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
08	The Secret of the Underground Room^[11]	Mar	1990	13	127	John Bellairs	Edward Gorey
09	The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie^[12]	Sep	1994	15	153	John Bellairs (outline) and Brad Strickland (written by)	Edward Gorey
10	The Hand of the Necromancer^[13]	Sep	1996	18	168	Brad Strickland	Edward Gorey
11	The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder^[14]	Oct	1997	16	149	Brad Strickland	Edward Gorey
12	The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost^[15]	Sep	1999	15	166	Brad Strickland	Edward Gorey

One Johnny Dixon book was outlined by Bellairs and completed by Strickland.

See also

• Lewis Barnavelt (series)
• Anthony Monday (series)

Notes and References

1. Bell, Bob: "Bellairs' Book Fast-Paced Thriller", Edmonton Journal, November 12, 1986.
2. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ewgqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RdAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4016,4714389&dq=johnny-dixon+john-bellairs&hl=en "BookPicks: Kids' Books"
3. Clendineng, Sarah: "What's Happening @ Your Library: Halloween Reads", Fort Madison Daily Democrat, October 24, 2007.
4. Bellairs, John. The Curse of the Blue Figurine. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1983.
5. Bellairs, John. The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1983.
6. Bellairs, John. The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1984.
7. Bellairs, John. The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1985.
8. Bellairs, John. The Eyes of the Killer Robot. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1986.
9. Bellairs, John. The Trolley to Yesterday. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989.
10. Bellairs, John. The Chessmen of Doom. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989.
11. Bellairs, John. The Secret of the Underground Room. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1990.
12. Bellairs, John. Completed by Brad Strickland. The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994.
13. Strickland, Brad. The Hand of the Necromancer. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996.
14. Strickland, Brad. The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997.
15. Strickland, Brad. The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1999.