Uncle Jonathan (Severn Darden) talks with his newphew, Lewis (Michael Brick), in Once Upon a Mdnight Scary (1979).

Anthony (Keith Coogan) and Miss Eells (Dody Goodman) cry over spilt milk - or sugar. Whatever. From The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes (1980).

Video Gems distributed both Once Upon a Midnight Scary and The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes.

Both programs were edited - probably for the home video market - by Barr Films and then released under the title of their respective book.

Two of John Bellairs' works were adapted for television during the late 1970s, both produced by VideoGems. The House with a Clock in its Walls was first, becoming the third of three stories chosen for inclusion in the Vincent Price-hosted program, Once Upon a Midnight Scary. Released in 1979 as part of a CBS-TV children's mystery anthology series, the program featured Price wandering a gloomy mansion and introducing spooky yet entertaining tales that also included Richard Peck's The Ghost Belonged to Me and Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While the program more-or-less follows the plot of The House with a Clock in its Walls, longtime fans of will immediately notice Mrs. Zimmermann's absence and that the entire 179-page book has been shamelessly condensed into 23 dreary minutes. As such, this could hardly be called a faithful adaptation and hopefully was created only to encourage viewers to seek out the book.

The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn was broadcast as part of the CBS-TV "Children's Mystery Theater" on December 26, 1980; one reason little seems known on the program is that it was produced and released under the title The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes. Yes, as the title indicates, Holmes and Watson are featured prominently in the program, welcoming viewers to the story and popping-up occasionally to guide viewers through it. Bellairs' characters are there - Miss Eells, Anthony, Hugo, and Alpheus - but their traits and habits seem more like excessive clichés. One notable change is the Winterborn clues (none written by Bellairs) that start off on a bad leg and progressively get more ridiculous: one essentially reminds the treasure hunter to use the back door if the front door to the library is locked.

Once Upon a Midnight Scary was also titled at some point in its history (and for reasons not immediately known) as Once Upon a Midnight Dreary. In 1990-91, Once Upon a Midnight Scary was re-edited into two separate programs by Barr Films. Ghost Story Classics included only The Ghost Belonged to Me and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The House with a Clock in its Walls segment was edited into its own seperate program, using its own title but keeping the Vincent Price introductions and narration. The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes was re-edited during the same time period by Barr Films to remove all traces of Sherlock Holmes - thereby making it even shorter from its original 50 minutes or so - and released under the title of the book (and thereby gaining Bellairs’ name in the credits).

For completists, finding a copy of either program is possible though not always an easy task. On occasion both appear for sale via online auction houses under one of their various titles; we would also suggest checking local libraries or area video stores if you're into that sort of thing.

We’ve heard occasional rumors that one or both programs were released overseas, though nothing absolute has ever surfaced.

As noted, fans of Bellairs's work will instantly pick out what's wrong in both "adaptations." That either program was created attests to the fact Bellairs' work was highly praised and popular during this time period, however not to even mention him in the credits of The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes is something of an insult. We therefore encourage a new generation of scriptwriters, producers, and directors to take another look at John Bellairs' work and try, try again.