John Bellairs Wiki
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John Bellairs Wiki

Capharnaum County, Michigan, is just like the Muggins Simoon car in that it exists from the pen of the creator, John Bellairs. Bellairs' successor Brad Strickland expanded on its lore a great deal, adding depth and background to the location. The majority of the adventures faced by Lewis Barnavelt and his friends and family are within the boundary lines--some of them being rather significant and part of the plot in stories. Bellairs' name choice is steeped in folklore and religion and it is doubtful this was a careless decision.

Etymology:

Capharnaum was the name of an ancient town in Galilee, and means 'Nahum's (the Comforter's) Town'. Jesus lived there as an adult (Mark 2:2). Nahum was a minor poet-prophet who argued that all tyrants are doomed. Fittingly, this was the fate of all the malevolent entities that tried to domineer, overwhelm, conquer, or even eradicate humanity, starting with the county!

The County Seat, New Zebedee[]

New Zebedee is a locus point for a lot of natural magical power, which is why there are so many magicians (good and evil) hanging around.

The Capharnaum County Magician's Society

If the New Zebedee is a Boom Town of the ethereal and eerie, it has its guardians in the form of the Capharnaum County Magician's Society. Their members are listed on the CCMS's page

Lucius Mickleberry was (from the perspective of Jonathan Barnavelt and Mrs. Zimmerman, a legendary president of the order and the leading sorceror of New Zebedee. Before his retirement he managed to put down 'some pretty nasty sorcery'. His natural humility and reluctance to talk about himself left his successors unprepared when his death released a containment he had placed upon an evil wizard determined to control the world (The Doom of the Haunted Opera).

'A Suitable Definition: According to Merriam-Webster, capharnaum is a noun for a confused jumble: a place marked by a disorderly accumulation of objects'. This is certainly an harmonious choice of name for the county renowned for its ability to collect an alarming number of witches, wizards, sorcerers, restless ghosts, and other magically-inclined humans, spirits, monsters, and the occasional ancient soul-devouring monster from outer space[1].

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