The Face In The Frost by John Bellairs

 A fantastical whimsical story mixed with moments of horror and humor. Two wizards who, despite their supernatural abilities, are all too relatable with real fears and foibles, go on a journey to free themselves from a magical enemy who haunts them.

The story includes delightful anachronisms that make it difficult to pin down the exact time the story takes place in. This creates a sense of timelessness that adds to the fairy tale like nature of the book.

This book makes it onto my favorites list and I look forward to both reading it again and reading other works by the author.

It felt like lighthearted fun with lovable characters and the descriptions created mental images of fantastical scenes that will always stick with me. When the story veered into horror the mood was perfectly handled like a well done scary story told at a campfire. The mixture of humor and horror blends well creating a story that is never too slapstick or too heavy.