The Life of the Author, the Death of the Successor: On (Co-)Authorshipin the Lewis Barnavelt Novel Cycle by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland

<ns3:p>This article discusses the phenomenon of (co-)authorship in the context of the posthumous continuationof a literary cycle, using John Bellairs and Brad Strickland’s children’s horror novels aboutLewis Barnavelt (1973–2008) as a case study. The author of the paper presents the fundamentalworldbuilding and plot premises of Bellairs’s works, the circumstances under which Strickland wasentrusted with completing three unfi nished novels and continuing the series independently, the detailsof his creative process that can be reconstructed, and the presence of the Lewis Barnavelt booksin Poland. The article also includes a comparative analysis that focuses not so much on narrativeand stylistic aspects, but rather on publishing practices in the original American edition (New York:Dial Books for Young Readers, 1973–2008) and in two different Polish editions (Warsaw: Amber,2000–2001; Warsaw: Mamania, 2018–2019). Particular attention is given to the visibilityof Strickland as a (co-)author of the cycle and to the various strategies used to present his contributionon the covers and title pages of particular volumes.</ns3:p>