I’ve always been captivated by doors, staircases, and any kind of threshold. To me, they signify a beginning, the unknown, and taking a chance. They’re the moment when we grip our courage tight and step out into something altogether different.
***
“What do we do?” said Steve.
“Well, we can’t go back. Can’t go forward. So it’ll have to be down,” said Hartley as he dropped to his knees.
“Down?” said Steve. The Hidden were almost within reaching distance now.
Hartley levered up the heavy manhole lid that sat in the middle of the cobbled road. “Down!” he shouted.
“But—”
“No time to argue,” said Hartley. “Trust me on this. There’s no other way.”
Taking a last look at the Hidden, Steve mentally crossed his fingers that he wasn’t about to end up in the Darkacre drains, and then he jumped into the manhole.
Steve landed on a threadbare carpet that did nothing helpful to break his fall. The darkling dropped lightly onto her feet at his side, then she reached to catch Blessing as she too fell from a square hatch in the ceiling.
Hartley came last, knees buckling so he landed heavily on his face. The hatch in the ceiling snapped shut and Hartley moaned something into the carpet.
***
In the Haven Chronicles, Hartley Keg has the magical ability to join distant doorways together, like a manhole in a cobbled street to the ceiling hatch between an attic and a bedroom. But Hartley’s doorways aren’t the only significant thresholds you’ll find in my novels. There are plenty of hidden and misleading doorways too.
***
“But just this once,” said Frobisher as he opened a door beside the main gateway. “I’ll let you use the official door.”
“Was that…?” Steve was convinced that the door hadn’t been there before. “What do you mean ‘official’?”
“The Council installed it so they can come and go at ease,” said Frobisher. “It opens into the Confluence. Of course, we’ll have to get you through Security.”
“No bother,” said James. “I’ve done it. Even got workadays in there before now.” He elbowed Steve.
“Just behave,” said Frobisher as he led the way through the open door. “Button your lip. Stay calm. That way they’re less likely to detain you.”
“Detain?” said Steve as the darkling pushed him through the door. “What do you mean, detain?”
***
And I’m not the only author to include magical entrances in their novels. There’s also:
- the wardrobe in C S Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that leads to the magical world of Narnia
- the doors in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, cut using the subtle knife to travel between parallel universes
- the doors in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series that lead to different times and realities
- the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the mirror in Alice Through the Looking Glass
Storytellers seem to have always been entranced by magical doorways and mysterious thresholds. And it’s not just storytellers.
Magical doors also intrigue readers. They represent a divide between the known and unknown, appealing to our curiosity and longing for adventure. They offer an escape from the mundane, embodying our wish for a more exciting reality just beyond our reach. They symbolize choice and transformation, feeding into our desire for personal growth and the power to shape our own destinies.
Magical doorways suggest hidden worlds and secret knowledge. They reconnect us with childhood wonder and imagination, while also reassuring us that there are more possibilities and adventures to be had.
I’m sure my fascination with magical and hidden thresholds won’t end with the Haven Chronicles. In the next book series after that… But that’s another tale – and threshold – altogether.