Every so often I re-read Peter Straub's Shadowland – which is the inspiration for Talliston. Most think it to be Walt Disney’s theme parks, but that isn’t it at all. The house in Shadowland with its many themed rooms and hidden secrets is the key to the thinking behind Talliston. Disneyland is just a cauldron of ideas – a conceit, and nothing like the intensity of this superb, under-recognized, early novel from a master of literary terror. First setting: an all-male prep school in Arizona, where two sensitive freshmen form a bond based on their interest in magic tricks. Second setting: the labyrinthine house of a weird magician uncle in New England, where the two boys spend a memorable summer being trained in the art of illusion. Or is it real magic? Third setting: an alternate world where dark forces are at play – forces that first show up at the school, but intensify their power the summer. If it were up to me I would have everyone who comes to the house to read Shadowland and better understand what it is I am trying to accomplish.

The concept of Talliston as sanctuary is close; yet not all of the project. It is a world apart, but perhaps not just some fantasy bunker in which to hide; but instead a chronicle of ideas and lifestyles that reflect the best of what humanity has achieved. Each room's settin is chosen to reflect its purpose – the Boathouse and a bath by candlelight under a sea of stars; the medieval concept of dining in the Watchtower; Sunday morning gospel breakfast in the Deep South. An ancestral home that bever was – but is! It has its own calendar (aligned to the moon, not sun phases), currency and also guardians (the Friends of Talliston society).

Talliston's motto is: Absolute excess in total moderation. And that captures the essense of what the house has been created for.