History Main / BookcasePassage

* The passage leading to Principal Rita's secret underground grotto/sea access in ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'' is hidden behind one of these. The book you have to pull to activate it is crushingly obvious. (It's [[spoiler:the book on mermaids]].)

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[[caption-width-right:174:"Hey look, ''[[Literature/HarryPotter The Chamber of Secrets]]''!"]]

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* In ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'', Fujiko enters the passage via a bookcase in the castle's library which leads to a fireplace in another room, which leads to an observation room behind the Count's office, equipped with a PortraitPaintingPeephole.

* ''Anime/SmilePrecure'': By moving the books on any bookshelf in [[http://prettycure.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Library a very particular way]], the bookcase itself becomes a CoolGate where the destination is based on what or where the traveler is thinking about. This aspect is PlayedForLaughs in episode 6 where [[spoiler: Miyuki]] has a TeleporterAccident just because she saw a penguin on a book's cover as she's walking through the door and lands in the South Pole! Don't worry about her too much because ExposedToTheElements was thankfully in play.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} The Batcave]] in comics-continuity has its access passage hidden behind a large grandfather clock. The traditional trigger to open it is to set the time on the face to the moment of his parents' deaths.
* In ''Recap/TintinLandOfBlackGold'' Dr. Müller's study has a trapdoor entrance hidden in the fireplace. The trope is PlayedForLaughs in the AnimatedAdaptation.

* ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}''. In "Castle of Darkness", a couple of British spies are about to be discovered in a castle in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, but one finds a secret passage in the room they're in. He used to be a joiner before the war, so he could see where the wall panels didn't fit together properly.
* ''ComicBook/NickFuryAgentOfSHIELD1968'': The Tower of Terror, in the grounds of Castle Ravenlock, has a secret passageway concealed within a real iron maiden. That combination ends badly, as Fury jams the secret door - a villain then calls the castle's 'hell hound' to attack Fury, before trying to escape through the iron maiden. The hound crashes into the iron maiden, slamming it closed and skewering him.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlSaga'' from the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comic book titles in 1988, The Pocket Universe Superboy's secret lab is discovered by Lana Lang accidentally touching a brick in the wall of the Kents' house's basement.
* In ''ComicBook/RedRobin,'' Tim designs his loft so that the access to his underground garage, gym and first aid set up is a sliding panel in between two built-in bookcases.
* Parodied in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' in a second series issue: Lyonard's home includes a secret room perfectly hidden behind a bookcase passage... but one of the books has a tag with "Secret Passage" written on it because Lyo never remembered which book acted as a lever.

* In ''FanFic/TheApprenticeTheStudentAndTheCharlatan'', Tantalus Lulamoon has one of these in his manor that conceals a tunnel that leads to the Canterlot Underground.

* As expected of a mysterious, ancient BoardingSchool, the St. Hetalia Boy's Academy of ''Fanfic/{{Outcast}}'' contains one such passage. It's located in [[spoiler: the private rooms of Student Council Historian (and secret member of the Founders) China, and is revealed by pulling the arm of the replica terra cotta soldier]].

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad Wind in the Willows]]'', there is a secret entrance/exit in Toad Hall, between the parlor inside and a river dock outside, that rotates when a button is pressed.

* ''Film/TheAddamsFamily''. Because, you know, they live in a [[HauntedHouse haunted mansion]]. And the book switch? '''Greed.'''
* ''Film/BatmanBegins'', like the live-action TV, features a bookcase secret passage. It's enhanced into a safe vault locked by a fingerprint lock in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. ''Begins'' gets bonus points -- the trigger is plunking out a couple of notes on the nearby piano. Lucius Fox also has a secret elevator behind one of these that goes direct to Applied Sciences.

* The secret passages from the board game also appear in ''Film/{{Clue}}''; while in the game no indication is made of how or where the passages are concealed other than in the corners of rooms, in the film each is hidden in fairly unique ways. The passage from the study to the kitchen opens through a rotating painting in its frame and the back of a cold cupboard, while the passage from the conservatory to the lounge opens through a brick wall ''next to'' a set of shelves and...a rotating fireplace. Also, the ordinary doors of the library are disguised as bookcases, which surprises Colonel Mustard when they are closed.

* ''Film/TheEqualizer2''. Robert [=McCall=] is shown to be CrazyPrepared and love reading, so it's no surprise he has a panic room hidden behind a bookcase in his apartment. When the villains turn up there looking for him, he talks Miles (who is painting his apartment) how to activate it (by removing ''Literature/NativeSon'' and pressing the button it's concealing). However the villains suspect the room is there and trick Miles into thinking they have left so he leaves the panic room.
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Inferno|2013}}''. When the Palazzo Vecchio is surrounded by police, Sienna is impressed when Langdon quickly finds an escape passage behind a painting, only for Langdon to point out that he was shown it in the official tour.

* In ''Film/TheGhostAndMrChicken'' Luther Higgs discovers one of these by throwing a book at it. It later turns out to play a vital part in solving a twenty-year-old murder mystery.
* In the movie serials ''[[Film/TheGreenHornetSerials The Green Hornet]]'' and ''The Green Hornet Rides Again'', the secret passage leading to the Black Beauty's garage is hidden behind a chest of drawers in Britt Reid's bedroom.

* Used in several Creator/BusterKeaton films (''Film/TheHauntedHouse'', ''Film/{{Neighbors 1920}}'', ''Film/OneWeek,'' ''Film/SherlockJr'').
* ''Franchise/JamesBond''

** In the Bond parody ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', FemmeFataleSpy Marta Bond finds one in the toilet. As she's rotated around to the other side of the wall she quips, "[[DoubleEntendre First john I've ever gone round with]]."

** The CarChase in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' ends when Vijay drives his auto-rickshaw through a large movie poster concealing the door to a British Intelligence safehouse. Another poster automatically slides down over the torn poster, so when TheDragon arrives moments later it looks like they vanished into thin air.

* A lot of the secret doors of ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' open this way. One particular example is the entrance from the tailor's shop, which opens by pulling a particular hanger.

* ''Film/{{The Princess|2022}}'': The Princess uses a couple secret passageways to sneak around the castle.

%%* ''Film/ScoobyDoo2002'' has this {{Lampshaded}}.

* In ''[[Film/{{Underworld1927}} Underworld (1927)]]'', there's a secret hideaway behind the bookcase.
* The seventh ''Film/WeeSing'' video ''The Marvelous Musical Mansion'' takes place in a mansion that has a bookcase secret passage of the sort where the person who triggers the door is flipped around to the other side. In this case, the viewer does not get to see what is behind the bookcase door but hears explosively lively band music coming from within.

-->"PUT ZE CANDLE BECK!"

* There's one in the library of Wyrdhurst Hall in ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil]]'', and it's triggered by removing a book from the shelf. The book on the trigger mechanism is a children's book, and [[spoiler: the passage eventually leads to the nursery room where the daughter of the house was imprisoned by her father]].
* In the ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'' books, Dawn lives in a colonial-era farmhouse and discovers a secret passage leading from her own bedroom to the old barn.

* These are prevalent in the book series based on the ''Clue'' board game. One book is even titled, "The Secret ''Secret'' Passage".
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

** Averted in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', where Vetinari reveals he didn't utilize a similar passage in the prison cell where he is being held because it feels too much like running away.
--->'''Vetinari:''' Never trust a ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn't in the job.
*** In the same book, however, he probably ''does'' utilise secret passages later when pulling TheCatCameBack on the increasingly unhinged villain. The villain is quite sure there ''aren't'' any secret passages, but as Lord Vetinari later observes, this fails to grasp an essential truth about ''secret'' passages.
** There's a secret passage in the ratcatchers' headquarters in ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents''. Locating its trigger is delayed by Malicia insisting that you're supposed to [[LuckBasedSearchTechnique give up looking, and then you trigger it by accident]].
*** This actually happens to Vimes in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant''.
** Averted in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', where everyone is certain that the Opera Ghost's secret passage into Box Six must be very cleverly hidden because they've searched the box several times and can't find it, but he still gets in even though the door is locked. Granny Weatherwax looks the box over for a few minutes and comes to the conclusion that the reason they can't find the secret passage is that [[spoiler:it doesn't exist: the Ghost has a copy of the key]].

* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}: Hell on Earth'', Fly finds the escape route of the chemist's basement hidden behind a bookcase. There was a fake book to operate it but the bookcase was blown to pieces before he could figure it out.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward meets the local FriendlyGhost and GeniusLoci, Oreg, who shows him a secret passage to Ward's own room that Ward had not known about. It is not entirely clear whether this passage existed before Ciarra and Ward needed a way to get back to the room - as a kind of GeniusLoci, Oreg can influence the building quite a bit.
* In ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'', [[spoiler:A camouflaged door in the Cloud family mausoleum]] hides the corridor leading to [[MentorArchetype Aunt Sucora's]] hidden room.
* ''Literature/ElsabethSoesten'': In ''No Good Deed...'', there's one in Cuncz's chambers in the castle at Leyen. Its presence is {{Lampshaded}} by Elsabeth when she finds it.

--> One shelf of books seemed different from the others, less tidy, the books not quite so jammed together. Why should one shelf of books be different?
* In one of the stories in ''[[Literature/FatherBrown The Incredulity of Father Brown]]'', a decaying manor house occupied by an ImpoverishedPatrician family has a secret passage hidden by a fake bookcase filled with books about mythical and fraudulent topics. Father Brown is actually apologetic about it when he reveals it as the key to the mystery since it's precisely the kind of GothicHorror touch he's spent the rest of the story deconstructing.
* Two examples occur in the ''Literature/{{Greyfriars}}'' story "Billy Bunter's Christmas Party", with one secret passage and a secret trapdoor [[spoiler: where the MacGuffin is hidden]].

* The secret stairway in Hawthorne's ''Literature/TheHouseOfTheSevenGables''.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/{{Kull}}'' story "The Shadow Kingdom", Brule finds one in Kull's palace.

* In ''Literature/MademoiselleDeScuderi'' by Creator/ETAHoffmann, the novella's villain Cardillac has a house that has a secret entrance/exit that allows him to slip out and murder while people think he's at work.
* In ''Literature/TheMadKing'' by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs, Blentz castle has a network of secret passageways, with entrances behind fireplaces and portraits, used by both the heroes and the villains.

* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/ThePrinceCommands'', Michael finds such a passage, in time for some ExactEavesdropping.

* ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'': In ''Whispers Under Ground'', a secret passage from the Underground tunnels is disguised as one of many bricked-up alcoves alongside the rails. Secret-door clichés are {{Lampshaded}} when Peter presses one of the bricks at random, thinking to get ''that'' corny idea out of the way... and it works!
* The Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" centers around a secret room, accessed by a concealed panel in one wall.
* Belamy has one in ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' that leads down to his basement and alchemy lab. Skate {{Lampshades}} the silliness of the design, recalling a memory of an older thief ridiculing the idea.
-->"You probably won't ever see one," Haman had said, resettling his spectacles and reviewing the page in front of him, "since they fell out of style ages ago; people in this city learned fairly quickly what poor protections they were."

** The Emperor had a whole network of secret passages and turbolifts installed when he refurbished the Imperial Palace. In ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' novel "The Last Command" Mara Jade is able to use her knowledge of this network to sneak up behind an Imperial commando team sent to kidnap Leia Organa Solo and her family.

* One of these crops up in ''Literature/TheTamuli'', prompting DeadpanSnarker Stragen to [[LampshadeHanging deride the villain's taste in literature]].

* In ''[[Literature/ElementalMasters Unnatural Issue]]'', Richard Whitestone's secret library and Work Room is concealed by a bookcase in his bedroom.

* In ''Series/{{ALF}}'', Kate and Alf go to a creepy old house; after encountering a few scary tropes alone, Alf triggers a bookcase, sending him and Kate down a slide into the basement, where they find [[spoiler:a control panel, as the house was used for horror movies. It also has a real ghost, though, albeit a friendly one.]]
* Given a high-tech twist in the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "Hot Potato Soup": yes, the secret passage is behind a bookshelf, and yes, there's a certain book that's the trigger... by unsnapping a section of the spine to reveal a security keypad.
* ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. Suntouch has one, but it's been so poorly designed that it leaves scratches on the hardwood floor when opened/closed. Takeshi Kovacs spots it almost immediately.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In "[[Recap/AngelS04E09LongDaysJourney Long Day's Journey]]", [[ClassyCatBurglar Gwen Raiden]] has one to her panic room, saying you should never pass up a good cliché.

* The way to the Batcave in the ''Series/Batman1966'' TV series was hidden behind a bookcase (the switch is on a desk, however). Although the switch ''is'' concealed in a bust of Creator/WilliamShakespeare.
* ''Series/Batwoman2019''
** In the pilot episode, Kate Kane is in Bruce Wayne's old office and notices the display case holding Martha Wayne's pearls is in the wrong position on the bookcase. Where it ''should'' be, there's an indentation in the surface and a locking lug. Kate puts the case back in position and turns it, causing the hidden door to the Batcave elevator to open.
** In "Off With Her Head", Mary Hamilton-Kane has [[SecretSecretKeeper worked out that Kate is Batwoman]], and tries to activate the door she once saw Kate and Luke Fox going through by [[LuckBasedSearchTechnique pulling out books at random like you would in the movies]]. When Luke asks what the hell she's doing, she has to feign an interest in reading ''The International Periodical of Technology and Innovation, Vol.2''.

* PlayedForLaughs in a first-season ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode where our heroes, running from assassins, accidentally discover a secret passageway by [[PrayerIsALastResort pulling a crucifix]]. Shortly afterward their pursuers enter the now empty room, quickly conclude that they must have gone through the secret passageway, pull the crucifix and follow them.
* In the [[spoiler: first three seasons]] of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', at least one entrance to "Castle" is behind a stack of lockers.

* ''Series/TheCrown2016''. Implied when Lord Altrincham is summoned to the tiny office of Assistant Private Secretary Martin Charteris to discuss his public criticisms of the Palace, only to have Queen Elizabeth II herself turn up. At the end of his audience, Lord Altrincham is asked to step outside for a moment, and when Charteris invites him back inside he's bemused to find that the Queen has somehow vanished, despite there only being one door.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E2TheCurseOfPeladon "The Curse of Peladon"]], just about any torch on a wall can be lowered to activate a secret door.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons "Terror of the Zygons"]], Sarah Jane Smith finds a passage behind a bookcase, leading to the alien spacecraft under Loch Ness. She activates the opening mechanism by pulling out a book, which she could only reach via portable steps [[VillainBall fetched for her by the villain]].
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric "The Curse of Fenric"]], the entrance to the secret lab under the church is concealed behind a bookcase in the crypt.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E4KnockKnock "Knock Knock"]]: One of Bill's new housemates mentions that the old house they're moving into is just the place you'd expect to have one of these. It later transpires that the entrance to the tower, where the tenants had been told not to go, is hidden behind a bookshelf.

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Mask of the Demon", the VictimOfTheWeek has a secret room concealed behind a bookcase that he uses to secretly film his CastingCouch assignations.
* In a ThrowawayGag on ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Niles explains that to get through the secret passage in his [[RuleOfCool 3-story apartment]], one must "poke ''Literature/MrsDalloway'' on the bottom."
* In the episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' where Phoebe tries to meet Sting, she starts pulling books on his bookcase looking for a secret passage.
* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Rhaenyra Targaryen's bedroom at the Red Keep has a secret passage which leads to some door out of the castle that's not guarded. She and Daemon use this route to surreptitiously leave the Red Keep to go on their date in "King of the Narrow Sea".
* ''Series/IntoTheBadlands''. In "White Stork Spreads Wings", The Widow escapes Quinn's attack on her BigFancyHouse through a bookcase door opened by a key inserted into a fake book, meaning her pursuers--even though they know it's there--can't follow once it's shut.

* The passage leading to Principal Rita's secret underground grotto/sea access on ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'' is hidden behind one of these. The book you have to pull to activate it is crushingly obvious. (Hint: it's [[spoiler: the book on mermaids]].)

* Deconstructed in ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', when a stereotypical DiabolicalMastermind tries to have one installed in his lair, only to be informed at length by the builder of [[NoOSHACompliance the impracticality of his request]]. To start with, he wanted it put in a supporting wall, and the trigger would have been "this volume of Ms. Katie Price's 'Being Jordan'." He tries to go for the fireplace version, only to be told the fire will have to go unless he wants smoke everywhere. He eventually settles on a "nice, simple TrapDoor." He gets one, albeit [[spoiler: one that follows workplace safety guidelines ''to the letter'', with automatic guard rails, a warning siren, and a countdown [[ComicallyMissingThePoint giving the victim lots of advanced warning to get out of the way]].]]
* In ''Series/TheMonkees'' episode "The Spy Who Came In From the Cool", there is a secret exit from the pawn shop through a harp case. Micky jokes that he thought it was through the accordion.

* In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' Tommy has one of these leading to the home base of the Dino Thunder Rangers.

* In the ''Series/RippingYarns'' episode "Whinfrey's Last Case" our intrepid hero is cornered in his hotel room with enemies approaching. Fortunately, he's in smuggling country, which means his small room has ''dozens'' of secret passages -- his only problem is choosing which one to take.

* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "Weekend Vampire", our heroes accidentally activate the wall ''twice'' without realising what's going on, with Max and a villain who's [[PortraitPaintingPeephole listening behind the wall]] changing places behind an oblivious 99.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015''
** In "Regrets Only", Matt and Elektra break into a safe but can't find the MacGuffin they're looking for. Matt's super-senses then detect an electrical cable running behind the wall. He shows Elektra where the cable stops; there's a vase there that Elektra turns to open a door to a hidden vault. Elektra then takes credit for finding it. "I'm a genius!"
** A variation in "The Dark at the End of the Tunnel", when Frank Castle realises Colonel Schoonover's toolshed has a false wall behind shelving that hides a WallOfWeapons.
** In "Aftermath", Wilson Fisk is ostensibly under house arrest in a hotel penthouse but has a secret staircase behind a shoe rack in his bedroom closet that leads down to a secret command center where he can conduct meetings with Felix Manning and underlings without the FBI noticing.
* In the ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' episode "A Body Worth Guarding," two fascists meet in a secret room hidden behind a sliding door with a bookcase in front of it.
* Referenced in an episode of ''Series/HappyEndings'' where Dave and Alex give their real-estate agent increasingly ridiculous requirements for their new apartment. She finally finds one that meets almost all of them, aside from this.
-->'''Realtor''': It doesn't have a secret turny-roundy bookcase, but it is zoned for one and I know a guy.
* In the series finale of ''Series/JustShootMe'', Finch reveals that Jack had one of these installed at some point, connecting the liquor cabinet in his office to a bookshelf by the stairs in case he ever needed to make a quick getaway.
* ''Series/HoneyWest'':
** A sliding panel in Honey's office leads to her apartment.
** Syndicate members in "Whatever Lola Wants..." have a sliding mirror leading to their secret lair.
* The short-lived 1980s comedy ''Series/MacGruderAndLoud'' was about a pair of police officers who had to keep their marriage a secret, due to their precinct's policy against fraternization on the force. To get around this, they moved into a duplex apartment building, and a secret passage through a grandfather clock allowed them to visit each other.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': Chateau Picard had one installed during WWII to hide from the Nazis. In the 21st Century, Picard and Tallin make use of it to hide from Adam Soong and his Borg commandos. [[spoiler:Unfornately, Soong sees there's a dust void on the floor besides the bookcase, and realizes he can slide it to the left.]]

* ''Pinball/TheAddamFamily'' has a bookcase that revolves and reveals a lock for multiball. You are [[SequenceBreaking supposed]] to open it first, [[DevelopersForesight but Gomez will happily compliment if you manage to sneak a ball inside without doing so]].

* While it's not a bookcase, the Secret Passage in Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/HauntedHouse'' looks like a regular pinball target, but folds over to allow the ball to drop into the Cellar.

* The classic ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'' has two on the board. Also shown in the [[Film/{{Clue}} film of the game]].

* Drawing an Event card in ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' possibly lets you create this.

* ''WesternAnimation/BebesKids'' (the infamous SNES game based on the movie of the same name) has this in the haunted house level, as the revolving door type. The added twist is that depending on which side you open the bookcase leads the player to different locations. Though this raises the question of why can't you access both areas since there would have to be a gap in the dividing wall in order for the bookcase to open.
* In ''VideoGame/RealmsOfTheHaunting'' you'll find one in the Study early on in the game which leads to the Mausoleum.
* ''Videogame/AloneInTheDark1992'' has one.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' has this in spades and in all sorts of shapes - from secret rooms behind the bookcase shelves to a whole abandoned and forgotten tunnel system hiding behind a non-functioning WC in a public restroom being used as a refugee camp.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'': At Dr. Galvani's house, there's a bookcase with a selectable book on a shelf. When clicked, this opens the bookcase and reveals a SecretRoom. The room contains a rat sample that can be used to poison the bootleg elixir producer at the Whiskey Distillery. In the Golden Cat mission, you can return to find a rune.
* ''VideoGame/Dishonored2'': In the first level, Corvo or Emily has to escape Dunwall castle by travelling through the safe room. It is hidden behind a bookcase and opened with a special ring that Sokolov designed. Inside are various weapons, large quantities of gold and old drawings of Emily. In the final level, the player can return to the room and find Ramsey frozen in stone by Delilah as well as Emily's doll from ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}''.

** Oh, and the room which holds the titular tome is behind a bookcase which required you to set the time on the clock to [[spoiler:3:33.]]
** Not forgetting the firecase entrance for the tome's chamber when you play as Max, the game really liked this trope.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'', [[spoiler: the Vault-Dweller has to pass through one of these if he/she is to get into the [[BigBad Master]]'s ElaborateUndergroundBase.]]

* There are oodles and oodles and oodles of these in the video game adaptation of ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. They are all opened by casting the spell ''Alohamora'' on them, even though ''Alohamora'' is just supposed to pick locks. They're also present in the [=PS1=] versions of that game and ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'', but are easy to tell because all the Bookcase Passages look the same. Interestingly, rooms are re-used between the two games and have the same bookcase passages, yet they lead to ''completely different places'', [[ChaosArchitecture perfect for Hogwarts]]!
* Part 2 of ''VideoGame/HugosHouseOfHorrors'' contains a bookcase that opens when a book is taken out, causing Hugo to disappear.

** Fireplace elevators have become a sort of recognizable theme in the series, despite appearing only infrequently. Eventually ''Revelation'' gives you a fireplace and the option of entering in Tomahna's kitchen; if you try, it toasts your hand instead. You can even increase the fire with a bellows lying inside.
** Oddly, neither the original fireplace in the Myst Library nor the fireplace elevator in Atrus + Catherine's bedrooms function as fireplaces, as there aren't any chimneys in the ceiling. Yet the latter has tools and fire logs next to it anyway. Also, in URU, apparently the Myst fireplace has no visible source of light.

* The opening cinematic of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' features one of these.
** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'' had one in the game, but it's just a weapons cache and not a passage.
* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', there is a Bookcase Passage in the Giovanni mansion, and there is also one in Grout's house.
* ''VideoGame/TraceMemory'' has one that's triggered by playing a secret melody on the piano.

** In ''Thief Gold'', all three missions not in the original game have secret passages: "Thieves' Guild" (various secret panels); "The Mage Towers" ([[spoiler: the Central Library has a secret room behind a bookcase]]); "Song of the Caverns" (the Opera House has many secret passages, one of which is accessed through the furnace, and most of which are marked on the map you should get from the building's former owner)

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** One of these in the ''Culling of Stratholme''.
** And in Karazan where it leads to an optional boss.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'' the only difference is that it is not a book that triggers the moving of the bookcase but rather something in the same room which leads to the SecretUndergroundPassage
* The ''VideoGame/LauraBow'' games have secret passages coming out their ears.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims2: Apartment Life'' and ''VideoGameTheSims3: Supernatural'', you can buy a bookshelf that serves as this. Any Sim you have direct control over can use them, but no Sim will ''ever'' use them by their own free will--meaning Sims can become trapped behind them, [[ArtificialStupidity unable to figure out how to get out]].
* There's one in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', in the room you fight Psycho Mantis.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' has one of these. The book's names were mostly references to ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': In the book room of the Oceanside Spider House in Great Bay, there's a bookcase that has to be moved sideways to reveal a small hole where one of the Gold Skulltulas hides.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', with a twist: The books don't trigger anything, but you need to return them to their proper place, so you can climb on them later, when shrunken down, in order to reach a Minish-sage who lives on one of the shelves.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has several in the library of Hyrule Castle. One hides a tunnel leading to a dock, while another hides King Rhoam's secret study.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'':
** The entrance to the [[spoiler: chamber with the six famous assassin statues and Altair's age-old armor.]]
** There's another one earlier in the game: [[spoiler: the fireplace in the Auditore mansion in Firenze, hiding the room where you acquire the assassin outfit.]]
* Manannan's study in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'' has a bookcase passage leading to an underground room with a spellbook, magical ingredients, and other wizarding paraphernalia.
* ''VideoGame/{{Safecracker}}'' has a number of hidden passages within the Crabb & Sons headquarters building, ranging from a fireplace panel door in the basement, operated by a large clockwork machine; to a hidden staircase to a room on the first floor, accessed when placing a checkmate on Jerry Crabb's chessboard. The way to get into Jerry Crabb's office is hidden behind a bookcase passage as well.
* In ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa3'', instead of a bookcase, it's a mirror, the glassy surface disappears revealing a doorway. Only 2 exist in the game, one in Monica's room and is only used for story purposes, and the other in [[spoiler: Maximus' Hideout]] which holds a chest containing Stardust Armor
* In ''Beyond VideoGame/DarkCastle'', Prince Duncan uses a fireplace passage to access the castle.
* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series have several of these.
* ''[[VideoGame/HugosHouseOfHorrors Hugo 2: Whodunnit?]]'' kicks off with both characters finding and using one of these (which, [[FridgeLogic for some reason]], takes them to different places).
* The series' successor ''VideoGame/Nitemare3D'' has tons of them. In addition to many actual bookcases (''all'' of which are secret passages), there are dozens of sliding panels per level. Finding them all is necessary for HundredPercentCompletion.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': Many levels have secret doors and passages ({{handwaved}} in the novelization as being part of mechanisms for transporting and sealing off materials. ''VideoGame/DoomII'' introduces a bookcase texture for walls, which leads to many, many, ''many'' exact examples of this trope in maps featuring library-like areas.
* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'': Minor example in the Nali Castle: it reveals a super health pack instead of an actual passage.
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagicVIIForBloodAndHonor'': A bookshelf it reveals an actual passage. The book that does it is very difficult to spot, however.
* ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'': There is a hidden door in wall panel in the VIP section of the airship, but you need perfumes of four seasons to trade for a key to get through and find the only firearm in the game...with only one bullet in it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Redstone mechanisms involving pistons, which push and pull other blocks, can be used to create passages revealed when bookshelves withdraw at the push of a button or flick of a lever. The chiseled bookshelf, a block added in Updated 1.20 that can be used to store individual books and generates a redstone signal when used, is specifically geared towards this sort of use by activating linked mechanisms whenever a book is placed on or removed from its shelves.
* ''VideoGame/HexenII'': There's one of these in Blackmarsh's mortuary. It leads to a small cell area and a passage to the hub's boss.
* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has two in the main game and one in ''Justine''.
* ''VideoGame/AmsterDoom'' has the painting variant in a stage set in Het Rijksmuseum. It turns out Art/TheNightWatch has a hidden corridor behind leading to an alien base.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' has one in Big Boo's Haunt that leads to a room with a star.
* ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'' was meant to have one, according to the script, but eventually became a moot point in favor of passages even more bizarre than that. Examples include hovering over and then fitting ''inside a sink's drain pipe'' and entering a door that doesn't fit with the hallway outside, instead exiting from the kitchen's oven on the other end of the house.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'': At the end, a loose grate below the living room fireplace in Blackwood Manor [[spoiler: hides a small prison cell in the basement, where Robin, James Blackwood's son was kept hidden from the public.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The secret room of the [[TheOrder Blades]] is located behind a door disguised as a wardrobe. It's a perfectly functional wardrobe, but its back wall can be opened, revealing a secret passage.
** Similar secret doors are found in other places (though not so functional as wardrobes): one in Hjerim (the house you can eventually purchase in Windhelm) which leads to a secret storage room, and another in Riftweald Manor in Riften (the house owned by Mercer Frey), which has a secret and booby-trapped passage to the Ratway.
** In ''Dawnguard'', in Castle Volkihar, you have to go through a door disguised as a [[spoiler:fireplace, opened by a wall-mounted candlestick]], to proceed to the portal leading to [[spoiler:the Soul Cairn]].
** In ''Dragonborn'', one of the houses on Solstheim has a bookcase passage in the cellar.
* ''VideoGame/Blood1997'', which is a pastiche of horror of all kinds, including Gothic Horror, has quite a lot of such passages. A good rule of thumb: if you find bookcases, search for secret places.
* A variant appears in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''; here, pulling the book lowers a staircase (which either crushes or replaces the flimsy stairs already present). This is the only time in the game you actually click on a picture instead of one of the choice buttons.
* The manor house level in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' has a fireplace passage.
* The rotating fireplace variant is found in a mansion in the bayou in ''VideoGame/MySimsAgents''. [[spoiler:You need to repair a nearby clock's mechanism to make it work, and it leads to a passage where you, ahem, break the case wide open]].
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'', there's a switch in Peach's bedroom that makes a grate in the fireplace fall; you walk through into a tunnel that leads to a rotating platform into a certain other room. Peach uses this passage several times over the course of the game.
** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', a bookcase appears in The Enigmansion. Paperizing it to the right place causes it to open up a passage.
* In VideoGame/{{Penumbra}} ''Black Plague'', drawing a specific book from a bookcase will reveal a hidden room.
* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has the same bookcase passage as the above ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' example leading to the dungeons.
* Inside Nikifor's house, Umang finds one in ''The Sacred Rings'', though this one needs to be powered up in order to open, and the switch to go through is easy to spot.
* The second gym in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' has a puzzle with a variant of this. After solving the puzzle, which involve a series of books in the library bookshelves, one will move over, revealing the stairs leading to the Gym Leader, Lenora.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has a more usual example. Late in the game, a bookshelf in Lysandre Café can be shoved aside to reveal the entrance to Lysandre Labs.

* One makes an appearance in ''[[VideoGame/NancyDrew Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion]]'', leading to a short secret passageway which contains a PortraitPaintingPeephole.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'': Bruce has one of these open into a secret elevator that takes him from his Wayne Enterprises office to Lucius Fox's laboratory. To activate it, he has to move the [[ChessMotif black knight]] on his office chessboard.
* ''VideoGame/TheSexyBrutale'': What one of the secret passages uses as its cover. [[spoiler:Also, a hidden panel necessary to save one of the guest's lives is hidden behind a bookcase.]]
* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2'': The bookcase in Mysterio's apartment (or "hidden fortress" as he calls it) conceals an elevator which takes Spider Man to his "Funhouse of Doom", which appears to be larger than the apartment complex itself. How he set it up without his landlord knowing is a mystery.
* In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', the city library has a secret passage behind the shelves in the Horror section, opened by pulling on a particular book. It leads to a secret room containing [[spoiler:the librarian's collection of contraband occult texts]].
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' features a few. One is plot-critical and is used by LaResistance to smuggle the player into a Nazi-occupied village; the others are easy to miss and only hide secret rooms.
* ''VideoGame/PajamaSamInNoNeedToHideWhenItsDarkOutside'': A small library in Darkness's house has a rotating bookcase that flips around after pushing in books of a specific color. (They change every playthrough.) Behind the bookcase is a secret passage that leads to a MadScientistLaboratory and an exit to the mines. In certain paths of the game, there will be a magnet hanging on the hook on the wall behind it, which you'll need to collect the lunchbox if it is underwater and the nail in the mines, which you'll need to fix the chair in the potion room if the mask is in the room with the dancing furniture. To get the magnet, Sam must find a way to the other end of the bookcase passage.
* In ''Curse of Briar Rose'', the first installment of the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' series, one of these leads to a hidden shrine to the title character's fairy godmothers, which contains some useful clues for solving the case. Later installments occasionally employ variants of the trope.
* ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'': ''Of course'' the New York Public Library has one. Fortunately, the PKE Meter and Paragoggles can assist you in finding the ''exact'' book.
* Arcana Manor, in ''VideoGame/TheCabinetsOfDoctorArcana'', is unsurprisingly the home of one such secret passage. It doesn't come as much of a surprise, since it isn't found until after the player has seen the PointAndClickMap in the Library (which explicitly labels one room as "Secret Room"). [[spoiler:The secret ''elevator'', however, is another story, since it leads to a completely hidden level.]]
* ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' has spinning bookcase in the Livre Ex Machina to access a secret room.
* In story mode of ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'', Arizona can find a secret bookcase passage in Reine's museum which leads to a sleeping bear.
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'': In an attempt to learn more about the land of Fatima, Prier's group gets permission to use Cresson Castle's Library. Having found nothing, Prier's short temper causes her to kick the bookcase, causing a passageway to open up.
* In ''VideoGame/MyHouse'', the house's electrical panel closet is hidden behind a bookcase in the basement rec room, and only unlocks after collecting the first few {{MacGuffin}}s, [[SchmuckBait drawing the attention of the player with a sparking sound]]. Interacting with the panel, though, causes the house to catch fire and locks the player into a BadEnding.

* Even ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' gets in on this act - ''Investigations'' features a pair of these (fireplace variant) as a critical clue for the lead-up to its finale.

* ''WebAnimation/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged'' is well aware that [=AVALANCHE=] headquarters is accessed via pinball machine and uses it regularly for comedy. Not only did Wedge find it this way, but so did one of Don Corneo's goons, which leads to Shinra finding out about them.
* In ''WebAnimation/{{Lackadaisy}},'' speakeasy Proprietrix Mitzi May is shown pushing a tall, bookshelf-sized glassware cabinet inward like a door to exit the Little Daisy Cafe and enter a small underground [[SecretUndergroundPassage foyer]] where a doorman guards the entrance to the Lackadaisy Speakeasy.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Castle Heterodyne's library in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' contains a small side room hidden behind some shelves as well as at least one alcove hidden in the same fashion.
* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib082.html Dara drags along Mac because Mac knows this]].

* In ''Webcomic/EvilPlan'', the elevator down to the lab is hidden behind a sliding bookcase.

* Double Subverted in ''Webcomic/OperationReboot''. Zane investigates a bookshelf that he thinks contains a secret passage and is disappointed when he is unable to find one. Later he discovers he just hadn't looked hard enough.
* ''Webcomic/CrystalHeroes'' [[https://www.crystalheroescomic.com/page-87/ combines this]] with DoorDumb.
* When musing about the [[https://www.bugmartini.com/comic/castle-hassle/ disadvantages of owning a castle]], Adam from ''Webcomic/BugMartini'' warns against WrongGenreSavvy guests that attempt to find secret doors.

* PlayedForLaughs in a Website/CollegeHumor video where the 2 dungeon keepers setting up the passage [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RsgcAuWbP8 disagree over which book should be used to trigger it]].

'''Draven:''' So I guess that just rules out ''Literature/TheSecret'', ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', and ''Open: Creator/AndreAgassi's Autobiography''.
** And the next morning, the book they chose (''Open: Andre Agassi's Autobiography'') was [[AllForNothing the first one to be picked up]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcgee'': Lampshaded in "Monumental Disaster", when Libby pulls on a book titled "Secret Levers 4 Secret Doors" to open a secret passage in the Brighton library to the archives.

* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': In the segment of the episode "Littlest Pet Shop of Horrors" parodying ''Literature/{{Misery}}'', Penny Ling, in Annie Wilkes' role, pulls a book revealing a standup stage that she made in honor of Pepper, playing Paul Sheldon's role.

* ''WesternAnimation/RazzberryJazzberryJam'': In "Phantom Of The Jam", the Jazzberries discover a trapdoor leading to a secret subbasement which is activated by pressing on one of the bricks in the basement wall.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', when Dr. Venture thinks Dr. Orpheus has one of these.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'': In episode 8, the entrance to the hidden section of the library is, fitting enough, behind a bookcase.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Got Game?"; Perry attempts to enter his underground lair through an elevator hidden inside a bookcase, but the elevator turns out to be out of order, so he's forced to take the AbsurdlyLongStairway down.
* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' episode "The Math Book". In the library, Milo notices a single red book out of place and reaches for it. Of course, MurphysLaw being what it is, it just causes the bookcase to collapse. And then part of the wall collapses, and ''there's'' the secret tunnel.
* ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'': There's a bookcase in the Creation Station that, when a book is pulled, turns around and reveals Leiko's guitar. In another episode, it reveals a soundproof room for Zadie to make a lot of noise.

* The entrance to ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' was behind one of these.

* ''Film/BatmanBegins'', like the live-action TV, feature a bookcase secret passage. It's enhanced into a safe vault locked by a fingerprint lock in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. ''Begins'' gets bonus points -- the trigger is plunking out a couple of notes on the nearby piano.
** Lucius Fox also has a secret elevator behind one of these that goes direct to Applied Sciences.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': A closet Neo-Nazi in "Yahrzeit" keeps his horde of Holocaust memorabilia behind a bookcase that slides in front of the entrance. The investigators find it after Mac notices scratch marks on the floor.

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "Blood Wedding", Barnaby finds a priest hole/secret passage concealed behind a bookcase. Most tellingly, the passage leads to the room where the first murder was committed.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

[[quoteright:175:[[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xkcd_1049_edit.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:175:"Hey look, ''[[Literature/HarryPotter The Chamber of Secrets]]''!"]]

** [=HitTheTarget=], Stampy's ArchEnemy, also had one in his house in the Helpers' Village which connected to an underground lair, where he imprisoned Stampy's dogs after kidnapping them. Stampy discovers this in Episode 92, "The First Cake". Both the house and the Helpers' Village have since been destroyed since that encounter.

%%* ''Film/HomeAlone4'' [[PlayedForLaughs plays this for laughs]].

* Minor example in ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'' in the Nali Castle: it reveals a super health pack instead of an actual passage.
* Also used in ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII: For Blood and Honor'', where it reveals an actual passage. The book that does it is very difficult to spot, however.
* In ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' there is a hidden door in wall panel in the VIP section of the airship, but you need perfumes of four seasons to trade for a key to get through and find the only firearm in the game...with only one bullet in it.
* One of the most popular inventions in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' since the piston was added, and often new piston inventors' first creation.
* There's one of these in Blackmarsh's mortuary in ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II''. It leads to a small cell area and a passage to the hub's boss.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'', a loose grate below the living room fireplace in Blackwood Manor [[spoiler: hides a small prison cell in the basement, where Robin, James Blackwood's son was kept hidden from the public.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the secret room of the [[TheOrder Blades]] is located behind a door disguised as a wardrobe. It's a perfectly functional wardrobe, but its back wall can be opened, revealing a secret passage.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{Lackadaisy}},'' speakeasy Proprietrix Mitzi May is shown pushing a tall, bookshelf-sized glassware cabinet inward like a door to exit the Little Daisy Cafe and enter a small underground [[SecretUndergroundPassage foyer]] where a doorman guards the entrance to the Lackadaisy [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub Speakeasy]].

* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' when Robin and Artemis are hiding from pursuers in the library of the Cave (headquarters of the Team and formerly of the Justice League).

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims2: Apartment Life'', you can buy a bookshelf that serves as this. Any Sim you have direct control over can use them, but no Sim will ''ever'' use them by their own free will (meaning Sims can become ''trapped'' behind them, unable to figure out how to get out!) ''VideoGame/TheSims3 Supernatural'' also includes this.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', which is a pastiche of horror of all kinds, including Gothic Horror, has quite a lot of such passages. A good rule of thumb: if you find bookcases, search for secret places.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' - pretty much every level had secret doors and passages ({{handwaved}} in the novelization as being part of mechanisms for transporting and sealing off materials). ''Doom II'' introduced a bookcase texture for walls, which lead to many, many, ''many'' exact examples of this trope in maps featuring library-like areas.