Lair, Lair

What does it take to make a good secret lair?

For a project I’m working on, I’ve been giving the topic some thought. The appeal of secret lairs seems universal, although the forms may vary. As a child, one of my favorite books was The Secret Hideout by John Peterson. Two brothers, Matt and Sam, find an old book describing the Viking Club. They resurrect the club and locate its hidden hideout. The story was the stuff of childhood dreams.

My traveling companion, on the other hand, leaned more towards The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is impossible to calculate how much money has been spent at Home Depot over the years pursuing a fantasy of replicating the garden. 

The secret garden isn't a traditional lair but sometimes my traveling companion gets to make the rules. 

(She also promotes Flavia de Luce's chemistry lab in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and subsequent books. I'm not sure it's secret, but no one else is allowed inside Flavia's workspace.)

Lairs come in all forms, though they share common elements. Typically, they are away from civilization. Think Superman's Fortress of Solitude tucked away in the frozen tundra. Isolated and high-tech, the lair provides a sanctuary for the superhero. The Batcave follows this model. I grew up watching the Caped Crusader slide down a fire pole hidden behind the bookcase in Bruce Wayne's study. This seems the second-best reason to have a house lined with walls of shelves.

Secret technology doesn't have to be the sole purpose of a hideout. In The Count of Monte Cristo, we find many of the familiar elements. On a secluded and deserted island off the Tuscan coast, Dantes finds a secret cave. When he gets by the seemingly impenetrable rock blocking the entrance, Dantes is led down a path built from a series of crafted and natural formations. In the back of a dark cave, he discovers a chest filled with unimaginable wealth.

Lairs offer a place to privately display treasure or trophies, a laboratory to craft new and better weapons, and a sanctuary for rest and recovery. The best hideouts have all these elements stashed in a secret location. The surrounding environment is either so tranquil or forbidding that no one suspects what lies beneath the thin outer shell. 

A lair might be a laboratory or a vault. It might even be an entire country, as in Wakanda. Perhaps it’s just a piece of one. If you have a free month, pick up Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. (Spoiler alert) She describes Galt’s Gulch, an isolated place tucked deep into the mountains. The men of the mind have run away there, striking against the government in the dystopian United States. They hope to prove how desperately the world needs original thinkers. They hide away until society collapsed. According to Wikipedia, Rand based Galt’s Gulch on Ouray, Colorado. If you choose to hide out somewhere, Ouray is a pretty good place.

Secret lairs don’t have to be fancy. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles retreat to their sewer headquarters when they need to rest, work out, and eat a pizza. But even this subterranean hideout has a laboratory and dojo.

Of course, when I think about writing a secret lair into my story, the archetype will always be James Bond. Every movie had a visual stunner. Blofeld’s headquarters in Spectre had elegant lines and a desert atmosphere. A viewer could compare it with Gustav Graves’s Ice Palace in Die Another Day. It may also hearken to the Fortress of Solitude.   

The contrast is Raoul Silva’s hideout in Skyfall. Silva's lair challenges many of the tropes. It is ugly and crumbling. Still, this abandoned mining island holds a wealth of technology. It creates a potent image of a deteriorating world. The location matches Silva’s decay.

Personally, I like Crab Key. It could be because Dr. No defined the Bond standard. It has everything: a remote location, a tranquil tropical setting, and secrets, including a nuclear reactor. Crab Key established the Bond tropes. I like it. I’m a company guy.

What about you? Do you have a favorite hideout for either heroes or villains?

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BSP: Thanks to all who have helped make the release of The Hidden River, the second book in the Johnson and Nance series, a success. The series publication has been the highlight of my writing this year. I'm also proud to be included in The Best Private Eye Stories of the Year for 2025.

Until next time.