# Old story, title needed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585 "2004-07-11T18:01:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Adversary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Adversary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adversary)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/1 "2004-07-11T18:01:21Z")
I been thinking about this old story or book I read and can’t for the life of me remember the title or author. I thought it was a Heinlin(sp) book but I looked through all he has written and didn’t see it. Here is what I remember. Story is about a man who either buys or inherits an abandoned house. The house has a doorway he finds in the cellar that leads to another world. The world is empty at first and he finds gold nuggets on the ground. I forget the rest, but know I enjoyed it. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/2 "2004-07-11T20:38:42Z")
Isn’t there a long short-story called “The Forgotten Door”? Author by the name of Key? That’s what your description reminded me of. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/3 "2004-07-11T20:44:59Z")
When I search on “The Forgotten Door” and “Key”, I find that there’s a novel, which is still in print, called _The Forgotten Door_ by Alexander Key. I seached on that name and looked at some reviews of the book. It doesn’t seem to quite match mchapman’s description. ---
**Author:** ![Adversary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Adversary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adversary)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/4 "2004-07-11T20:49:52Z")
Nope it isn’t the Forgotten Door. Thanks for the try… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/5 "2004-07-11T22:20:25Z")
Although it (Key’s book) is an excellent book. One of my absolute favorites circa fourth grade. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/6 "2004-07-12T03:55:17Z")
Was it intended for children? Young adults? Adults? Was it a short story or a novel? About what year did you read it? ---
**Author:** ![Adversary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Adversary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adversary)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/7 "2004-07-12T17:26:14Z")
I read it in the late 80’s I think. I am pretty sure paperback, could have been new, or used. I read alot back then. I have looked through most of my paperbacks and can’t find anything like it. When I saw “Tunnel in the Sky” I thought I found it, but the story wasn’t right. (I do like that one as well though) It would have been found in the scifi section of a used/new book store. They didn’t separate out teen fiction during that time. I have been racking my brain for other clues. The only other thing I thought of, The protagonist decided to share his secret with a friend who tries to kill him or something like that. Any other ideas, or did I just dream this up from the thousands of books I read? On another note, does anyone keep a list of every book they ever read? I could see how it would help in a situation like this. I may start doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/8 "2004-07-13T05:31:09Z")
With [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)’s new “search inside books” feature, you could do searches on key words like “gold nugget” or “cellar door”. Of course, the book may be out of print, and if still in print, Amazon may not have the publisher’s OK to do the text search. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-story-title-needed/254585/9 "2004-07-13T06:18:48Z")
Could it be Heinlein’s classic [And He Built A Crooked House](http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/heinlein/heinlein1.html) ?