Stephen and Lucy are enjoying Halloween until a snowstorm sweeps in and a portal to fantastical realms opens over nearby Pendleton Hill. The magician Mr Hawkins explains that all manner of evil may enter the world through this Gateway to the Fantastic and Macabre. Soon the children are emboiled in snowswept and dangerous adventures on a quest to save themselves, their town and perhaps everything else. Encounters with supernatural horses, giant icicles...