Behind the Castle Door
Hi, I'm Tanya
I'm a lifelong fantasy reader turned scent-crafter and small business owner. I custom blend and hand-pour every wax melt in my home studio to bring you the most immersive fantasy scents around.
A whole world of books
My passion for reading was first ignited when I discovered Christine by Stephen King. I devoured every King book I could find after that and eventually expanded to Koontz and others.
When The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in theaters, I went to see it with some friends and was instantly hooked. I watched it at least 7 times before I ran out of new people to take with me.
I then found the books in my local bookstore and a whole new world of fantasy was revealed to me as I scanned the shelves marked "FANTASY".
My love of fantasy
Over time, I've incorporated more light-hearted, romantic, and urban fantasy into my reading diet and discovered gems like The Hollows by Kim Harrison and The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward.
From the hobbits, wizards, and elves of high fantasy to the vampires, witches, and pixies of urban fantasy, to the gods, angels, and ghosts of dark fantasy — I love them all!
With each new world that invites me in, each new character that inspires me, and each new creature that enthralls me, my life becomes richer and I couldn't be more grateful to the authors who make it all possible.
May we all live a thousand lives.
Castle Door's Origin Story
Why I created Castle Door
As a handcrafter, I am always looking for ways to combine my maker skills with my love of fantasy.
As a fantasy lover, I am always looking for ways to bring more fantasy into my every day life.
In 2023, inspiration struck and I finally found a way to bring my passions together in a way everyone can experience.
BOOKS AND CHAINMAILLE
The scent of metal
As I sat in my studio, methodically weaving chainmaille for an art collection I was working on and listening to an audiobook, I realized that I was no longer looking at my hands as they weaved. Instead, I was watching the story play out in my mind. The author's words and the narrator's voice had so skillfully brought the story to life that I found myself transported into it.
The next day, I was weaving chainmaille again (if you haven't tried it, it's a very laborious process 😁) and the scent of the worked metal caught my attention.
If you like chainmaille or scalemaille, check out my stuff on my art instagram.
Immersive reading
The power of scent
The idea that handling chainmail can trigger visions of knights wearing armor is no great surprise, but what if just the scent of metal could transport you into your favorite epic fantasy?
Our sense of smell is often overlooked (unless it's something bad 🦨), but it's capable of triggering powerful memories, images, and emotions.
time to experiment
My first wax melts
Why not use the power of scent to go deeper into our favorite fantasy worlds? or bring those worlds into our everyday lives?
So I began experimenting and mixing different fragrances to create scents that would serve as keys to the stories we love.
Those experiments resulted in my very first collection of fantasy themed wax melts and the launch of Castle Door in February 2024.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure and stay tuned for more exciting things to come!