James Spicer is a 12 year old boy in his first year of secondary school. Everyone thinks James is weird, even his parents worry because he draws and paints such dark pictures. James has a fertile imagination and loves to create paintings of werewolves, vampires, dragons, witches, and all kinds of unbelievable creatures. At school James is bullied and labelled as one of the weirdo kids. The only person who doesn't think James is weird is his grandpa and he died two years earlier.

James is desperate to fit in but his incredible imagination involving dark creatures is not easily accepted by anyone. Daily he faces bullying at school. After one particularly dreadful day James catches his shadow stealing the light from behind his eyes. James is pulled through his bathroom mirror into an incredible fantasy underworld. There James' journey takes him through fantastical realms of strange creatures, culminating in his meeting the King of Shadows.

James' quest is successful and he returns with a new found confidence and readiness to face life's challenges. However once again he comes face to face by the bullies. This time, however, James is equipped with his newly honed skills to deal with his problems.