History Main / BookSafe

But the trick is flexible enough to be used for just about anything small enough to fit. Hand weapons, ammo, drugs, bottles of liquor, software, other books. Whatever. And it's more practical than, say, [[LooseFloorboardHidingSpot hiding stuff under a wooden floor]].

** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. Mrs. Whistlers, a kindly old lady who teaches black children at a mission in South Africa, is revealed to be a diamond smuggler when Mr. Wint hides the goods inside a hollowed Bible.

** One of the diamond smugglers in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' hides the goods inside a hollowed Bible.

* In one of ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'''s filler shorts "Helvetica Standard", there's a girl in a white dress enjoying the scenery. Then she goes into the library and opens a book, [[spoiler:[[MoodWhiplash cutting to the reveal that the book has a gun inside]], implying she's a SilkHidingSteel.]]

This trope can be TruthInTelevision; check Wiki/ThatOtherWiki under "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealing_objects_in_a_book Concealing objects in a book]]" for examples.

-->'''Benny''': ''(still by the bookshelf)'' Don't anybody what's in ''this'' book, or I will kill you with what's in ''that'' book.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/TheGame'', Michael Douglas's character keeps a revolver hidden in a copy of ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''.

But the trick is flexible enough to be used for just about anything small enough to fit. Hand weapons, ammo, drugs, bottles of liquor, software, other books. Whatever.

** In a Halloween episode he keeps a donut stashed in a book at work. Except when he needs it he finds he's eaten it already and left himself an IOU. He curses himself for always being one step ahead.

* Played for comic effect on ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'':
---> Benny: If you [Angie] ever tell anyone what's in this book [money] I will ''kill'' you with what's in ''that'' book.

* In ''Anime/MyOtomeZwei'', the "Book of Neptune," from which Nagi alleged to have learned about Yuna and the [=CHILDs=], was really a box with the Neptune Emerald GEM inside.

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' started when Sakura opened a Book Safe: the hiding place of the the Clow Cards. This also released Kerberos, but he had fallen asleep and neglected his duties.

* The spy team in ''Anime/PrincessPrincipal'' occasionally receives their mission files from a book in the library hollowed out to fit envelopes with wax seals. Another book, used by a different spy party, is hollowed to fit a camera, with the lens hidden in the ornate spine.
* In one of ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'''s filler shorts "Helvetica Standard", there's a girl in a white dress enjoying the scenery. Then she goes into the library and opens a book, [[spoiler:[[MoodWhiplash cutting to the reveal that the book has a gun inside]], implying she's a SilkHidingSteel.]]

* In ''ComicBook/VForVendetta,'' corrupt priest Father Liliman pulls out a gun from his Bible when V enters the room.
* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''. In "Explorers on the Moon" Captain Haddock smuggles his whiskey on board the rocketship inside a {{doorstopper}} tome, labelled "Guide To Astronomy".
* Used in one ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' story - [[spoiler: a fake priest keeps a revolver in his hollowed-out Bible. Lucky suspects him and asks him to read some words from the Good Book...]]
* Red Hood smuggles a collapsible bow to Arsenal inside a bible in the first issue of ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws''.

* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' features a sound-activated listening device in a book, which Bond uses to determine if someone has sneaked into his room while he's been out.
** One of the diamond smugglers in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' hides the goods inside a hollowed Bible.
** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' features the classic gun in a Bible.
* Used in ''Film/JohnnyDangerously'': as Michael Keaton is being walked to the Chair, in passing each cell along the way each prisoner hands him one component of [[IKEAWeaponry a Tommy gun which he assembles]] whilst walking. The last piece is in the Bible the priest is "reading" from. However, it's a fake gun, that falls apart mere moments after Johnny makes his escape.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix'', Neo keeps his illegal software inside a hollow copy of the real-world philosophy text "Simulacra and Simulation" by Jean Baudrillard. A real copy of ''Simulacra'' wouldn't be thick enough to hide that much stuff (it's not a very long book), so one can conclude that the filmmakers specifically worked this reference in as a hint to the nature of Neo's reality.\\
\\
The illegal software was hidden in the chapter titled "On Nihilism", again referencing the philosophical themes of the film. It's worth noting that ''Simulacra'' and Jean Baudrillard are '''huge''' influences to the Wachowskis, as plainly evident in the sequels.

* ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'': The warden of Shawshank prison opens up the Bible to discover that this is where Andy has been hiding the rock hammer he used to tunnel out of his cell. Salvation, indeed. For that extra touch of irony, the hollow section begins at ''Exodus''.
* In ''Film/TheGame'', Michael Douglas's character keeps a revolver hidden in a copy of ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''.
* One can also conceal documents between the inside of a book cover and its lining without removing any pages at all, as in ''Film/TheGoodShepherd.''
* There's a Western film where a large number of rifles are packed in ''crates'' labelled "Bibles".
* In ''Film/CatBallou'', Uncle Jed, disguised as a preacher, produces a knife from his Bible and uses it to cut the rope on the gallows as it is placed around Cat's neck.

* In ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'', Aramis (who trained to be a priest) at one point pulls a pistol out of a hollowed-out Bible and shoots one of the Cardinal's guards with it.
* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', Ben's dad keeps money between the pages of Thomas Paine's ''Common Sense.''
* The lead character in ''Film/{{Frankenhooker}}'' keeps a video tape stashed away in a copy of ''Literature/GraysAnatomy''.
* A book of Shakespeare with a gun in it is hidden within a Library in ''Film/HardBoiled''. Alan walks into the library, gets the book and kills his target. Then he replaces the gun and book on the library shelf and walks out. This was apparently done so the hitman would never be armed if he was caught, but the police find the book because of the blood on it.
* In ''Film/{{Kickboxer}} V'', the main character and his reluctant partner end up in prison, in which liquor is smuggled into cells by hiding the bottles into hollowed-out books, and delivering them through the library system.

* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAndTheSecretWeapon'', Holmes conceals the parts of Dr. Tobel's bomb sight inside a pair of hollowed out books.

* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' has Kumar opening a thick medical prep textbook containing a bag of marijuana and use the paper to make joints.
* In ''Film/TheatreOfDeath'', the killer keeps a knife hidden in a hollow ledger in Davras' library.
* One of Mrs. Mac's many, many booze stashes in ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'' is in a hollowed out book in the bookcase in the sororitory house lounge.

* In ''Film/AngelHeart'', Dr. Fowler keeps the bullets for his revolver hidden in a fake bible.
* A variant in ''Film/DennisTheMenace''; Mr. Wilson has a safe that's shaped like a stack of books, which he keeps his coin collection in. When Dennis asks Mr. Wilson why his safe looks like a stack of books, Mr. Wilson tells him that it's so that a thief won't recognize it if he breaks into his house and tries to steal his coins. On the night of Mr. Wilson's garden party, [[BigBad Switchblade Sam]] finds out about Mr. Wilson's safe and robs it just as Mr. Wilson's rare flower blooms, and as Dennis was the only witness to the robbery, Mr. Wilson assumes he was CryingWolf and gives him [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech an angry speech]] that causes him to run away. Fortunately, Dennis defeats Sam and returns Mr. Wilson's gold the next morning.
* Sam from ''Film/AboutScout'' hides money and pills in a copy of ''Literature/ForWhomTheBellTolls''.

* Although in ''Franchise/StarWars'' they don't use actual paper books very often, the Franchise/StarWarsLegends have a couple of examples where a tiny hold-out blaster is hidden in a box in Imperial libraries that was supposed to contain datacards: ''The Complete History of Corvis Minor''. Supposedly the topic was so dull and so unimportant that no one who didn't know about the blaster would choose to pick up the box.
** When Mara Jade finds one in ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'', it's because as the former Emperor's Hand she knows exactly where to look. Providing his secret agents with quick and covert access to a weapon in an emergency was precisely why the Emperor had this particular box placed in every Imperial library across the galaxy, so when Mara has her blaster confiscated and needs a new one, she goes to the nearest library.
** In the ''Literature/XWingSeries'', when Corran Horn finds one for himself along with a number of other hidden library secrets, it's because he has luck and [[SentientCosmicForce the Force]] (which may be the same thing)--not to mention a lot of time to look around, as he is locked in the room alone. Corran being Corran, he cracks a joke to himself that if a blaster is the complete history of Corvis Minor, it must not be a vacation spot. Naturally, he follows up that thought by searching the remaining datacard boxes, hoping in vain to find additional weaponry.
---> He eventually gave up on finding a "Complete History of Corvis ''Major''" that might hold something a bit more substantial, like, say, an X-wing.
** In the later book ''Isard's Revenge'', [[BrickJoke the squadron ends up going on a mission to Corvis Minor]]. Just before they make the jump, Corran recalls the holdout blaster he'd found in the datacard box.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** An odd variant that might be a subversion, a parody, or completely unrelated occurred in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', when a young Havelock Vetinari hid all the extant copies of a rare book on concealment inside the cover of ''Annals of the Great Accountants, Volume 3''. He thought the author would have approved.
** In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', Mrs Whitlow has cleared Ridcully's chambers of food and smoking supplies on the night before the big match. After finding all of his other stashes cleared out Ridcully is relieved to find his copy of ''An Occult Primer'' still contains mints, tobacco, and cigarette papers... along with a note from Mrs. Whitlow that she didn't have the heart to confiscate those as well.

* ''Literature/JamesBond'':
** In ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'', Grant has a gun concealed in a copy of ''Literature/WarAndPeace'', which ''[[ShoePhone fires if you press the spine in the right place]]''.
** In ''Literature/{{Goldfinger}}'', Bond hides his Walther PPK inside a hollowed out copy of ''The Bible Designed to Be Read as Literature''.

* In the Creator/TimDorsey novel ''Stingray Shuffle'', a drug ring sells cocaine to its customers by running a book-shop and giving their drug customers hollowed-out paperbacks of a book entitled 'The Stingray Shuffle' (Chosen because it was an unpopular book that a normal customer wouldn't ask for) which had a gram of cocaine contained in the hollow. They sold so much drugs that way that they inadvertently triggered a revival of interest in the author, which caused a publicity event to be held at the shop, which caused normal people to accidentally buy paperbacks filled with drugs, which brought in the cops.
* In one early ''[[Literature/TheWitcher Witcher]]'' story Geralt, convalescing in the Nenneke's monastery, hides his booze behind the books in the library, because Nenneke disapproved of his drinking. Dandelion, visiting his friend there, promptly hangs lampshade on this trope.
* In ''Two Miles to the Border'' by Creator/JTEdson, the 'Daughters of the Lord' hide Colt Cloverleaf Pistols inside their heavy bibles.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Adam Knight hides his Lazarus serum in a hollow book.
* On ''Series/{{House}}'', House hides a secret stash of Vicodin inside a textbook on Lupus, on the grounds that he'll never need the textbook because [[RunningJoke "It's never Lupus."]] (Shockingly, in the fourth season, they did get a Lupus case.)
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** Eko finds pieces of a Dharma film in a hollowed-out Bible in the second season.
** A different version might be when Penny puts her letter into Desmond's copy of ''Our Mutual Friend.'' Knowing that he'll turn to that book at his lowest time, it kind of works the same as a Bible.

* ''Series/PushingDaisies'': A nun keeps whiskey in a hollowed-out Bible and takes a QuickNip during a prayer service when no one is looking.
* ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'': [[BigEater The eponymous vicar]] hides chocolate bars inside her Bibles.
* ''Series/TheWire'': Randy is a group home kid who tries to stash the cash he's been earning in the spine of a school textbook. When he finds it stolen, it's one of the worst gut punches in the series.
* An episode of ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' has one of the twins hiding candy bars in hollowed-out cookbooks because his mom never looks at them.
* In ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', Blanche finds out after his passing that Big Daddy's Bible had a bottle of whiskey inside. Apparently, so did most of his other books.
-->'''Blanche:''' So that's why every Sunday after services he would stand up and say, "I can lick any man in this church!"

* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': Colbert faked out the audience by revealing that he had a secret stash of Eggo waffles hidden inside of Sarah Palin's new book (the Palin story had to wait until the waffle shortage story was done).
** In his second book, ''America Again'', Colbert says he has a hollowed-out Bible he keeps a gun in, the caption reading "The meek shall inherit my lead! Mark: .45"

* One episode of ''Series/SquareOneTV''[='=]s "Mathnet" segment concerned the theft of a carved crystal pigeon. The detectives tracked down the culprit, but discovered the pigeon had been stolen from him in turn. He had been storing it in a book, the pages cut into the exact shape of the statue.
* On an episode of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' a hunter who enjoys hunting HuntingTheMostDangerousGame has Dr. Banner trapped in a room; a clue leads him to a key hidden inside a hollowed out book on [[ChessMotifs chess, which was a major thematic element of the episode]].
* Played for comic effect on ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'':
---> Benny: If you [Angie] ever tell anyone what's in this book [money] I will ''kill'' you with what's in ''that'' book.
* In an episode of ''Series/NightCourt'', we discover in Harry's office a bookshelf that has a set of legal texts that hinge up to reveal a secret compartment, holding his pet rabbit.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Vala and Daniel find two ancient communication stones hidden in a hollowed-out "Book of Origin" (basically, the Ori version of the The Bible) when they are transported to the Ori galaxy.
* One episode in season 3 of ''Series/BabylonFive'' shows several religious figures paying a visit. The real reason for their visit was to relay information from Earth, contained in data crystals which one of them had kept hidden in a Bible.
* In a one-off gag in ''Series/{{Community}}'', Shirley opens a library book to find a gun-shaped compartment cut into it. She looks shocked, then decides she wants no part of it and puts the book back.
* In one episode of ''Series/PawnStars'', a completely hollow wooden book meant for pistol smuggling was showcased. Considering all it held at the time was an arrest record, though, apparently it didn't work...
* In ''Series/ThirtyRock'', after Liz [[spoiler: officiates over his divorce with Avery]], Jack gifts her a remote control holder shaped like a book from SkyMall. Note that while Jack is tremendously rich, Liz loves useless kitsch like that.
* In ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'', the fifth episode of the first season has a variation [[spoiler: items hidden in the ''spine'' of books. Including the poison that killed the episode's victim.]]

* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In "The Great Twain Robbery", the VictimOfTheWeek hides the stolen page from a manuscript within the pages of another book.
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': The episode "Paradise Lost" features the backstory of Hydra leader Gideon Malick, where he learns after his father's death he was secretly rigging their Hydra faction's LotteryOfDoom to make sure he never drew out the fatal white stone, hiding one with an etch in it in his copy of Milton.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "The Beantown Bail-Out Job", Parker (who is [[BadHabits disguised as a nun]]) uses a mould she has hidden inside a hollowed-out Bible to make a cast of the safety deposit master key.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': In "Skin in the Game", the ThemeSerialKiller leaves hollowed out bibles containing dowels at the scene of his crimes.

* The ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' episode "On the Scent" involves a drug dealer who keeps her cannabis in a copy of ''Literature/LeavesOfGrass''. Sherlock {{lampshade}}s the pun.
* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "The Matrix," Ilana stores weed in a hollowed-out history book.
* ''Series/ForLife'': Captain Foster smuggles in drugs for Cassius by hiding them in a Bible.

* ''VideoGame/Exmortis2'' had a Bible with an ornate dagger in it, [[spoiler: designed to destroy the "Hand of Exmortis'']]. The player character ignores the Bible entirely until he reads a related journal, though.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'': A bible hidden in the chapel of Blackwood Manor had a section carved out for a thick steel nail, which fits into the chapel's enormous crucifix to reveal a hidden room.
* ''VideoGame/{{Aurora}}'': the only thing in your hotel room is a book with an (unloaded) gun in it.
* Shad, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess,'' is generally a non-action kind of guy. However, he does carry around an ornamental dagger... which he uses as a ''bookmark.''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Homer repeatedly took out a flask hidden in a Bible whenever he claimed he needed guidance ("Now I know why they call it the good book.") He freaked out at the end of the episode when it was somehow replaced with a real Bible.
** In a Halloween episode he keeps a donut stashed in a book at work. Except when he needs it he finds he's eaten it already and left himself an IOU. He curses himself for always being one step ahead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'': The old racist [[HolierThanThou Church Militant]] woman was made Czar of Child Services. When she was first appointed she took out a Bible and said she had all she needed "right here". She then yelled "Behold, the [[FunWithHomophones piece]] of The Lord!" when she proceeded to pull the gun out (accidentally shooting it into the air.)

* Some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' used a book mechanism to allow access to the lab (which was located behind the bookcase in Dexter's room).
* ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'': In "Games", the books in the library in Humpty Dumpty's DeathCourse house are hollow and contain guns.

** In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', Mrs Whitlow has cleared Ridcully's chambers of food and smoking supplies on the night before the big match. Luckily, his copy of ''An Occult Primer'' contains mints, tobacco, and cigarette papers... along with a note from Mrs. Whitlow that she didn't have the heart to confiscate those as well.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/Disenchantment'', Bean declared her party a bust, saying she's going to curl up with her favorite book, to which Luci replies, "The hollowed-out one with booze inside?"

* ''VideoGame/{{Exmortis}} 2'' had a Bible with an ornate dagger in it, [[spoiler: designed to destroy the "Hand of Exmortis'']]. The player character ignores the Bible entirely until he reads a related journal, though.

* Although in ''Franchise/StarWars'' they don't use actual paper books very often, the Franchise/StarWarsLegends have a couple of examples where a tiny hold-out blaster is hidden in a box in Imperial libraries that was supposed to contain datacards: ''The Complete History of Corvis Minor''. Supposedly the topic was so dull that no one who didn't know would choose to pick up the box.

Most often this is a gun. Often the book in question is the Good Book. It [[GiveAWholeNewMeaning Gives A Whole New Meaning]] to "Guns and Bibles." Sometimes a character will go so far as to brandish the Bible while exclaiming "This will protect us!" or some similar line, only to open the Bible and reveal the weaponry within.

* A ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' case revolves around drugs hidden not in a book, but a "fake book" that has four sealed edges.