History Literature / TalesFromTheDarkTower

* EvilIsSexy: Usually averted with most of the horrifying monsters in the series, but played dead straight with Mara, whose oozing sexuality represents the allure of TheDarkSide.

%% * HornyDevil:

* HornedHumanoid: Leshii the Forest Lord appears as a half-man, half-beast with horns and [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]].

** Leshii is explicitly one of them.[[note]]The name is that of a forest deity in Russian mythology.[[/note]]

* EvilIsSexy: Usually averted with most of the horrifying monsters in the series, but played dead straight with Mara, whose oozing sexuality represents the allure of the dark side.

* WitchSpecies: This seems to be the case for Daria and the other witches who live in Raven's Hollow. Technically, they're pagans who worship TheOldGods and had magic taught to them by [[spoiler: the [[FallenAngel Watchers]] ]], but magical abilities are also passed down from mother to daughter. Daria mentions that she will lose a significant amount of power when her daughter is born, implying that it literally transfers from mother to daughter.

''Tales from the Dark Tower,'' published in 2000-2003, is a book of short horror tales written by the gothic [[Music/NoxArcana fantasy artist and musician Joseph Vargo]]. It was a collaboration between Vargo and a group of other writers,[[note]]James Pipik, Eric Muss-Barnes, Christine Filipak, Joseph Iorillo, Jalone J. Haessig, Robert Michaels, and Russel Novotny[[/note]] who contributed stories based directly on Vargo’s artwork. (One of the reasons Vargo left Music/MidnightSyndicate was to work on this project.)

Two sequels followed, titled ''Beyond the Dark Tower'' and ''Return to the Dark Tower.'' They were published in 2011 and 2015, respectively, each written only by Vargo and by Joseph Iorillo. In 2011, Nox Arcana’s album ''The Dark Tower'' was released to accompany the books. Several of the tales share titles with Nox Arcana tracks.

Not to be confused with Franchise/TheDarkTower.

** A mysterious angel dressed in a knight's armor and with black wings approaches Brom to chide him for giving into his vampirism and biting Rianna. He appears again at the end of the series, to give Brom a pep talk before the final battle.

* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Lord Brom. He eventually has a good relationship with the villagers, who come to trust him.

* EvilIsNotWellLit: [[MeaningfulName It's not called "The ''Dark'' Tower" for nothing.]] It's also explicitly stated a few times that demons and vampires cannot abide light because they are inherently evil creatures. Even Brom perceives himself this way, despite being a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire by all accounts.

* AncientEvil: The SealedEvilInACan beneath the tower [[spoiler: is Mara, a vampire queen whose hideous reign of terror]] resulted in the gruesome deaths and torment of Vasaria's residents. This was already a centuries-old legend by the time the series starts, but the roots of this evil go back much further than that. [[spoiler: Mara was actually the reincarnation of Lilith, the Queen of Demons who fled the Garden of Eden.]]

* BiblicalMotifs: Some Biblical apocrypha is incorporated into the story's lore. The BigBad of the story is Mara, who is [[spoiler: the incarnation of Lilith, the first wife of Adam and the Queen of Demons.]] The names of the three angels who bound Lilith (Sanvi, Sansavi, and Semangelaf) are used as a protective charm in Vasaria. The story of the Watchers from the ''Book of Enoch'' also forms part of the Dark Tower's backstory.

* TheDarkSide: The powers of Lilith and the Dark Brood that corrupt Vasaria, personified by Mara. Brom has to continually resist giving in to the temptation to drink human blood, because he knows that if he does, it will weaken his will, and evil will become impossible to resist.

The books follow the story of Lord Brom, a vampire who guards the menacing Dark Tower in the fictional Romanian town of Vasaria. His story is initially a FramingDevice for the lore and history of Vasaria, but later books focus more on the main plot as Brom struggles to defend Vasaria from an ancient evil.

* CreepyCrows: Crows and ravens are usually bad omens in this series. They infest the woods around the ominous tower, and [[spoiler: fill the ballroom to feast on the carrion after Mara slaughters everyone in "Masque of Sorrow."]].

* FallenAngel: "Dark Desire" is a story about a Watcher who falls in love with a mortal woman. [[Literature/BookOfGenesis You know where this is going.]] [[spoiler: He grants her eternal life by giving her some of his blood to drink, but this turns her into the first vampire. He's able to restore her humanity, but is not able to save her from the terrified villagers who [[BurnTheWitch burn her at the stake]].]] It's implied that other angels did the same thing, and ended up as Lilith's Dark Brood.

* DarkIsEvil: Mara, Dravek, and the other vampires wear black. The Nightwatcher appears as a demonic entity with horns, claws, and bat wings. Most of the other monsters and gargoyles look similar. [[spoiler: They are descendants of an original "brood" of evil fallen angels.]] These forces of darkness are constantly being fought by the noble, often religious protagonists.

* EvilMentor: The jester/[[spoiler: The Nightwatcher]] to Mara, who convinces her to [[spoiler: kill her father and his subjects and]] take her place as the Dark Queen. She eagerly complies.

* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Not egregious, but Vargo does mix up "thee" with "thou" and "thy" with "thine" a few times.

* DrivenToSuicide: Twice in "The Witch of the Standing Stone." The King's first wife throws herself from a tower after being endlessly tormented by nightmares about Leshii, and [[spoiler: Endora stabs herself after she learns that Mara will be pure evil.]]

* TheDragon: Dravek, Mara's second-in-command, a dangerous vampire who commands werewolves.

* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: To prove his allegiance to her, Mara demands that Dravak order the only woman who ever pitied him to be [[CruelAndUnusualDeath torn apart by wolves]]. This is after Mara [[ExactWords promised not to hurt her]].

* SheIsTheKing: Mara operates under the title of "Queen," but Dravek calls her his "master." She seems to prefer this.

%% * VirginInAWhiteDress:

%% * SupernaturalAid:

* PurpleProse: There's a lot of it. Partly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the gothic horror genre, which demands a little bit of purple, but Vargo's writing style (as opposed to that of the other contributors) can be easily identified by his copious use of this. It borders on {{Narm}} on occasion. For example, the opening lines of "Crusaders," the first story of the second book: