History Literature / WelcomeToDeadHouse

* CompanyTown: The rural town of Dark Falls revolves around the now-defunct Dark Falls Chemical Factory, where most of the now unemployed residents used to work.

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!!The episode provides examples of:

* AdaptationalVillainy: The townspeople of Dark Falls become more sinister than they were in the book. In the original story, while the kids liked to mess with Amanda and Josh's heads, there was still an undercurrent of sadness and tragedy in their actions, and they don't seem to particularly enjoy what they have to do to survive. In the TV show, once the truth is revealed, the kids and adults become rather maliciously gleeful as they corner the Bensons.
* AdaptationExpansion: The reveal about the gas leak in Dark Falls happens earlier via an old newspaper, but Amanda's family don't learn what it really did to the town until later. Also, we learn that the reason Amanda heard voices in her room and the source of the draft she felt came from a hole in her closet. There's also an added subplot about a tacky dried flower wreath Mrs. Benson thinks is a good luck charm but might actually be the cause of the strange occurrences in the house. [[spoiler: It's not, but it actually ''was'' protecting Amanda's family until they were tricked into destroying it.]]
* BlackComedy: The episode is extremely serious and dark in tone through Parts 1 and 2, until a scene where Compton Dawes, the family real-estate agent, [[spoiler: creeps out from under the family's vehicle where he was apparently hiding, proceeding to chase them as they speed away, shouting loudly, "please! You dopes, can't you understand? I NEED YOU!!! Come back, come back! Dark Falls needs you! ...I'M HUNGREEEEEEEE!!!".]]
* CassandraTruth: Amanda feels like there is something ''seriously'' wrong with her new house, and with the town of Dark Falls in general. Even after seeing an adult man peeping at her from a window adjacent to her bedroom, a ghostly boy wandering around, a deceased girl looming over her bed and a group of menacing kids wielding baseball bats, her parents don't believe her while her younger brother, Josh, just expresses annoyance at the house because it "stinks".
* ChekhovsGun: Mom hangs up a tacky wreath, which later they assume they need to destroy to stop the zombies. [[spoiler: It turns out it was protecting them from the zombies.]]
* GoodLuckCharm: The Benson family puts up a fugly-as-hell wreath, appearing to be made of dead leaves and human hair, which mother Penelope Benson proclaims is an old good luck charm from her side of the family, which father Jack Benson and realtor Compton Dawes both hate. The wreath is [[spoiler: sadly later burned in the fireplace, which turns out to have been a bad idea since it really ''was'' lucky and was the only thing protecting the Bensons from the malicious townsfolk of Dark Falls.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: While the Bensons all change their clothes and wear multiple different outfits throughout the show, the townsfolk of Dark Falls consistently wear the exact same thing, and all in very dark colours. The most prominent example is Karen Thurston, who wears a gray shirt with an ambiguous brand logo on it (a letter 'G' with a crown over it). It's unclear why the Dark Falls townsfolk never change clothes, but implied to either be sheer poverty or, worse still, [[spoiler: that these are the clothes they were buried in when they were killed.]]
* NightmarishFactory: The few glimpses viewers get of the shady Dark Falls Chemical Factory are aesthetically hideous, including a slapdash plywood sign with the words "Dark Falls Chemicals: Closed -- Danger!" painted on it. Making matters even worse, the Benson family learns that not only is everyone in town unemployed since the factory's closure, but [[spoiler: in a past accident reported in the town's local newspaper, many workers were killed by an accident at the factory, which mutated them all into beings that feed on human blood and can't go into direct sunlight.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The people of Dark Falls. They're undead, but also mutants, and also possess some qualities of vampires (such as being WeakenedByTheLight) and in addition to this, they need (or think they need) to eat healthy, living people to survive. So they're mutant vampire cannibals.
* WeakenedByTheLight: As in the book, the undead denizens of Dark Falls find direct sunlight intolerable. Instead of pushing a tree over to expose the sun, the Bensons smash out a window inside of a house during TheSiege after the townspeople have managed to get inside of the house, causing their undead neighbors to disintegrate into EmptyPilesOfClothing.
* WhamLine: Related to the Adaptation Expansion plot involving a tacky dried flower wreath Mrs. Benson thinks is a good luck charm but might actually be the cause of the strange occurrences in the house.
-->'''Mrs. Somerset''': You thought that wreath would keep you safe. Well, [[spoiler: you were ''right''.]]
-->'''Mr. Somerset''': [[spoiler: Now it's gone. You just destroyed the one thing that could protect you.]]
-->'''Mrs. Somerset''': [[spoiler: If it hadn't been for that annoying little wreath, we would have fed when you first moved in.]]

It was adapted into [[Recap/GoosebumpsS2E20E21WelcomeToDeadHouse episodes 20 and 21 of the second season]] of [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]].

It was adapted into episodes 20 and 21 of the second season of [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]].

* BitterSweetEnding:[[spoiler: Amanda and her family escape the gruesome fate the townsfolk have planned for them and destroy most of the undead. But they've still lost their beloved Petey, as they're driving away it's revealed Dawes somehow survived and is ready to repopulate the town...one family at a time.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This is the very first ''Goosebumps'' book. In addition to being more gruesome than usual, it has fewer chapters than later books and the chapters themselves are longer.
* EvilDetectingDog: Petey, the Benson family dog, barks at everyone in the town because [[spoiler: they are zombies. He gets killed by them eventually.]]

* OurVampiresAreDifferent and OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Dark Falls residents are somewhere between a true zombie and a vampire to bloodsucking mutants that are harmed by sunlight.
* TownWithADarkSecret: Everybody's dead.

* ChekhovsGun: Mom hangs up a tacky wreath, which later they assume they need to destroy to stop the zombies. [[spoiler: It turns out it was protecting them from the zombies.]]

-->'''Mrs. Somerset''': You thought that wreath would keep you safe. Well, [[spoiler: you were ''right''.]]

!! It provides examples of:

* WeakenedByTheLight: The undead townsfolk possess some qualities of vampires, and can't stand direct sunlight. At the end of the book, when they are trying to [[ImAHumanitarian eat]] Josh and Amanda Benson's parents, Josh and Amanda push over a big tree blocking the sun from shining directly on the townspeople, causing them to die. [[spoiler: One person escaped though.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This is the very first book, and as well as being more gruesome than normal, it has fewer chapters than later books and the chapters themselves are longer.

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This is the very first book, and as well as being more gruesome than normal, it has fewer chapters than later books and the chapter themselves are longer.

* NewHouseNewProblems: This new house is full of some sort of undead.

* WeakenedByTheLight: The undead townsfolk possess some qualities of vampires, and can't stand direct sunlight. At the end of the book, when they are trying to [[ImAHumanitarian eat]] Josh and Amanda Benson's parents, Josh and Amanda push over a big tree blocking the sun from shining directly on the townspeople, causing them to die. [[spoiler:[[TwistEnding It doesn't permanently kill them, though]].]]

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This is the very first book, and as well as being more gruesome than normal, it has fewer chapters than later books and the chapter themselves are longer. Unlike the majority of the later books, this one uses third-person narration.

* BloodierAndGorier: This book is ''quite'' a bit more violent and gruesome than the majority of the series, with graphic descriptions of faces being melted off.

The first first ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book.

[[folder:Narrative tropes]]

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This is the very first book, and as well as being more gruesome than normal, it has fewer chapters than later books and the chapter themselves are longer.

* WeakenedByTheLight: The undead townsfolk possess some qualities of vampires, and can't stand direct sunlight. At the end of the book, when they are trying to [[ImAHumanitarian eat]] Josh and Amanda Benson's parents, Josh and Amanda push over a big tree blocking the sun from shining directly on the townspeople, causing them to die. [[spoiler:[[TwistEnding It doesn't permanently kill them, though]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Character tropes]]

!! Amanda and Josh Benson

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bensonstoppscard.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Josh [-(left)-] and Amanda [-(right)-]]]

-> '''Portrayed By:''' Amy Stewart and Ben Cook ([[Series/{{Goosebumps}} TV]])

The very first protagonists of the series. Amanda and her younger brother Josh move to the town of Dark Falls after their father inherits a house from a dead uncle. While Josh is adamant about refusing to go along with the plans to move, Amanda tries to keep an open mind about the situation, until she learns her new home has a terrible secret.
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* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Josh, but only slightly. He's said to be a tad impatient and spoiled but in the story it's generally toned down and in the end they get along okay.
* BadassNormal: [[spoiler: Josh, at one point, attempts to bash Mr. Dawes' head in when he realizes that he's not alive]].
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: It's hard to imagine that Amanda and Josh are protagonists in a ''Goosebumps'' book due to the fact that neither of them have any of the {{Flanderization}} traits prominent in the other protagonists, especially those with younger siblings. Amanda isn't a StrawLoser who is TheUnfavourite to her AnnoyingYoungerSibling, nor is Josh a raging SpoiledBrat doted on by their parents. This makes more sense when considering that they were the very first protagonists and actually set the mold for the characters to come.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Josh is the foolish to Amanda's responsible. Josh is more self-absorbed and less willing to go along with their family's move, while Amanda, who has her own reservations about moving, recognizes that arguing about it is just going to cause tension. Though once the truth comes out, Josh becomes pretty understandable.
* KidHero: [[spoiler: It falls upon both Benson siblings to rescue their parents after they are taken captive by the Dark Falls residents, and in doing so, they end up killing most of the townspeople... except Mr. Dawes]].
* NiceGirl: Amanda, she's certainly one of the more likable protagonists. The only mean thing she does is scare her brother, but that's only because he previously scared the crap out of her with a prank of his own.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Her first night in Dark Falls, Amanda has a nightmare about her family as living skeletons devouring human bones. [[spoiler: Which is almost exactly what would've happened to the Bensons if the people of Dark Falls had succeeded in draining their blood.]]
* SpoiledBrat: Josh. Amanda and their parents acknowledge that he's slightly spoiled, but unlike the other spoiled siblings seen in the later books, Mr. and Mrs. Benson do little to encourage it.
* StrawLoser: Averted. Neither Benson sibling come close to the levels of StrawLoser some of the other protagonists share. Amanda mentions that she can be kind of klutzy when it comes to playing softball, but it's not something PlayedForLaughs or PlayedForDrama. Indeed, they are probably the most heroic protagonists until ''Deep Trouble''.

!! Dark Falls Residents

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadfalls.png]]

The undead inhabitants of a remote town who lure new residents there to eat them.
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* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In ''VideoGame/GoosebumpsHorrorTown'', they became the way they are after being bitten by Countess Yvvone. Oh and they are also full vampires instead of simply having some of the traits of them.
* AffablyEvil: You wouldn't be able to tell their true nature until it's too late.
* AntiVillain: They feast on living beings to sustain their town's existence, but seemingly hold no ill-will towards them. Some, like Karen, are quite remorseful for their abominable lifestyle.
* AlmightyJanitor: Compton Dawes, Dark Falls' mild mannered real estate agent, is not only a bloodsucking mutant, but he's also the most responsible for keeping the town alive.
* BigBad: Again, Compton Dawes. He's the one most responsible for luring new victims in his role as Estate agent, and thus keeping the town active for so long. [[spoiler:It's also possible his survival at the end of ''Dead House'' would have been the premise of the cancelled Goosebumps Gold sequel.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: They seem nice at first, but the children of Dark Falls enjoy messing with Amanda and Josh for no reason other than they feel like it, and once their true nature is revealed, they drop all pretenses of being nice in order to satisfy their hunger.
* CreepyChild: Karen and the rest of the Dark Falls children. They especially like to hide in Amanda and Josh' rooms while they sleep and fool around with their belongings. When they're not doing that, they like to randomly manifest in front of Amanda while she's alone and make her believe she's going crazy when they disappear. Josh mentions that there were a couple of boys in his room who were "mean" but Josh refuses to go into detail over [[NothingIsScarier what they did to him]].
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: When most undead monsters are destroyed by light, it's portrayed as simply crumbling to dust or burning to ash. Not these guys; they graphically rot and fall apart, including loving descriptions of their faces melting, skulls shattering and eyeballs falling out. Averted in the TV series, where they just kind of evaporate.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Little Karen Somerset (and presumably other residents) thinks this way of her undead living.
* {{Gaslighting}}: The children of Dark Falls make it a habit of screwing with Amanda and Josh. They'll randomly pop up in front of Amanda while she's alone, then disappear. They also like to mess with the siblings' belongings, and have tried to do things to them while they're asleep.
* HauntedHouse: Inverted. They inhabit every other home except the titular "dead house" where the living family stays.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Compton Dawes survives the destruction of the other townspeople, and goes on to feed on more families]].
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: They drink blood and are destroyed by sunlight like vampires, but bare more of a resemblance to ghosts or zombies.
* StarterVillain: The entire Goosebumps franchise began with these guys.
* TownWithADarkSecret: Dark Falls. With a name like that, it's no surprise.
* UndeadChild: Ones that are a weird mix between vampires, zombies, and ghosts.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Most of the children, probably.
* TheVirus: In their town, they'll welcome you as one of them-literally.
* WeakenedByTheLight: Bright light will destroy them. Unusually for TheUndead, it doesn't have to be sunlight. Any sufficiently intense light will do.
[[/folder]]

The Benson family have just moved to the dreary town of [[MeaningfulName Dark Falls]] after the father inherits a spooky mansion from a great-uncle he didn't know he had. Things immediately start to look bad. For one thing, the family's new house is clearly haunted. Petey, their dog, is aggressive to all the neighbours. The trees are really tall and dense, blanketing the entire town in shade. Everyone else wears long, heavy clothing in the middle of summer, and is never available when the sun is out.

This new down is ''dead'' weird.

By which we mean that everybody is dead, as you can tell from the fact that we used "dead" as an intensifier and emphasised it.

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This is the very first book, and as well as being more gruesome than normal, it's one of the ''very'' few to be narrated in the third person, and both Josh and Amanda get POV chapters.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Josh if foolish, Amanda is sensible.

The first one.