History Webcomic / Broodhollow

* RatedMForManly: What happens whenever the Bottlefly Boys enter the comic.

* ObsesivelyOrganized: Wadsworth ''needs'' things to be closed.

* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: Zane goes full out with his SuperOCD by [[spoiler:nailing everything in his room shut]] when he believes he's going to be attacked by a ghost. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive It doesn't work.]]

* SuperOCD: Wadsworth ''needs'' things to be closed.

* ComedicSociopathy: Planchett is hilariously mean to Wadsworth, and it seems that there is little reason for him to treat Wadsworth so badly.
** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation On the other hand]], Planchett seems to have honestly believed Wadsworth was an out-of-towner con man looking to make a quick hundred dollars selling property that wasn't actually his. Later chapters establish that Planchett is just a bristly guy in general, and he tones down his mistreatment of Wadsworth as they get to know each other.
* CoolOldGuy and CoolOldLady: Mayor Osgood appears to be this, quieting down Planchett and inviting Wadsworth to be a guest of honor at one of the town's many holidays. Later, Ms. Isquith of the Broodhollow Ladies Auxiliary is very friendly and supportive of Iris -- and is more than capable of taking Planchett down a peg.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Wadsworth definitely has OCD, but that [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness may or may not]] be all that's going wrong in his head.

Mayor Ogden Osgood: A pleasant old man who takes an interest in Wadsworth

* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: Zane goes full out with his SuperOCD by [[spoiler: nailing everything in his room shut]] when he believes he's going to be attacked by a ghost. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive It doesn't work.]]

* ActionGirl: [[spoiler: Iris]] gets a chance to be one. [[BigDamnHeroes Briefly and awesomely]].

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: The sequence at the beginning of the second chapter, where we suddenly see Mayor Osgood's face be replaced by a massive gaping hole.]] Fortunately, it just seems to be a nightmare, [[spoiler: until [[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com/page/2013/11/29/something-horrible/ he starts seeing it when he's awake.]]]]
** It's implied from his psychotherapy sessions that [[spoiler: these dreams are Zane's subconscious trying to remind him about all the things he's forgotten as a result of the ExtraStrengthMasquerade.]]

* AncientConspiracy: The Society of the Skull and Shovels. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that they wind up being a [[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats relatively mundane secret society]], made up of various businessmen and community leaders who talk shop, drink and play cards. [[NotSoHarmless Mostly.]]
** The Broodhollow Ladies' Auxiliary is a DistaffCounterpart to the Skull and Shovels, being concerned primarily with organizing the town's many holidays. And if Mrs. Isquith's conversation with Iris is anything to go by, [[spoiler: they all know about, and actively resist, the town's supernatural effects on memory]].
* AnyoneCanDie: Poor [[spoiler: Maris]].
* ArtShift: The comic is drawn utilizing a cartoony style reminiscent of comics like ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}''. That is, until [[spoiler: the ghosts and monsters show up,]] at least...

* BatScare: When the townsfolk begin the ritual for Ouster Eve, it scatters some bats that were roosting in the church tower's belfry. [[spoiler: And then they start getting bigger...]]

* [[CantHoldHisLiquor Can't Hold His Switchwater]]: Zane can't, at least when compared to the Bottlefly Boys. [[spoiler: Which is how he winds up tripping and injuring himself, resulting in him going to the hospital.]]

* CreepyBasement: [[spoiler: Where Zane is taken when he's kidnapped by the ghost of Harker. Worst part is, the ghost's influence [[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com/page/2013/06/19/dust/ seems to hide the exit]]]...]]

* DistressedDude: Wadsworth, at the hands of [[spoiler: Harker]].

* EnclosedSpace: Inverted. Zane intentionally closes every door, window and drawer in every room he stays in out of superstition. When he believes he's being chased by a ghost, he goes so far as to [[spoiler: ''nail every door, window and drawer shut.'']]

* HistoryRepeats: [[spoiler: Once Zane becomes aware of the fact that his memories have been altered, he plans to use shock and horror to restore his memory. However, he comes across an old journal that shows he already tried it once before... ''and it didn't work.'']]
** Particularly horrifying because [[spoiler: his attempt to restore his memories may be tied to Maris' death.]]

** ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Broodhollowans seem ''incapable of remembering'' certain events, no matter how traumatic and conspicuous. This even includes [[spoiler: Zane]].

* NightmareFace: [[spoiler: The collapsed-in faces from Zane's nightmares definitely count.]]

** There's another one [[spoiler: at the beginning of Chapter Two.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Partly a result of the influence of the BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats, but also a result of the ExtraStrengthMasquerade that [[spoiler: prevents people from remembering all of the supernatural phenomena they come across.]]

* ShaggyDogStory: An enterprising reader experimented on the website's background, and found it was [[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/869365/webcomics/bh_blog_back_newspaper_enhanced.jpg a newspaper article written by the author]] describing [[spoiler: the main character's apparent death]]. It counts as this, because [[MemeticMutation the ending of the article abruptly becomes the lyrics to the opening theme from]] ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''.
** [[spoiler: A careful reader will notice that the article also mentions the death of Iris, given that it has her mother, Maude Bellweather, talking about the deaths of her husband and daughter.]]
* ShowWithinAShow: The "Cadavre" comics, which feature a French existentialist skeleton and his friend, Mort. [[spoiler: This character also appears in Zane's dreams to give him messages.]]

* SmallNameBigEgo: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Angstrom. He's not ''incompetent'' by any means, but he has a [[RunningGag reoccurring obsession]] with obtaining fame by... basically just taking existing psychological concepts and renaming them.

** However, Zane gets some independent confirmation from [[spoiler: Iris, when she [[FryingPanOfDoom beats the evil out]] of Harker. She finds Zane after following a ghost even!]] Sadly, this doesn't [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade last very long]].

* TheWorfEffect: Maris of the Bottlefly Boys [[spoiler: is found dead in the snow]], likely to establish the deadliness of a yet-unknown villain.

* ArtShift: The comic is drawn utilizing a cartoony style reminiscent of comics like {{Tintin}}. That is, until [[spoiler: the ghosts and monsters show up,]] at least...

* GRatedDrug: Switchwater, the town's substitute for alcohol. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the comic takes place during the Prohibition Era in America.

* [[{{Masquerade}} Masquerade]]: Wadsworth believes that Broodhollow has this in effect because no one else notices the strange things happening.

* [[spoiler: OrganTheft:]] [[spoiler: The reason the ghost of Harker was kidnapping and killing people- he hoped to reconstruct his body, piece by piece.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Wadsworth's crippling neuroses are so gosh darned ''endearing''.

* [[spoiler:Harker, by the time he gets hold of Wadsworth, is mostly bones with bits of skin sewn on.]]

** Zane's nightmares tend to involve quite a bit of it. [[spoilers:Like people's heads caving in and a HumanoidAbomination crawling out of a hole in his back.]]

''[[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com Broodhollow]]'' is a webcomic by Creator/KrisStraub, creator of ''{{Webcomic/Starslip}}'', ''DarthWiki/CandleCove'', and ''{{Webcomic/Chainsawsuit}}''.

* ABoyAndHisX: [[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com/page/2013/01/23/another-visitor/ A young man and his adorable bat]]!

''[[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com Broodhollow]]'' is a webcomic by Kris Straub, creator of ''{{Webcomic/Starslip}}'', ''DarthWiki/CandleCove'', and ''{{Webcomic/Chainsawsuit}}''.

* ArtShift: The comic is drawn utilizing a beautiful but cartoony, fairly low detail style. Until [[spoiler: the ghosts and monsters show up]]...

Wadsworth Zane, an Encyclopedia Atlantica salesman in the '30s who suffers from anxiety and compulsive behaviors, receives a letter telling him a very distant relative died. He stands to inherit [[TheGreatDepression some much needed money]], but must make a trip to the small town of Broodhollow to learn more about his inheritance.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Mercy [[http://broodhollow.chainsawsuit.com/2013/06/12/have-mercy/ dive-bombing the skeleton]], followed shortly afterwards by Iris bursting in and [[AwesomeMoments beating the everloving shit out of it]] with a [[FryingPanOfDoom frying pan]].]] That strip's title? [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "AND STAY OUT"]].

* ScheduleSlip: Kris has a child now, and because it takes up so much of his time, the last update to the main storyline in Broodhollow was in July 2015. There have still been side comics and even a couple of unrelated videos, but unless you want to do an ArchiveBinge, it might be hard to remember where the story was going.

* WordOfGod: Not of facts, but of the fact that there ''are'' facts. Kris has stated that there is a reason for everything - even the fact that [[spoiler:the skeleton in Wadsworth's dream was French.]]
** Of the first WhamLine example above, Kris says, "This is a very important strip." If he's referring to a way in which it it's important that ISN'T obvious...

** Can be seen as an example of GoneHorriblyRight. Zane's efforts were succesful in keeping away his ghostly stalker. The ''problem'' with this was [[spoiler:the ghost that was stalking Zane was actually, with her mere presence, ''protecting'' him from something much worse.]]

** Also can be seen as an examaple of GoneHorriblyRight. Zane's efforts were succesful in keeping away his ghostly stalker. The ''problem'' with this was [[spoiler:the ghost that was stalking Zane was actually ''protecting'' him from something much worse.]]

* TheWorfEffect: Maris of the Bottlefly Boys [[spoiler: is found dead in the snow]], likely to establish the deadliness of a yet-unknown villain.
* XMeetsY: [[WordOfGod Straub]] describes this work as "[[Franchise/TheAdventuresOfTintin Tintin]] goes to [[Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth Innsmouth]]"

* CantHoldHisLiquor: Zane can't, at least when compared to the Bottlefly Boys. [[spoiler: Which is how he winds up tripping and injuring himself, resulting in him going to the hospital.]]