Line #24 ComicBook/ThePassageway


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thepassageway.jpg]]
2	''The Passageway'' is a horror graphic novel[[note]]Written and published as a single book[[/note]] written by Creator/JeffLemire, illustrated by Creator/AndreaSorrentino and inked by Dave Stewart, the creative team behind ''ComicBook/GideonFalls'' and ''ComicBook/{{Primordial}}''. It was published in 2022 by Creator/ImageComics and is the first full-length entry in Lemire and Sorrentino's ''Bone Orchard Mythos''.
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4	A geologist, John Reed, is sent out for an investigation to a small island with a lighthouse when the keeper, Sally "Sal" Yandle, reports that a seemingly bottomless sinkhole appeared in the middle of the island overnight. Haunted by memories of a traumatic childhood incident, John examines the hole and discovers something truly shocking.
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6	'''Beware spoilers'''
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8	!!Tropes
9	* DisturbedDoves: When John [[spoiler:is pushed into the hole]], he is beset upon by a flock of birds that fly past him.
10	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:With Sal and Doug both dead, John crawls off a cliff and falls into the sea, seeing his mother before he dies. The last panels of the story are of the hole, reminding us that what lies beneath it is still real]].
11	* EldritchLocation: The hole itself - it appeared out of nowhere, it's seemingly deeper than the island itself, and there's no indication of where it came from or why it's there. [[spoiler: And that's not even getting into whatever's going on with that shrine at the bottom of the hole.]]
12	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: In the book's third act, Sal and Doug suddenly turn on John and attempt to sacrifice him to the hole. It's unclear if the hole corrupted them into doing this somehow, or if they were always planning to kill John.]]
13	* EyeScream: A recurring theme surrounding the death of John's mother is that, when he found her, her eyes were missing. [[NothingIsScarier It's never answered how this happened]] - John thinks the most likely theory is that they were eaten by seagulls, but [[spoiler: Doug claims that John himself had something to do with it.]]
14	* FanDisservice: [[spoiler:In the temple, John comes across his a seemingly undead version of his mother, who's completely nude]].
15	* HumanSacrifice: [[spoiler:It's implied that Sal and Doug meant to sacrifice John to the hole and whatever evil resides in the temple]].
16	* LighthousePoint: The story takes place entirely on a lighthouse island; the lighthouse in question is apparently broken.
17	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: [[spoiler:When Doug accidentally mortally wounds Sal with an axe, her response is to just call him out for it]]:
18	-->[[spoiler:'''Sal:''' Dougie, you moron... You missed... Hit me, you stupid asshole]].
19	* MinimalistCast: The only characters in the graphic novel are John, Sally, Doug, and John's mother, who is only seen in a few flashbacks [[spoiler:(and as a possible ghost and a zombie-like monster)]].
20	* NothingIsScarier: We never learn what, exactly, the hole is, or where it came from, which only adds to the omnipresent atmosphere of creeping dread throughout the story. Similarly, [[spoiler: the cause of John's mother's death is left open-ended as well - John claims she died of epilepsy, while Doug implies that John himself killed her, but ultimately, neither of these claims are confirmed.]]
21	* RealAfterAll: [[spoiler:We see that John is actually holding a boat just like the one he had when his mother died, indicating that his experience in the temple was at least in part real]].
22	* RecoveredAddict: Sal mentions not having had a drink in 25 years, suggesting that she is a recovering alcoholic.
23	* SurrealHorror: The entire book is chock-full of this. The basic premise revolves around John being hired to investigate a [[EldritchLocation mysterious and seemingly bottomless hole]] that appeared out of nowhere near a remote lighthouse, and things only get weirder and more disturbing from there.
24	* TempleOfDoom: [[spoiler:John discovers one in a giant cavern at the bottom of the hole, lined with pillars with human- and animal-like figures on top and overseen by a colossal Grim Reaper-like one that starts weeping blood]].
25	* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Possibly; before dying of drowning, his injuries or both, John sees his mother just like she had been in life in the water; it's left ambiguous whether or not she was just a hallucination or an actual spirit]].
26	* WhamShot:
27	** When John flies a drone down the hole, the drone's cameras spots a terrifying red face.
28	** [[spoiler:The two-page spread of the aforementioned temple]].
29	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: John really doesn't like bodies of water, which gives him quite a bit of trouble when he travels to the island. It's implied to be because of his mother's death on a beach.

Context ComicBook / ThePassageway