Line #143 Literature/HemlockGrove


1	[[quoteright:284:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12510849_5025.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:284:Hemlock Grove book cover]]
3
4	''Hemlock Grove'' is a novel by Brian [=McGreevy=]. It was released in March, 2012.
5
6	The story starts when a young girl is brutally murdered and found near the former Godfrey Steel Mill. Amid mounting rumors, two of the suspects in her killing -- Peter Rumancek, a 17-year-old [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} Gypsy]][[note]]The term gypsy is used in the novel, in-character.[[/note]] trailer-trash kid rumored to be a werewolf, and Roman Godfrey (heir to the Godfrey estate) -- decide to find the killer themselves.
7
8	''Hemlock Grove'' is the first of a planned trilogy.
9
10	In January 2013, Netflix announced it would be adapting the novel into [[Series/HemlockGrove an original series]], produced by Creator/EliRoth. Roth also directed the pilot episode. All episodes of the series were made available on Netflix Streaming in April 2013. On April 14th, 2014, a second season was announced.
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12	----
13	!!This book provides examples of:
14
15	%% *AbandonedWarehouse: The abandoned Godfrey Steel Mill is an important location.
16	* TheAlcoholic: Chasseur had been so before and gotten sober, but the stress of the vargulf's attacks had driven her back to her old ways.
17	%% *AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Alexa and Alyssa Sworn.
18	%% *AngryMob: Towards the end of the season, the town is whipped into a frenzy against Peter.
19	%% *AnyoneCanDie:
20	%% *ArcWords: "Today I have seen the dragon."
21	%% *AutoCannibalism: Werewolves eat the flesh and skin they lose after turning.
22	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: When Olivia reveals the truth about their family's powers to him, Roman chooses to kill himself rather than complete the transformation into a full Upir... But this is exactly what CAUSES the transformation and exactly what Olivia planned.]]
23	%% *BedlamHouse: Averted in the case of Norman's hospital, although patients can still meet grisly ends.
24	%% *BeefBandage: Peter has one after bullies beat the crap out of him.
25	%% *BigLittleBrother: Sister, actually.
26	%% *BloodLust: Both Roman and Olivia seems to have this.
27	%% *BloodMagic: [[spoiler: The cat's unfortunate fate.]]
28	%% *BodyHorror: A large part of Peter's transformation scene.
29	%% *BreakTheCutie: Christina, Peter, Shelley. Roman is more of a BreakTheHaughty type until after his coma.
30	* CanisMajor: The vargulf is described as being at eye level to its (standing, human) victims and is at least three times the size of a normal wolf.
31	%% *{{Catchphrase}}
32	%% **"I'm a novelist."
33	%% **"SHEE-it."
34	%% *ConvenientComa: Roman is in one for a while.
35	%% *CoolCar: J.R.'s and later Roman's car.
36	%% *CrazyJealousGuy: ''Roman'' over ''Letha''.
37	%% *CreepyChild: Christina.
38	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: All of the vargulf's victims were disemboweled and torn in half, with care taken t keep them alive during the process to prolong their pain and fear.
39	* CutHimselfShaving: Quoted by Roman, although it really did look like a shaving cut. [[SherlockScan Chasseur]] sees right through it.
40	%% *CuteAndPsycho: [[spoiler:Christina.]]
41	%% *CuteMute: Shelley.
42	%% *DeadpanSnarker: Peter.
43	%% *DeathByChildbirth: [[spoiler:Letha.]]
44	* DeathOfAChild:
45	** [[spoiler:Shelley dies in infancy and is resurrected/reconstructed.]]
46	** [[spoiler:Even Peter's cat wasn't safe from death. He's forced to kill his pet in order to speak to his dead grandfather for advice on how to kill the vargulf.]]
47	%%*DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler:Letha dies when giving birth to her baby, thereby ending the relationship between Peter and Letha for good]].
48	* DisappearedDad: Neither Peter nor Roman have a father. [[spoiler: Except Norman is Roman's father, and has been largely serving in a version of that role for him and his sister.]]
49	* DiseaseBleach: Christina's hair gradually goes white after her encounter with the vargulf's victim. Unrealistically portrayed [[spoiler: unless losing her hair color was her price for turning against the moon.]]
50	%% *DisposableWoman: The vargulf targets young women. See MenAreTheExpendableGender below.
51	%% *DrivenToSuicide: J.R. Godfrey.
52	* DudeShesLikeInAComa: Ironically enough, it isn't about Roman. [[spoiler:Christina]] planted one on [[spoiler:Peter]] while he was asleep.
53	* EatenAlive: The vargulf's victims die this way. On top of that, it purposely avoids vital organs, only eating body fat to prolong the terror.
54	%% *EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: Christina.]]
55	%% *EvilMatriarch: Roman's mother is very much on of these.
56	%% *FacialHorror: Peter wasn't kidding when he said [[spoiler: he had to sacrifice his human face.]]
57	%% *{{Foil}}: The Rumanceks and the Godfreys, both mothers and sons.
58	* FriendlessBackground: Neither Roman nor Peter had friends before they met each other.
59	* FunctionalAddict: Roman smokes, drinks, snorts cocaine, self-mutilates and still manages to make it through the day until he flies off the handle and ends up in a coma.
60	%% *GoryDiscretionShot: Most of the deaths happen off screen.
61	%% *GraveRobbing: Done by the boys to get material for Destiny.
62	%% *HandsOffParenting / HippieParents: Many young characters have one or a mix of these.
63	%% *HarmfulToMinors: Peter had to [[spoiler: slice off his dead grandfather's head with a sword]] and Roman saw his father's corpse on the living room floor.
64	* HealingFactor: Only happens when a werewolf has to basically regenerate their entire body. Otherwise, they heal and feel pain just like normal people do.
65	%% *HeroicBSOD: Several characters fall into this after loved ones die.
66	%% *HowlOfSorrow: Quite a few.
67	%% *ImportantHaircut: Peter in the finale.
68	%% *IncestSubtext: Olivia's a little ''too'' touchy-feely with her son, Roman.
69	%% **[[KissingCousins Peter and Destiny]] are also quite flirty with one another.
70	* JediMindTrick: In the novel, Roman uses something similar (the ''extaz'') to influence people and get himself out of trouble. Olivia, too.
71	%% *JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Roman, pre-coma.
72	* KarmaHoudini: Roman [[spoiler: snapped and raped a girl]] but because of his ability, nobody ever found out about it.
73	* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: From Christina]] to Chief Tom Sworn, when both [[spoiler: Alexa and Alyssa]] are both mutilated/murdered horribly by the vargulf, considering Chief Tom Sworn was always so kind to the murderer.
74	%% *KillTheCutie: Several times, but [[spoiler: Letha]] stands out as the most prominent example.
75	* KissingCousins: Implied in the novel and the show. [[spoiler:Until it's revealed that Roman and Letha are [[BrotherSisterIncest half-siblings]] and that Roman is the father of Letha's baby]].
76	%% *KnightTemplar:
77	%% **Chasseur and the rest of her Order.
78	%%**Sheriff Sworn becomes this after [[spoiler: his daughters are killed.]]
79	%% *LackOfEmpathy: Olivia from the very beginning. [[spoiler: Christina, too.]]
80	%% *LonelyRichKid: Roman. Shelley also could count.
81	* MeaningfulName:
82	** Destiny: Can tell the future.
83	** Peter the Werewolf calls to mind "Peter and the Wolf".
84	** Shelley [[spoiler:seems to reference Mary Shelley, since Shelley the child is a Frankenstein's Monster-like resurrection/creation of Olivia's dead daughter.]]
85	** The last name Rumancek translates to "Chamomile". There's a particular kind of chamomile known as Roman Chamomile. This implies that there's some sort of familial relationship between the Rumancek and Godfrey families. [[spoiler:It's confirmed in the novel that Roman's mother Olivia gave birth to a child that was given to the Rumanceks to raise.]]
86	** Letha is in Greek mythology, [[spoiler: "The river of forgetfulness, one of the five rivers in Hades." and "A condition of forgetfulness; oblivion."]]
87	** GOD-frey, just as Norman's wife says, "Godfreys get what they want" when asked how she and Norman got together.
88	** Chasseur means "hunter" in French.
89	** The man who claims to have died and been brought back to life is named [[Film/TheSerpentAndTheRainbow Pullman.]]
90	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Inverted. [[spoiler:There are only two male characters that die, ''and JR's death happens in a flashback''.]]
91	* MercyKill: Averted:
92	** In a flashback, Peter finds a group of upirs torturing a dying fox but is too terrified to put it out of its misery.
93	** [[spoiler: Roman gets a few chances to kill Christina cleanly before she transforms, but can't bring himself to do it.]]
94	* {{Motifs}}: "You must make your heart steel/become stronger", Olivia ONLY wears white (Letha also wears white a lot)
95	* MindManipulation: Roman can't read minds, but he can implant suggestions and make people forget recent events.
96	* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Shelley is treated like shit by the kids at school but is as kind as she is quiet.
97	%% *MyBelovedSmother: Olivia's on the completely disturbing end of the scale.
98	%% *MysticalPregnancy: Letha.
99	* NightmareFetishist: Christina. [[spoiler: She turned herself into a werewolf so she could "have experiences."]]
100	%% *NippleAndDimed: Hugely averted.
101	%% *NoPreggerSex: Averted when [[spoiler: Peter and Letha]] hook up.
102	%% *OfCorsetsSexy: Norman once tightened Olivia's corset after a routine hookup.
103	%% *OddFriendship: Roman and Peter.
104	%% *OlderThanTheyLook: Olivia was a child a ''very'' long time ago.
105	%% *OnlySaneMan: Peter.
106	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Peter's grandfather was the [[MagicalSeventhSon seventh son of a seventh son]], meaning Peter is a werewolf [[Analysis/OurWerewolvesAreDifferent through heredity]].
107	** [[spoiler:Christina became a werewolf by choice and through drinking water from Peter's paw print.]]
108	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Based on Slavic mythology the Upir are immortals indistinguishable from humans.
109	** Being Upir is genetic but ultimate transformation seems to be triggered by [[spoiler:a successful suicide and then feeding on someone]].
110	%% *PanickyExpectantFather: Roman and Peter aren't exactly anxious, but cigars are involved.
111	%% *PapaWolf: Norman is one to Letha.
112	%% *PainfulTransformation: Going from human to werewolf is not a pleasant sequence.
113	%% *PoliceBrutality: Sheriff Sworn shot [[spoiler: Shelley]] twice from behind with no warning.
114	%% *PoliceAreUseless: Naturally.
115	%% *PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: While less common in America than in Eastern Europe, Olivia has strong opinions against the Romani.
116	%% *UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}: Peter and his family.
117	%% *RustproofBlood: Averted in the book.
118	%% *ScarilyCompetentTracker: Chasseur.
119	* SelfHarm: Roman is shown cutting himself with a razor blade several times. In his case, it starts because he likes blood.
120	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: The way Shelley's emails seem. In this case it is unlikely that the character is trying to show off or be perceived as unusually smart, rather she's taking full advantage of the medium of writing to communicate in a way that is normally impossible for her because of her muteness.
121	%% *ShellShockSilence:
122	%% **Roman could only stare while Peter and [[spoiler: Christina]] fought.
123	%% **Peter was completely still when they found out [[spoiler: Letha had died.]]
124	%% *SherlockScan: Chasseur does this to Roman, though she keeps her conclusions to herself.
125	%% *ShootTheDog: What Peter had to do to [[spoiler: his cat.]]
126	%% *SilentScapegoat: [[spoiler:Shelley.]]
127	* SmokingIsCool / SmokingIsGlamorous: There are more characters that smoke than there are that don't. Roman practically goes through a pack per scene.
128	%% *SnobsVersusSlobs: Roman and Peter's families.
129	* StalkerWithACrush: [[spoiler: Christina kisses Peter in his sleep, becomes a werewolf to be closer to him, and even leaves him the "bigger half" of her kills. How...thoughtful.]]
130	* SuperStrength: Dr. Pryce, as induced by overactive adrenal glands. [[spoiler: He ''broke out of his incubator'' as a premature infant.]]
131	%% *TallDarkAndHandsome: Roman. This is lampshaded by Destiny.
132	%% *TeensAreMonsters:
133	%% **The cruel schoolkids who harass and mock Peter, Roman, and especially Shelley.
134	%% **[[spoiler: Christina,]] literally.
135	%% *ThemeTwinNaming: Alyssa and Alexa.
136	* ThereAreNoPsychologists: Somewhat subverted; Norman is a successful and empathetic doctor. However, all the patients we've seen him personally treat have ended up dead. He sleeps with Olivia for the first time when she visits him professionally, too.
137	%% *TransformationSequence: Werewolves have extremely gruesome ones.
138	%% *TroubledFetalPosition: Poor Roman.
139	* TrueCompanions: Roman and Peter. They do have their fights, but will pull through for each other.
140	%% *TwoferTokenMinority: Chasseur is both black and a lesbian.
141	%% *WouldHurtAChild: The Order.
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Context Literature / HemlockGrove