!!For the movie:
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Abby, most people's favorite character. [[CanonForeigner She's not even in the short story!]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Quaid crosses it when he humiliates Abby and only goes farther from there.
** In the short story, Quaid crosses it when his imprisonment and psychological torture of Cheryl leaves her mentally broken.
* {{Squick}}: Cheryl eating the rotting, maggot-infested meat.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: There's some distinction that the change to the ending causes this. In the short story, Quaid, [[spoiler:when confronted with his dread, succumbs and dies]]. In the film, [[spoiler:he overcomes it and is basically on his way to becoming a Scarecrow-like villain. One could mourn the poetic ending, while others feel it created an awesome new horror character for movie sequels.]]