Pandemonium is a 2008 Urban Fantasy novel by Daryl Gregory.
The novel’s world is very similar to our own, except one crucial difference: from time to time, people get possessed by mysterious entities nicknamed “demons”, who cause all kinds of mayhem before disappearing into the next host. Some demons seem to be modelled after mythological figures, others after characters from literature or pop culture; each one has its own obsessions and behavioral patterns, as well as a favorite type of person to possess.
Del Pierce was possessed as a young child by the Hellion, a mischievous demon whose pranks sometimes turn deadly. He was eventually cured, but years later, following a period of personal hardship, Del realizes that the exorcism was less successful than he thought… and that the Hellion may have never actually left.
With the demon’s presence in his head threatening to take over, Del goes on a quest to seek help wherever he may find it, be it with neuroscientists, Jungian psychologists, a female Catholic priest, fantasy writers and more. But there is more to Del’s predicament than anyone suspected, and he may have to delve into the nature of possession itself in order to save himself and his loved ones.
Pandemoniun contains examples of:
- The All-American Boy: Bobby Noon.
- All Psychology Is Freudian: Averted. In this world, the dominant influence on psychology is Jungian.
- Alternate History: The presence of demons changed history in various ways. For instance, President Eisenhower and O.J. Simpson were both assassinated by demons, while Philip K. Dick is still alive (and possessed) in 2008.
- And I Must Scream: Bobby Noon’s predicament for the last 65 years, after being paralyzed in an accident.
- Badass Preacher: Mother Mariette, a female Catholic priest ordained by a schismatic sect and a bona fide exorcist.
- Beware the Mind Reader: Bertram and The Human League (no relation) believe the demon situation is orchestrated by Slans for their own amusement.
- Big Eater: Apparently the Fat Boy, although we never actually see it.
- Brats with Slingshots: One of the Hellion’s signature moves is shooting things with a slingshot.
- Bratty Half-Pint: The Hellion’s schtick.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Bertram and The Human League.
- Creepy Child: The Little Angel. The Hellion seems to be less creepy and more of a destructive nuisance, although we don’t really get to see him in action.
- Demonic Possession: The premise of the book, although it’s not clear whether people are really possessed by demons, unwillingly channel architypes from the collective unconscious, or what have you.
- Eye Scream:
- Back when it was possessing Del, the Hellion tried to hilariously knock the glasses off Mrs. Pierce's face with his slingshot, with less-than-hilarious results. Her sons call her “the Cyclops”.
- Later, Del does this on purpose to the Boy Marvel.
- Expy: Many of the demons are based on pop culture characters, especially from old comic books and pulps.
- The Captain is Captain America.
- The Boy Marvel is Captain Marvel.
- The Hellion resembles Dennis the Menace, but is more closely based on early comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids (since Bobby Noon never got to read Dennis the Menace, which was first published in 1951).
- The Truth is inspired by The Shadow.
- The Little Angel looks and talks like Shirley Temple, although she’s less into tap-dancing and more into killing people.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Del describes Lew as being charge of having a good job, a nice home and a family, while Del is in charge of fucking up.
- Foreshadowing: Del’s ability to immediately recognize whether someone is really possessed or faking it, the Shug’s willingness to talk to him and the fact the he remembers his mother and brother reading to him while he was possessed as a child are early hints that he’s a demon himself.
- Going Native: The Hellion ends up connecting with the family of a child he possessed and staying with them, forgetting in the process that he is not their real child. The term “going native” is used to describe the situation.
- Kiss of Death: The Little Angel uses a (hopefully) non-sexualized version to dispatch of the terminally ill.
- Lovecraft Country: Harmonia Lake has the vibe. It’s located in upstate New York.
- Manchild: A notably sad example with the real Del Pierce, who is still mentally a 5-year-old now living in a thirtysomething’s body. Realistically, this is reflected on how difficult this is for his family, both psychologically and logistically.
- Mercy Kill: What the Little Angel claims to be doing, although she doesn’t seem to ask people for permission first. Her ultimate raison d’être is to do this to Bobby Noon.
- Near-Death Experience:
- Del had two over the years, with each seemingly reawakening the Hellion in his head. Another one in the middle of the book eventually makes him realize his true nature.
- According to Valis, demons are created when people with unusually strong imaginations and a somewhat tenuous grasp of reality undergo a near-death experience (which can also end with their death, in some cases).
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Mother Mariette, AKA Siobhan O’Connell, bears a suspicious resemblance to Sinéad O'Connor, with the shaved head, the Irishness, the rock girl outfits and the beautiful singing voice. Careful reading also reveals that they were born on the same year.
- Philip K. Dick’s Californian friends Tom and Selena stand for Tim Powers and his wife Serena. Powers was a real-life friend of Dick.
- Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: The Shug.
- Our Demons Are Different: Are they evil spirits? Neutral spirits? Divine beings? Architypes from the collective unconsciousness? Who knows? What is clear is that they do not appear to have physical bodies, manifest only when possessing others, and are completely bound to their signature attributes and behaviors.
- Reference Overdosed: Del's journey involves many many pop culture references, owning mainly to the nature of demons as cultural architypes.
- The Reveal: Del doesn’t have the Hellion stuck in his head and trying to get out. The narrator is the Hellion, who never ended his possession of Del’s body, and the thing stuck in his head is 5-year-old Del.
- Suicide Attack: The Kamikaze, obviously.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Del is actually the Hellion in Del’s body, thinking he’s the real deal.
- The Trickster: The architype The Piper allegedly represents.
- Willing Channeler:
- There are people who really want to be possessed, and even make themselves more attractive to their favorite demons in a bid to get their attention.
- At the end of the book, Bertram unhappily agrees to be possessed by the Hellion as atonement for risking Del’s and Lew’s life earlier.
