Work in progress. Under construction.
Twisted Journeys are a series of graphic novels/literature aimed at a younger audience from the "Graphic Universe" imprint of Lerner Publishing Group and written by different authors basically every book. Similar to Choose Your Own Adventure, they involve branching narratives over a range of genres, ranging from historical, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Due to the nature of Gamebooks, these tropes are written in the second person.
The books as of November 13th 2022, appear to be:
- Captured by Pirates
- Escape from Pyramid X
- Terror in Ghost Mansion
- The Treasure of Mount Fate
- Nightmare on Zombie Island
- The Time Travel Trap
- Vampire Hunt
- Alien Incident on Planet J
- Agent Mongoose and the Hypno-Beam Scheme
- The Goblin King
- Shipwrecked on Mad Island
- Kung Fu Masters
- School of Evil
- Attack of the Mutant Meteors
- Agent Mongoose and the Attack of the Giant Insects
- The Quest for Dragon Mountain
- Detective Frankenstein
- Horror In Space
- The Fifth Musketeer
- Peril in Summerland Park
- Safari Survivor
- Hero City
Tropes common across books
- An Aesop: A few.
- Always know your odds. Don't rush into danger unprepared or avoid all opportunities out of fear of defeat. Find a middle ground.
- Not everyone has your best interests at heart and not every stranger is your enemy. Everyone is different and has their own goals and aspirations, just as you do.
- Anyone Can Die: You, your friends, and pretty much every character you encounter can be killed if the wrong choices are made.
- Bittersweet Ending: Sometimes you may come out victorious, but with a large amount of loss on your back, such as the death of your companions, or the inability to solve the problems plaguing the area the stories are set in.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Some of the deaths are quite brutal, such as being burned alive, strangled, or starving to death.
- Death of a Child: In many of the books, you can go missing or die horribly, with your parents never knowing your fate. Even worse if they sent you somewhere you were supposed to be safe, undoubtedly causing intense self-loathing and regret for them.
- Darker and Edgier: Surprising for children's stories, some of the gamebooks can get extremely bleak. Such examples include Terror in Ghost Mansion, Nightmare on Zombie island, Detective Frankenstein, and Peril at Summerland Park.
- Disney Villain Death: Most books include at least one ending where you fall to your death.
- The Everyman: You, most of the time. Whether you stay this way is entirely up to you.
- Kid Hero: You, except on the odd occasion you're a several hundred year old vampire.
- Lighter and Softer: Several gamebooks have stories with less bleak scenarios and happier outcomes. Such examples include Safari Survivor, Attack of the Mutant Meteors, and ironically, Horror in Space.
- Schmuck Bait: Some endings are so blatantly obvious, that you're pretty much asking for it if you choose them.
- The Many Deaths of You: Most books have a myriad of ways you can meet a grisly end. Each book varies on how grisly they are.
- Too Dumb to Live: You, if you make the wrong choices and ignore all warnings.
