History Literature / DarkPlaces

* HurtingHero: Libby, in spades.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Played with. [[spoiler: Diondra is eventually arrested for killing Libby's sister years ago and attempting to kill Libby as an adult, but she went free for years. The first girl to falsely accuse Ben of sexually abusing her is estranged from her parents and lives an unenviable life as a stripper who barely makes ends meet.]] However, in her case it's a bit more complicated as [[spoiler: she was a literal child when she'd made the accusations and didn't understand the gravity of what she'd done, and had been coaxed into saying she was abused by a physchologist. At the same time she continued to spout the lie well into adulthood and while her reaction to seeing Ben's mom could have been out of guilt, it's hard not to be furious at seeing her freak out and make Ben look even guiltier when you know that he didn't molest her. The man who murdered Libby's other sister is also caught and jailed.]]

* StrugglingSingleMother: Patty, taken UpToEleven.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Played with. [[spoiler: Diondra is eventually arrested for killing Libby's sister years ago and attempting to kill Libby as an adult, but she went free for years. The first girl to falsely accuse Ben of sexually abusing her is estranged from her parents and lives an unenviable life as a stripper who barely makes ends meat.]] However, in her case it's a bit more complicated as [[spoiler: she was a literal child when she'd made the accusations and didn't understand the gravity of what she'd done, and had been coaxed into saying she was abused by a physchologist. At the same time she continued to spout the lie well into adulthood and while her reaction to seeing Ben's mom could have been out of guilt, it's hard not to be furious at seeing her freak out and make Ben look even guiltier when you know that he didn't molest her. The man who murdered Libby's other sister is also caught and jailed.]]

* BastardGirlfriend: Diondra to Ben. He doesn't even really ''like'' her due to how violent, aggressive, and cruel she is to him. Somewhat related to DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale, but Diondra is portrayed as an unpleasant although abused and mistreated person.

* DyingTown: Kinakee in spades.

** The girls who [[spoiler: falsely accused Ben of abusing them all have this reaction after the murders, convinced that their made up story of Satanic sexual abuse caused the murders. In a twisted way, they were right: The fact that the Day mother knew they'd need a fortune for a defense lawyer got her to hire a hitman to kill her so they could use the life insurance money for Ben's defense. He wound up killing one of the daughters who witnessed the killing, and she only saw the killing because the sound of Diondra strangling Michelle woke her up and prompted her to get her mom. Had he not been there, Diondra likely would have been stopped before she could fully strangle Michelle.]]

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Michelle was this to Ben in particular, always going out of his way to antagonize him. In flashbacks told from her perspective, their mother is deeply concerned by the animosity between the two.

* NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpice: Kristi is a more sympathetic version. She was an extremely cute, gossipy, peak-80s tween when she tried to seduce Ben (who was eighteen), and then falsely accused him of sexual abuse, getting him sent to prison. When Libby catches up with her, she's a stripper with a terrible breast enlargement who, while she admits to lying about Ben, still expects Libby to feel sorry for her.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: Runner tells Libby he has cirrhosis of the liver. With his drinking habits, it's not much of a surprise.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Played with. [[spoiler: Diondra is eventually arrested for killing Libby's sister years ago and attempting to kill Libby as an adult, but she went free for years. The first girl to falsely accuse Ben of sexually abusing her is estranged from her parents and lives an unenviable life as a stripper who barely makes ends meat.]] However, in her case it's a bit more complicated as [[spoiler: she was a literal child when she'd made the accusations and didn't understand the gravity of what she'd done, and had been coaxed into saying she was abused by a physchologist. At the same time she continued to spout the lie well into adulthood to seeing Ben's mom could have been interpreted as guilty panic, it's hard not to be furious at seeing her freak out and make Ben look even guiltier when you know that he didn't molest her. The man who murdered Libby's other sister is also caught and jailed.]]

* TheAlcoholic: Runner is stumbling-drunk in about half of the scenes he appears in, and otherwise buzzed. [[spoiler:Krissi ends up one too.]]

* EmbarrassingNickname: An unusual self-inflicted version--Libby calls herself "Baby Day" when she's feeling particularly hateful.

* FreudianExcuse: Diondra's father is an extremely violent, aggressive control freak who threatens to kill her if she ever got pregnant. It's not so surprising that [[spoiler:she'd violently kill Michelle when Michelle discovers her pregnancy and threatens to blab]], but it's not okay.

* FriendlessBackground: None of the Day children have close friends. Special mention goes to Libby and Ben, and Libby realises this to be the case for [[spoiler:Crystal.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Horrifyingly subverted. Patty [[spoiler:intends to do this by arranging her own murder, knowing that the money will be able to provide Ben with a competent defence after he's railroaded for child abuse. However, it's interrupted by her daughter Debby, who is violently killed in front of her by the hitman.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Deconstructed all over the place. While Libby is probably the straightest example, a lot of evidence is given to show how much her manipulative and violent behaviour has hurt those around her, especially her aunt Diane. Krissi and Ben both want to think of themselves this way, but Ben wonders how sincere this is on his part, and Libby refuses to forgive Krissi.

* LackOfEmpathy: Different flavors all around; most of the problems the characters face stem from various failures to show -- or receive -- empathy from one another. Special points go to [[ItsAllAboutMe Runner]], Patti's neighbors ([[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste who buy the farming equipment she needs at a dirt-cheap price]] and [[SlutShaming slutshame her]] years after her death) and [[LoonyFan The Kill Club]], who don't see any harm in bombarding a SoleSurvivor with questions, [[KickTheDog laughing/jeering her down when she doesn't instantly accept Ben's innocence]] and generally treating her horribly. (Magda in particular seems more interested in getting Ben out of Jail than she is in [[ParentalNeglect raising her own teenage son]]). Libby herself lacks empathy for others, but [[DarkAndTroubledPast the massacre]] messed her up enough that it's [[BrokenBird not surprising]].

* MamaBear: It's constantly teased that Patty might ''not'' be this, but by the time she [[spoiler:arranges her own murder in order to protect her children]], it's undoubtable that she is one.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Calvin Diehl's reaction when he kills Debby, and gives Patty a messy death. Patty also has this reaction in her final moments.]]
** The girls who [[spoiler: falsely accused Ben of abusing them all have this reaction after the murders, convinced that their made up story of Satanic sexual abuse caused the murders. In a twisted way, they were right: The fact that the Day mother knew they'd need a fortune for a defense lawyer got her to hire a hitman to kill her so they could use the life insurance money for Ben's defense. He wound up killing one of the daughters who witnessed the killing, and she only saw the killing because the sound of Diondra stranggling Michelle woke her up and prompted her to get her mom. Had he not been there, Diondra likely would have been stopped before she could fully strangle Michelle.]]
* MySecretPregnancy: [[spoiler:Diondra.]]

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: It's clear that the author took inspiration from the infamous [=McMartin=] Preschool Abuse Trial, which one character even brings up in the book. The real-life event was caused by an emotionally unstable mother becoming convinced that her child had been abused at the preschool. The person they hired to interview the children went in convinced of the [=McMartin=] family's guilt and coached the children to say that they had been abused. Very early on people convinced of Ben's innocence try to convince Libby that this is what happened to her. [[spoiler: They're right, and we also find out that right before the murders a younger girl Ben had kissed wound up lying about having been abused. Just like in the [=McMartin=] case, she and several other girls had been interviewed by someone convinced of Ben's guilt who had coached them on what to say.]]
** Ben's fan club is clearly based on the fandoms that real life criminals have amassed. Ted Bundy had numerous women write to him and propose to him while he was in jail. [[spoiler: In this case they were rightfully convinced of his innocence.]]

* SatanicPanic: The main source of conflict.

** Diane finally kicked Libby out after Libby killed Diane's dog. (Albeit she was provoked and it was mostly accidental.)

* TookALevelInKindness: Libby grows throughout the book. Becoming more proactive, she also becomes more inclined to do kind things, in her own way. [[spoiler: Like ensuring that Krissi leaves with the lotion bottles Krissi stole from her, knowing the emotional validation was necessary to her.]]

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: All over the place. Fifteen-year-old Ben drinks, is sexually active, smokes dope [[spoiler: and ''kills a cow'' because he wanted to impress Trey and Diondra,]] Michelle spies on people so she can blackmail them, and Krissi Cates kisses a boy much older than she is, [[spoiler:then makes up all the "sex stuff" they did to impress her friends.]] The only 'normal' child in the novel seems to have been Debby.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: It's clear that the author took inspiration from the infamous [=McMartin=] Preschool Abuse Trial, which one character even brings up in the book. The real-life event was caused by an emotionally unstable mother becoming convinced that her child had been abused at the preschool. The person they hired to interview the children went in convinced of the [=McMartin=] family's guilt and coached the children to say that they had been abused. Very early on people convinced of Ben's innocence try to convince Libby that this is what happened to her. [[spoiler: They're right, and we also find out that right before the murders a younger girl Ben had kissed wound up lying about having been abused. Just like in the [=McMartin=] case, she and several other girls had been interviewed by someone convinced of Ben's guilt who had coached them on what to say.]]

** Trey, once he grows up and gets out of Kinnakee.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: It's clear that the author took inspiration from the infamous McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial, which one character even brings up in the book. The real-life event was caused by an emotionally unstable mother becoming convinced that her child had been abused at the preschool. The person they hired to interview the children went in convinced of the McMartins' guilt and coached the children to say that they had been abused. Very early on people convinced of Ben's innocence try to convince Libby that this is what happened to her. [[spoiler: They're right, and we also find out that right before the murders a younger girl Ben had kissed wound up lying about having been abused. Just like in the McMartin case, she and several other girls had been interviewed by someone convinced of Ben's guilt who had coached them on what to say.]]

* TwoLinesDifferentTimes: The "present" story tells Libby's chronological attempts to figure out who murdered her family, while the "past" section chronologically retells [[ExtremelyShortTimeSpan the last day of Patty's life from her perspective and that of her apparent killer, her son Ben.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Calvin Diehl's reaction when he kills Debby, and gives Patty a messy death.]]