History Literature / EscardyGap

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:Did the author really create an entire world with his story? Were Mayor and Josh really in his home in New York following their escape? And, most of all, will venturing down that sewer grate really lead him to Escardy Gap and Sara Sienciewicz as he believes? Or has he simply gone completely insane? The fact that his friends and cat are all confirmed to be figments of his imagination that he likely created to overcome his loneliness leans heavily into the latter theory, but then there was the encounter that he, Josh and Mayor had with the street hoodlums that suggests that they may indeed have manifested for real (providing that this wasn't a case of UnreliableNarrator, of course...).]]

* CompellingVoice: A rare non-verbal example, ironically wielded by the most talkative character in the book: Rackstraw, who can make people do whatever he wants by simply giving them instructions and then tracing the most relevant part of said instruction on their forehead (ie, getting a barber to [[spoiler:cut himself to pieces with his own razor]] by simply writing "Cut"). Naturally, he pretty much exclusively uses this power to get people to kill themselves.

* KidHero: 12-year-old Josh Knight, who ultimately becomes the one responsible for stopping the Company in their teacks

* TheParanoiac: Bob Tremaine is one at the beginning, being a devout believer of the RedScare, but he manages to keep it in check enough that it doesn't affect his day-to-day life or stop him from being a loving family man. Once he discovers the DeadlyForceField erected around Escardy Gap, however, he [[DrivenToMadness sails off the deep end]] and becomes convinced that America has been bombed out of existence by Russia, the Company are actually a troop of Russian spies, and everyone else in town are Russian [[DeepCoverAgent sleeper agents]] that replaced the townspeople, leading him to immediately kill anyone he encounters, [[spoiler:including his own wife and daughter.]]

* SexEqualsDeath: ''Literally'' in the case of the Man-eaters, wielders of VaginaDentata who devour their victims while simultaneously having sex with them. Rackstraw describes the experience and pain as so intense and dizzying, that it's "all but indistinguishable from an orgasm".

* FanDisservice: The Man-eaters are described as being inhumanly beautiful and alluring, to the point that ''no'' man can resist their wiles. Unfortunately, they cross the line into this once their true physical nature's are revealed...

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Within the story of Escardy Gap itself, Josh manages to kill the Train, causing the rest of the Company to collapse into dust. Unfortunately, they're so good at what they do that by the time he's managed this, practically ''everyone else'' in the town is dead (with the sole exception of Sara Sienkiewicz), including Mayor, leaving Josh alone to survive in the slaughtered husk of Escardy Gap. Outside of the story, the author has finally managed to finish his novel, but believes that, if he goes down the same tunnel he found Mayor and Josh in, he'll find his way to Escardy Gap and save Sara himself. Give his mental state at this point, it's strongly implied that this will ultimately be a complete fruitless quest, but he's still more determined to see it through than he has been about anything else in years.]]

* UnrequitedTragicMaiden: Ingrid Ohlsson to Walt Donaldson. [[spoiler:Walt eventually figures it out... as the two are dying following being attacked by Clarence.]]

* TheParanoiac: Bob Tremaine is one at the beginning, being a devout believer of the RedScare, but he manages to keep it in check enough that it doesn't affect his day-to-day life or stop him from being a loving family man. Once he discovers the DeadlyForceField erected around Escardy Gap, however, he [[DrivenToMadness sails off the deep end]] and becomes convinced that America has been bombed out of existence by Russia, the Company are actually a troop of Russian spies, and everyone else in town are Russian sleeper agents that replaced the townspeople, leading him to immediately kill anyone he encounters, [[spoiler:including his own wife and daughter.]]

It quickly becomes clear that the town is the target of a systematic elimination as the members of the Company begin to reveal their true natures and start slaughtering the townsfolk en mass. It's up to the town's Mayor - a washed-up ex-Hollywood actor - and a twelve-year-old boy to try and stop the Company's brutal plans. Just as it seems things are at the darkest, they suddenly find themselves encountering a surprising new ally, who may have the power to save Escardy Gap single-handedly...

* TheParanoiac: Bob Tremaine is one at the beginning, but he manages to keep it in check enough that it doesn't affect his day-to-day life or stop him from being a loving family man. Once he discovers the DeadlyForceField erected around Escardy Gap, however, he [[DrivenToMadness sails off the deep end]] and becomes convinced that America has been bombed out of existence by Russia, the Company are actually a troop of Russian spies, and everyone else in town are Russian sleeper agents that replaced the townspeople, leading him to immediately kill anyone he encounters, [[spoiler:including his own wife and daughter.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:The town's priest hangs himself in the aftermath of discovering Tommy Finkelbaum's horrifically mangled body strewn around Century Cedar. Rackstraw, naturally, can't resist the opportunity to comment on a priest committing one of the major cardinal sins when he discovers the body.]]

* TheParanoiac: Bob Tremaine is one at the beginning, but he manages to keep it in check enough that it doesn't affect his day-to-day life or stop him from being a loving family man. Once he discovers the DeadlyForceField erected around Escardy Gap, however, he sails off the deep end and becomes convinced that America has been bombed out of existence by Russia, the Company are actually a troop of Russian spies, and everyone else in town are Russian sleeper agents that replaced the townspeople, leading him to immediately kill anyone he encounters, [[spoiler:including his own wife and daughter.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Most of The Company act this way until their true natures come out, but Jeremiah Rackstraw absolutely ''breathes'' this trope, at least, until Josh and Mayor's [[spoiler:escape]] drives him to dispense with all pleasantries and enter full-on business mode.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Rackstraw may be the mouthpiece of the Company, and may present himself as their pseudo-"Leader", but more than one member makes it abundantly clear that the Company as a whole merely tolerates him at most, due to his "role" being necessary in ingratiating the Company with their victims, and if they had the opportunity, they'd kill him in a heartbeat. He knows this, too, and really doesn't care.

The story he weaves is of the tiny, Midwestern town of Escardy Gap, population less-than-eight-hundred, a perfect slice of small-town [[The50s 1950's]] Americana. Into this peaceful burg, a giant, black-and-silver steam train arrives, bearing a colorful of group of supposed circus performers who call themselves "The Company". Declaring themselves there to put on a once-in-a-lifetime show for the townspeople and taking advantage of small-town hospitality, they ingratiate themselves into the homes of Escardy Gap's residents. Which is when the true, earth-shattering horror starts to begin...

* AuthorAvatar: [[spoiler:An unusual InUniverse example. The novel opens from the perspective of an unknown author suffering writer's block, until the idea for a story hits him. The rest of the novel is the result, with the tale dipping back to the author to see how he's handling the writing. It just seems like a slightly-odd framing device... until Josh and Mayor escape from Escardy Gap, and the author ''meets them in a sewer grate'', resulting in much freaking out at being confronted by his own literary creations interacting with him in real life. He believes that he simply might be losing his mind and imagining them, but eventually realizes that, whether they're actually real or not, he needs to finish the story in order to save them.]]

* BodyHorror: Lord, where to ‘’begin?’’ Between Mr. Olesqui’s magical tobacco that turns the smoker into a (barely) living puddle of grey goop, the [[GagPenis stupendously “over-endowed”]] Agnes Destiny, the Boy using his RealityWarper hands to literally deconstruct Tommy Finkelbaum, the Man-eaters in general… the Company as a whole makes this their stock-in-trade, and they’re all the more terrifying because of it.

* ForTheEvulz: Pretty much the only reason that the Company do what they do, and why [[spoiler:the Train]] demands that they do it. Rackstraw sums it up pretty well in his MotiveRant to Grampa Knight: