History Literature / Joyland

* SpeedSex: The first time Dev has sex [[spoiler:with Annie]], he lasts for about nine seconds. Luckily, he's soon ready for a second time... which last for four minutes. Third time is the charm.

* IllBoy: Mike Ross's doctors estimate that he has less than a year to live. [[spoiler:They're right.]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Lane Hardy, the amusement park employee Devin befriended is actually the serial killer that has unintentionally trapped the ghost in the amusement park ride and believes Devin has figured out he was the killer and has been looking for him.]]

* ContemptibleCover[=/=]SexyPackaging: Perhaps done intentionally given the pulp throwback style that Hard Case Crime specializes in, the cover puts emphasis on one of the "Hollywood Girls" wearing a short dress which, while not inaccurate, has little to do with the main story. Even more blatant is the [[http://i.imgur.com/UVfwUGU.jpg limited edition's cover]] which features a woman in a bikini wielding a shotgun and has nothing to do with the plot.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler:The Carny Killer flat out refuses to believe that Dev didn't figure out his identity untill the very night the killer decided to confront him, since he knew Dev had been doing his own research for a while now]].

* ChekhovsSkill: Annie's exceptional marksmanship - including the fact that she won numerous shooting trophies at summer camp in her teens, her hunting trips with her father, and her success at the Joyland shooting gallery despite not having practiced for years - become very important when Dev ends up AloneWithThePsycho.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Most people who see Linda Gray's ghost assume she is either a slightly creepy waxwork model in the House of Horrors (due entirely to her outstretched hands and pleading look - she's certainly not blood-covered or semi-transparent), and she seems to look more or less like a living person when she appears. [[spoiler:Dev never sees her for himself, so he (and the reader) have to rely on other characters' reports of her manifestations.]] The same goes for the ghost of [[spoiler:Eddie. According to Mike, he looked just like a regular human, not white and/or transparent]].

* SpeedSex: The first time Dev has sex [[spoiler:with Annie]], he lasts for about nine seconds. Luckily, he's soon ready for a second time.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Linda Gray's spirit is laid to rest and her murderer is finally discovered, but Mike eventually succumbs to his illness and dies.]]

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Most people who see Linda Gray's ghost assume she is either a slightly creepy waxwork model in the House of Horrors (due entirely to her outstretched hands and pleading look - she's certainly not blood-covered or semi-transparent), and she seems to look more or less like a living person when she appears. [[spoiler:Dev never sees her for himself, so he (and the reader) have to rely on other characters' reports of her manifestations.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Eddie, one of the old workers at the park. [[spoiler:[[HiddenDepths It turns out he used to have a family.]] His daughter was hit by a car and died alone and his wife ended up leaving him not long after. After Dev saves him from his heart attack, he matter of factly says "You should have let me died. That way I could be with my daughter".]]