History YMMV / Nightside

** ''Night Fall'' is considered this by some. See BrokenBase above for more info.

* BrokenBase: The final crossover novel, ''Night Fall'', has the fans divided on whether or not it managed to live up to the hype of what was supposed to be both a grand finale for the Nightside/Secret Histories books and an epic showdown between the Droods and the residents of the Nightside. Some say it delivers on both fronts, offering an enormous battle between both series' characters and enough twists and turns in the story to make the story memorable. Others feel that [[spoiler: the numerous undignified deaths on both sides (especially in the Nightside camp]] and the generally bizarre treatment of various established characters [[note]](John Taylor [[spoiler: being repeatedly bossed around and treated poorly by the New Authorities as the current Walker]], Eddie Drood and Molly Metcalf [[spoiler: losing to John in the same kind of lopsided CurbStompBattle that most standard Nightside villains fall victim to]], characters like Count Video being MIA with no given explanation, the Lord of Thorns doing practically nothing, etc.)[[/note]] held the novel back, as did a few promising narrative developments that essentially led nowhere. (such as [[spoiler: Lilith being brought back from Limbo so that the Nightside characters can attempt to set her loose against the Droods, only to reveal that the once-intimidating [[PhysicalGod Physical Goddess]] has settled down in her time away.]])

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In ''Hard Day's Knight'' John has to briefly leave the Nightside and go back to the mundane world. Instead of exploring what he was up to in the time he spent outside there or how people would react to something from the Nightside, he humiliates a vengeful acquaintance turned murderer and then goes to find the knights. To be fair, it's not actually the first time he's been back since the series started: he commuted back and forth until he moved into Suzie's place, because he felt safer sleeping in mundane London.

* MagnificentBastard: Walker. His GambitRoulette in ''The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny''. [[spoiler: He sets things up so that no matter what happens, John is effectively forced to take Walker's place as the Voice of Authority in the Nightside.]]
** Puck shows his true colors in ''Knight.''
** At this point, John is one, too.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In ''Hard Day's Knight'' John has to briefly leave the Nightside and go back to the mundane world. Instead of exploring what he was up to in the time he spent outside there or how people would react to something from the Nightside, he humiliates a vengeful acquaintance turned murderer and then goes to find the knights.

* FridgeHorror: The Harrowing and their relentless pursuit of John become even ''more'' horrifying if you realize [[spoiler: it was ''all for nothing'': even if they '''had''' killed him as a child, it wouldn't have done jack-squat to stop Lilith from returning, because A) she already had another child (the Speaking Gun) to tie her to the material world, and B) there'd have been nothing to stop her from saying to heck with it and just wiping the Nightside out at a stroke, with no son (= audience) to drag out the process for.]]

* FridgeHorror: The Harrowing and their relentless pursuit of John become even ''more'' horrifying if you realize [[spoiler: it was ''all for nothing'': even if they '''had''' killed him as a child, it wouldn't have done jack-squat to stop Lilith from returning, because A) she already had another child (the Speaking Gun) to tie her to the material world, and B) there'd have been nothing to stop her from saying to heck with it and just wiping the place out, with no son to drag out the process to intimidate.]]

* FridgeLogic: In ''Unnatural Inquirer'', John's having killed all the EliteMook minions of a gang boss is said, [[spoiler: both by John himself and by the BigBad]], to lend greater credibility to the idea that the Afterlife Recording is genuine. Given that John wipes the floor with {{Cosmic Horror}}s on a regular basis, and cultivates a reputation for committing mayhem on anyone who so much as snickers at his trench coat, why would this incident be seen as proof of ''anything'', rather than written off as yet another case of dumb thugs pissing him off?

* FridgeLogic: In ''Unnatural Inquirer'', John's having killed all the EliteMook minions of a gang boss is said, [[spoiler: both by John himself and by the BigBad]], to lend greater credibility to the idea that the Afterlife Recording is genuine. Given that John wipes the floor with [[CosmicHorror Cosmic Horrors]] on a regular basis, and cultivates a reputation for committing mayhem on anyone who so much as snickers at his trench coat, why would this incident be seen as proof of ''anything'', rather than written off as yet another case of dumb thugs pissing him off?

* VillainSue: [[spoiler:Lilith]]. Also an example of PerilRollover, since [[spoiler:she]] can't be stopped by anything short of DeusExMachina.
** Completely subverted with the Merlin [[spoiler: of Sinister Albion.]] Even had he not had a certain sword, John could have called up any number of beings to take him out
--> "Yes, but... [[spoiler:''he's Merlin!'']]" said Alex. "[[spoiler:Alive and in his prime, after fifteen hundred years of practicing his craft! With all the power of the anti-Christ!]] He could probably pull the moon down out of the sky and crash it into the Nightside for laughs! And I'm not sure there's anyone in the Nightside who could stop him!"
--> "Do I need to get you a paper bag to breathe into?" I said. "Of course there are people here who could stop him! Off the top of my head, there's the Lord of Thorns. And Hadleigh Oblivion, the Detective Inspectre. And Jessica Sorrow, the Unbeliever."

** As Even Degenerates Have Standards, some villainies are too abhorrent even for Nightside residents. Whatever went on at the Maxwell Mausoleum was so repugnant that it got the Maxwells lynched, and convinced the normally-indifferent Authorities to nationalize the funerary industry so it could ''never'' happen again.

--> "Do I need to get you a paper bag to breathe into?" I said. "Of course there are people here who could stop him! Off the top of my head, there's the Lord of Thorns. And Hadleigh Oblivion, the Detective Inspectre. And Jessica Sorrow, the Unbeliever."

* MagnificentBastard: Walker. Special mention goes to his XanatosRoulette in ''The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny''. [[spoiler: He manages to set things up so that no matter what happens, John is effectively forced to take Walker's place as the Voice of Authority in the Nightside.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: The Nightside has whole ''industries'' dedicated to this, ranging from "mere" sexual depravities and torture clubs that are a dime a dozen to the [[NightmareFuel horror shows]] offered by the [[CompleteMonster good people]] at [[LotusEaterMachine Precious Memories]].