A 1988 horror novel by John Skipp and Craig Spector.
The novel features examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: Mary, only mentioned in passing.
- Author Tract: Many of Jake's rants about the Moral Guardians, the hypocrisy of church groups, and the impending death of rock and roll can be viewed this way.
- Auto Erotica: Cyndi's encounter with "Stiff Stuff" starts out that way but quickly descends into Nightmare Fuel.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: It could just be Furniss' assessment of them, but the traumatized teens in The Village all seem pretty thick.
- Big Fancy House The Wylers' mansion. Also the 26-room ranch where the Jacob Hamer Band lives and works.
- Blood Is Squicker in Water: Several people die in the pool in the opening scene.
- Book Burning: The Big Blaze for Jesus.
- Date Rape Averted: Along with a little Rape as Comedy. Poor, poor "Mighty Godzilla."
- Disproportionate Retribution: The group ditches Perry, The Friend Nobody Likes, at a concert. He returns and, with some help, murders everyone at the party.
- Eye Scream: Perry.
- Flashback Nightmare: Jake, a Shell-Shocked Veteran, has one about his service in The Vietnam War. Definite
Nightmare Fuel when the burning village turns into a giant smoke-monster with teeth. - Fun with Acronyms: M.O.M., the group Morality Over Music.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted and played straight. Jesse has had two abortions and when we meet her, she's pregnant a third time and contemplating what to do about it. Rachel is a straighter trope, in that she's thirty-seven and pregnant a second time in less than two years (the baby is nine months old, and pregnancy risks go up exponentially over thirty-five).
- Gorn: Many Squicktastic scenes. An early example of the splatterpunk genre.
- Satanic Panic: A contemporary to the time example that deals with this phenomenon, about a band trying to make it big amid the Satanic Panic.
- Hook Hand: Hook, the aptly-named roadie.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes: Tara , including a Spy Catsuit, thigh high boots , and samurai sword.
- Moral Guardians: A Media Watchdog group trying to take down the evil band (with good reason) and rock music in general. Look for Mrs Shrake, an Expy of Tipper Gore, who advocated for music warning labels in the 1980s. Also Furniss, the Smug Snake head of a Corrupt Church.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted with Bob One and Bob Two, the rhythm group (bassist and drummer, respectively) for the Jacob Hamer Band.
- Only Sane Man: Jerry, the manager.
- Orphaned Punchline: From Hempstead "...and the next day's headline read ARTIE CHOKES THREE FOR A DOLLAR AT SAFEWAY!"
- Our Zombies Are Different: While relatively sentient, the Screamers are essentially reanimated corpses
- Outrun the Fireball : A gas station attendant figures out what's happening and gets away in the nick of time.
- Quote-to-Quote Combat : Weissman vs. Rachel, of the As the Good Book Says... type.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Yke makes up an amusing taunt to the protestors: "Knock Rock! Knock Rock! Jesus never had a cock!"
- Sunglasses at Night: Worn by the Screamers, to hide their lack of eyes.
- Survivor's Guilt: Mary has a lot of it. She's the only survivor of a massacre, and only by accident.. This causes her conversion to Furniss' cult.
- Teens Are Monsters: The Scream's rabid fans.
- Tyke Bomb : "Never pick up the kids."
- The '80s : The novel takes place (and was released) at the height of metal's popularity. The description of many of the hairstyles and fashions represent this, including side-shaved mullets and long coats, which the teenaged fans of The Scream wear in imitation of their idols. Likewise, the issues in the entertainment industry at the time, including the "Family Values" vs. censorship debate within the metal scene are discussed, via a talk show.
- The Eponymous Show: The Dick Moynihan Show, a popular Talk Show of the Donahue or Geraldo type. During the show, Jacob delivers a pretty good speech to those who would destroy rock'n'roll. Some Truth in Television here, as shows of the type were common in the mid-to-late 1980s when the music labelling debate was raging.
- The Smurfette Principle: Jesse is the only female member of the band, and the most technically inclined.
- Wild Teen Party: The book opens with one, including plenty of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. It doesn't end well.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Jacob Hamer, Dad the Veteran , is a Vietnam vet. The chapter states that it's 1988 and Hamer is 33. He served at the tail end of the war, in 1971...which makes him 16 at the time of his service. It's possible he lied about his age, but this trope is more likely.
