GremoryLand
is a completed survival horror webcomic by A. Rasen, posted on Webtoon. It focuses on a group of six reunited high school friends, brought together to a mysterious theme park where they must face surreal and oddly personal horrors.It is currently being adapted into a live-action film.
GremoryLand contains examples of:
- Armored Closet Gay: Jax is a closeted homosexual who, after having a sexual encounter with Rami, pushes him away and insults him and his sexuality. He lashes out on concerns related to masculinity and homosexuality several other times.
- Amusement Park of Doom: Gremory Land. Season 3 reveals that it was created by Tim via a ritual with Eldritch Abomination Gremory.
- Asshole Victim: In a series with so many of these, Ray stands out. Whilst Paul at least cares for his sister and Godric also attempts to protect Judy, Ray constantly berates her and considers her weak and useless, so it's fitting that Judy chooses to leave Gremory Land safely and condemn him rather than stick around.
- Bilingual Bonus: The kanji on Margot's shirt refers to A. Rasen, creator of the series. This is the first hint to the comic's metatextual nature. Gremory later directly tells Margot that the answer to her questions is on her shirt.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Done quite literally in the climax, when Margo shoots at the fourth wall to cut off the viewers from Gremory Land, thus ending it.
- Creepy Doll: The first attraction, the Thompson Family home, is full of these.
- Darker and Edgier: Somehow manages to be even darker than A. Rasen's previous series, Melvina's Therapy, including (among other things) onscreen sexual assault (as far as Webtoon's censors will allow). The fact that it is coloured compared to the monochrome of Melvina's Therapy only serves to allow more graphic violence.
- Dead Guy on Display: In season 3 Zoe finds Bekka's corpse strung up like a marionette and made to dance.
- Death of a Child: Bruno's sister Mia died of an asthma attack. Turns out that Margot watched her die without getting help and possibly even emptied her inhaler.
- Demonic Dummy: Gremory, the park's main mascot, has this appearance. Tim also found this dummy and somehow used it alongside Eva's corpse to create Gremory Land, implying that this is also the form of the entity he spoke to.
- Domestic Abuse: both Zoe and Margot were victims of domestic abuse, Zoe's being at the hands of her father who abused her mother as well while Margot's was at the hands of her aunt after the death of her adoptive father..
- Dystopian Oz: Season 2 is full of elements of this when a second group are shown going through the park. Not only do the group mimic the characters (most obviously Judy, who is even dressed like Dorothy and named after Judy Garland), but they are told to stay on the road and later killer scarecrows appear.
- Extradimensional Power Source: Gremory Land is powered by the readers, as the 'gods'. It's anchored by Eva (and later Margot), whose suffering provides the 'fertilizer' for its creation, and is destroyed when Margot chooses to destroy the fourth wall and cut off the readers' viewpoint, despite knowing that doing so will kill her for good.
- Final Girl: Zoe is Final Girl material, showing herself to be more resourceful and staying true to her moral compass throughout her time in the park, as a stark contrast to people who were already corrupted or were corrupted by the park such as Margot, Rami, and Jax. A. Rasen also subverts this trope by never revealing Zoe's status as being a virgin or not or any of the other problematic parts of the Final Girl trope.
- Subverted since at the end of season 2 Zoe and Bruno both escape alongside Leslie. Although the three end up in another Gremory Land in season 3.
- From the group at the start of season 2, Judy. Although this is a subversion since Gremory actually allows her to leave safely by abandoning the others, since she was not invited and had no connection to Eva.
- Ultimately averted. Zoe does escape, but so do Bruno, Leslie and Rami.
- Foreshadowing: Unlike every other character, Margot is almost always shown wearing the same outfit in flashbacks. This is an early hint as to her abusive and deprived home life.
- Gayngst: both Rami and Jax are implied or confirmed to be gay, and both face harassment and bullying (Rami) or toxic masculinity issues (Jax.)
- Greater-Scope Villain: The 'gods', aka. the Webtoon readers who power the park by watching the people suffer. Also A. Rasen, the creator.
- Heel Realization: Bruno gives one to Margot, telling her that despite claiming to love him, all she's done is hurt him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted, since Margot is more of an Anti-Villain than a hero, but ultimately she chooses to destroy Gremory Land to free the others, despite knowing that its power is what's keeping her alive.
- Love Makes You Evil: Margot believes themselves in love with Bruno, leading them to commit murder and even assault them.
- A familial example with Tim, who becomes The Dragon to Gremory in an attempt to bring his daughter back.
- Love Redeems: Crosses over with Redemption Equals Death, and subverted. Margot's 'love' for Bruno is decidedly of the Yandere variety and drives her to murder his sister and assault him, but it's her desire to protect him from being hurt further that drives her to commit a Heroic Sacrifice in order to destroy Gremory Land.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Most of the setup of Gremory Land appears mechanical, but it is elaborate and confusing enough to act like an Eldritch Location. Season 3 reveals that it was created by Tim with the help of Eldritch Abomination Gremory.
- Offing the Offspring: Leslie shoots Eva to save Zoe and Bruno, although she refuses to believe that it is actually her daughter. Tim later shoots Eva again in season 3, although whether Gremory has somehow resurrected her or is simply using her form is ambiguous.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: Invoked. When Leslie and Zoe go through the mansion, Eva informs them that whenever they hear them start playing the pipe organ, the room will become deadly.
- Painting the Medium: Each chapter begins with the outline of Gremory's face. This is actually the viewer 'putting on the mask' of Gremory to spectate the characters' suffering.
- Raincoat of Horror: Tim wears one of these in season 3 when he kidnaps Bruno, Zoe and Leslie.
- Rape and Revenge: Eva was drugged and assaulted by Godric, Paul and Ray, who quickly dumped her from the car when they learned her mother was a cop, leaving her to be found dead the next day. Whilst the three who were directly involved are given their comeuppance, Eva also targets her former friends. But that was only because Gremory lied to her, leading Eva to believe her friends were actually Bitches in Sheep's Clothing who mocked her miserable state and covered what Ray's group did.
- Sequencing Deception: Season 2 opens with a new group of people, seemingly unrelated to the first, going through the park. Approximately midway through it's revealed that this actually happened before the first six arrived, the three boys are actually the ones in the mascot suits, and it is their disappearance that Leslie is investigating - she arrives at Gremory Land the same night as the original six are trapped there.
- Shout-Out: When young Margot is shown performing, the children's costumes are very similar to the ones in Midsommar.
- Several to A. Rasen's previous comic, Melvina's Therapy. Most notably through recurring motifs such as "going outside of the fishbowl."
- Slipping a Mickey: Margot drugs and assaults Bruno. Made even more disturbing since she does it dressed as his dead sister (who she murdered).
- Thematic Series: Stated by A. Rasen to be the second in a thematic trilogy, with Melvina's Therapy being the first and the third instalment coming in 2022. It is possible the connection goes deeper to the point of a connected universe, since both comics show people attempting to reach outside of the limits of their reality and certain lines and themes are dropped in from Melvina's Therapy. The metatexual nature of both comics means the shared universe could be ours.
- Walking Spoiler: Eva is the link that ties every character together, and her death was the impetus for Gremory Land's creation.
- We Used to Be Friends: Rami and Jax were childhood best friends, who, due to pressure on Jax to not seem weird or be perceived as "weak", "feminine" or "gay", grew apart. They briefly reconcile, but after Jax and Rami's sexual encounter, things take a turn for the worse, ending with Jax lashing out and Rami snapping and killing him.
- Wham Shot: When Margot finally sees the 'Gods' who Gremory Land for? It's a photograph of a person looking at their phone, aka. a Webtoon reader.
- What You Are in the Dark: Zoe is offered the chance to kill her abusive father, but ultimately chooses not to.
- Yandere: Margot is in love with Bruno deeply due to him reminding her of her late father, and has done drastic things to try to keep him to herself, such as killing his little sister and later on attempting to rape him but giving up after he scolded her.
- You Are What You Hate: Jax is outwardly misogynistic and homophobic, stemming from his internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity.
- You Bastard!: Why does Gremory Land exist? For the viewing pleasure of its 'gods', aka. the Webtoon readers, whose desire to see characters suffer is the driving force.
