YMMV / Fear Hall

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • The note Hope received saying Mark went out with her as a joke. Was it true, or did Hope's mom leave the note for her to find. Given what a domineering Control Freak Mrs. Mathis was and how hard she worked to keep Hope from seeing Mark it's entirely likely she wrote that note to trick Hope. That we never learn for sure if Mark asked her out as a joke because Hope killed him as Darryl only makes it harder to be sure.
  • Was Hope ever really chubby as a kid, or was Helayne imagining things and forcing Hope to adhere to impossible standards of beauty?
• Hollywood Pudgy: Hope, who describes herself as a little chubby, was viciously abused by her weight-obsessed mother when she was a child. There's even the possibility that was she never that chubby to begin with, even as a child, and her mother just blew everything out of proportion.
• Moral Event Horizon: Helayne and Darryl crossed it long before the book began, but Hope crossed it when she beat Eden with a hair dryer, tied her up, and locked her in the closet to stop her from going to the police. This is, of course, subverted considering that Eden is not a real person, but Hope's intent remains the same especially since she thinks Eden is real. The subversion also applies to Darryl since he's also imaginary.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: With the revelation that Hope's friends are split personalities, there could've been grounds to explore in The Conclusion how the Angel and Jasmine personalities were affected by being forced into hiding due to having separate lives from Hope. There's also the fact that Melanie only gets a single chapter of focus as a narrator before the bulk of the story is taken up by Hope, Darryl, and Chris, even though it was Melanie's friends who were being killed off.
• The Woobie: Hope Mathis from Fear Hall. Growing up, her mother would constantly deride her for her weight. In one instance, when Hope had friends over for ice cream, her mom made her eat all the ice cream in the bowls, then forced her face into the carton. Right in front of her guests. She gave her the nickname "Buttertubs", which is how she addressed letters to Hope when she went to camp. In high school it got worse, she actually handcuffed herself to Hope to stop her from seeing a boy. Is it any wonder she snapped and developed four split personalities as a way to cope?

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