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Spoiler code: A scalpel, not a chainsaw
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* AnimateDead: [[spoiler:Shafax raises a cemetery full of zombies to fight Simon and Salem]].
to:
* AnimateDead: [[spoiler:Shafax Shafax raises a cemetery full of zombies to fight Simon and Salem]].Salem.
Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
* BastardUnderstudy: How [[spoiler:Salem]] seems to view [[spoiler:Simon]].
to:
* BastardUnderstudy: How [[spoiler:Salem]] Salem seems to view [[spoiler:Simon]].Simon.
Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* BitchSlap: [[spoiler:Anita]] slaps [[spoiler:Christine]] when goaded too far by [[spoiler:her flirtation with Simon]].
to:
* BitchSlap: [[spoiler:Anita]] Anita slaps [[spoiler:Christine]] Christine when goaded too far by [[spoiler:her flirtation with Simon]].
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* CurbStompBattle: What [[spoiler:Salem]] delivers to [[spoiler:Simon]].
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* CurbStompBattle: What [[spoiler:Salem]] Salem delivers to [[spoiler:Simon]].Simon.
Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
* DamselInDistress: Heidi, while [[spoiler:she and Miguel are Shafax's prisoners]].
to:
* DamselInDistress: Heidi, while [[spoiler:she she and Miguel are Shafax's [[spoiler:Shafax's prisoners]].
Changed line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
* DeathGlare: Shafax gives several, notably to [[spoiler:Salem]] and [[spoiler:Anita]].
to:
* DeathGlare: Shafax gives several, notably to [[spoiler:Salem]] Salem and [[spoiler:Anita]].Anita.
Changed line(s) 80 (click to see context) from:
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans Richtein in the eye with a broken beer bottle.]]
to:
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Heidi Heidi stabs Hans Richtein [[spoiler:Hans Richtein]] in the eye with a broken beer bottle.]]
Changed line(s) 83 (click to see context) from:
* FanDisservice: Miguel and his friends stumble upon the beautiful Christine completely naked—[[spoiler:and in the middle of being sacrificed in a black magic ritual to turn her into a vampire]].
to:
* FanDisservice: Miguel and his friends stumble upon the [[spoiler:the beautiful Christine Christine]] completely naked—[[spoiler:and naked—and in the middle of being sacrificed in a black magic ritual to turn her into a vampire]].vampire.
Changed line(s) 87,88 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Christine]] and [[spoiler:Simon]], respectively.
** [[spoiler:Shafax]] and [[spoiler:Salem]] give the master class version.
** [[spoiler:Shafax]] and [[spoiler:Salem]] give the master class version.
to:
** [[spoiler:Christine]] and [[spoiler:Simon]], Simon, respectively.
**[[spoiler:Shafax]] Shafax and [[spoiler:Salem]] Salem give the master class version.
**
Changed line(s) 92 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:After discovering Heidi's corpse, Simon notes she is prettier than he ever noticed—because she is becoming a vampire.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:After After discovering Heidi's corpse, Simon notes she is prettier than he ever noticed—because noticed—[[spoiler:because she is becoming a vampire.]]
Changed line(s) 103 (click to see context) from:
* GunsAreWorthless. Mostly played straight; they present effectively no threat to vampires (Salem is shot point-blank in the gut and is merely annoyed), and [[spoiler:Salem discovers they have no real effect on zombies, either.]] Salem does [[spoiler:provide Anita with a pistol so she can shoot Hans Richtein if given the chance, but Shafax kills him instead, though she manages to kill a coyote with it.]]
to:
* GunsAreWorthless. Mostly played straight; they present effectively no threat to vampires (Salem is shot point-blank in the gut and is merely annoyed), and [[spoiler:Salem Salem discovers they have no real effect on zombies, either.]] either. Salem does [[spoiler:provide Anita with a pistol so she can shoot Hans Richtein if given the chance, but Shafax kills him instead, though she manages to kill a coyote with it.]]
Changed line(s) 107 (click to see context) from:
* HissBeforeFleeing: [[spoiler:Shafax, after Anita shoves a crucifix in his face.]]
to:
* HissBeforeFleeing: [[spoiler:Shafax, Shafax, after Anita [[spoiler:Anita shoves a crucifix in his face.]]
Changed line(s) 124,126 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Salem uses a shovel against Simon in the construction site. Simon tries to use both a cement mixer and a screwdriver, [[NoSell without effect]].]]
** [[spoiler:In the flashback, Salem bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
** [[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans in the eye with a broken beer bottle]].
** [[spoiler:In the flashback, Salem bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
** [[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans in the eye with a broken beer bottle]].
to:
** [[spoiler:Salem Salem uses a shovel against Simon in the construction site. Simon tries to use both a cement mixer and a screwdriver, [[NoSell without effect]].effect]].
** In the flashback, Salem [[spoiler:bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
**[[spoiler:In the flashback, Salem bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
** [[spoiler:HeidiHeidi stabs Hans [[spoiler:Hans]] in the eye with a broken beer bottle]].bottle.
** In the flashback, Salem [[spoiler:bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
**
** [[spoiler:Heidi
Changed line(s) 128 (click to see context) from:
* InsaneTrollLogic: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Salem clearly sees Shafax's strategy (draw Salem out by hurting Simon, which he accomplished by vampirizing Christine to hurt ''Anita'') as this. As Shafax notes, however, it worked (though Salem derides it as "pure, dumb luck").]]
to:
* InsaneTrollLogic: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Salem Salem clearly sees Shafax's strategy (draw [[spoiler:(draw Salem out by hurting Simon, which he accomplished by vampirizing Christine to hurt ''Anita'') ''Anita'')]] as this. As Shafax notes, however, it worked (though Salem derides it as "pure, dumb luck").]]
Changed line(s) 131 (click to see context) from:
* IronicEcho: After [[spoiler:thoroughly beating Simon within an inch of his unlife]], Salem greets him with a cheerful, "Hello Simon, how are you?" He repeats the line somewhat less cheerfully when [[spoiler:Simon has a knife to his throat, prepared to decapitate him if he kills Anita]].
to:
* IronicEcho: After [[spoiler:thoroughly thoroughly beating Simon within an inch of his unlife]], unlife, Salem greets him with a cheerful, "Hello Simon, how are you?" He repeats the line somewhat less cheerfully when [[spoiler:Simon has a knife to his throat, prepared to decapitate him if he kills Anita]].
Changed line(s) 136,137 (click to see context) from:
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. Though Salem has a katana (evidently forged by Muramasa), he prefers his Roman gladius. [[spoiler:The gladius survives the fight with Shafax, while the katana does not]].
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler:Salem intends this for Anita until Simon intervenes.]]
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler:Salem intends this for Anita until Simon intervenes.]]
to:
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. Though Salem has a katana (evidently forged by Muramasa), he prefers his Roman gladius. [[spoiler:The The gladius survives the [[spoiler:the fight with Shafax, Shafax]], while the katana does not]].
not.
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade:[[spoiler:Salem Salem intends this for Anita [[spoiler:Anita]] until Simon intervenes.]]
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade:
Changed line(s) 141,143 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Christine's memories of her night with Shafax are a little blurry, but even those hazy memories give her a rush of pleasure.]]
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in the ending; Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: [[spoiler:Salem stabs Shafax in the knee with the broken-off tip of his katana, distracting him at a critical moment.]]
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in the ending; Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: [[spoiler:Salem stabs Shafax in the knee with the broken-off tip of his katana, distracting him at a critical moment.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Christine's [[spoiler:Christine's]] memories of her [[spoiler:her night with Shafax Shafax]] are a little blurry, but even those hazy memories give her a rush of pleasure.pleasure.
** Downplayed in the ending; [[spoiler:Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
** [[spoiler:Downplayed in the ending; Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: [[spoiler:Salem Salem stabs Shafax [[spoiler:Shafax in the knee with the broken-off tip of his katana, distracting him at a critical moment.]]
** Downplayed in the ending; [[spoiler:Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
Changed line(s) 145 (click to see context) from:
* LargeHam: In response to Shafax [[spoiler:reviving the corpses of St. Brigid's as zombies]], Salem remarks, "Always the melodrama."
to:
* LargeHam: In response to Shafax [[spoiler:reviving reviving the corpses of St. Brigid's as zombies]], zombies, Salem remarks, "Always the melodrama."
Changed line(s) 171 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Downplayed when Simon fights Salem; Salem beats Simon savagely, but is clearly holding back the full extent of his skills, and lets Simon go with his injuries and a warning.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Downplayed Downplayed when Simon fights Salem; Salem beats Simon savagely, but is clearly holding back the full extent of his skills, and lets Simon go with his injuries and a warning.]]
Changed line(s) 184 (click to see context) from:
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Shafax bolsters his defenses by reanimating the dead in St. Brigid's; they are, in effect, VoodooZombies, and Salem explicitly calls them "zombies."]]
to:
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Shafax Shafax bolsters his defenses by reanimating the dead in St. Brigid's; they are, in effect, VoodooZombies, [[VoodooZombie VoodooZombies]], and Salem explicitly calls them "zombies."]]"
Changed line(s) 187 (click to see context) from:
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:Christine's face softens after her final death]].
to:
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:Christine's [[spoiler:Christine's]] face softens after her final death]].death.
Changed line(s) 190 (click to see context) from:
* PlaceOfProtection: Salem [[spoiler:mentions offhand to Anita that he could not have pursued her into Holy Name Cathedral]].
to:
* PlaceOfProtection: Salem [[spoiler:mentions mentions offhand to Anita [[spoiler:Anita]] that he could not have pursued her into Holy Name Cathedral]].Cathedral.
Changed line(s) 193 (click to see context) from:
** Possibly [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Salem, who [[spoiler:takes the time to slaughter Shafax's summoned beasts and conjured zombies to deplete Shafax's powers; as a blood glutton, Shafax needs more blood than a normal vampire anyway]].
to:
** Possibly [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Salem, who [[spoiler:takes takes the time to slaughter Shafax's summoned beasts and conjured zombies to deplete Shafax's powers; as a blood glutton, Shafax needs more blood than a normal vampire anyway]].anyway.
Changed line(s) 196,197 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Salem sends Simon flying with a shovel during their one-sided fight in the construction site.]]
** Downplayed between [[spoiler:Shafax and Salem; the former knocks the latter around during their second fight.]]
** Downplayed between [[spoiler:Shafax and Salem; the former knocks the latter around during their second fight.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Salem Salem sends Simon flying with a shovel during their one-sided fight in the construction site.]]
site.
** Downplayed between[[spoiler:Shafax Shafax and Salem; the former knocks the latter around during their [[spoiler:their second fight.]]
** Downplayed between
Changed line(s) 200 (click to see context) from:
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Simon indulges in it when [[spoiler:Salem slaughters his friends at the boxing gym.]] He winds up [[spoiler:stabbing Salem through the stomach]].
to:
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Simon indulges in it when [[spoiler:Salem slaughters Salem [[spoiler:slaughters his friends at the boxing gym.]] He winds up [[spoiler:stabbing Salem through the stomach]].
Changed line(s) 204 (click to see context) from:
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: As to be expected with vampires, but Shafax is somewhere around 3,800 years old, while Salem is [[spoiler:explicitly at least 500 and heavily implied to be Roman, putting him at least at 1,500]].
to:
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: As to be expected with vampires, but Shafax is somewhere around 3,800 years old, while Salem is [[spoiler:explicitly explicitly at least 500 and [[spoiler:and heavily implied to be Roman, putting him at least at 1,500]].
Changed line(s) 207 (click to see context) from:
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Subverted. Salem tries it on [[spoiler:Shafax's zombies]] with a series of head shots, with little effect. He eventually [[spoiler:hacks them into so many pieces that it is too difficult for Shafax to continue animating their flesh.]]
to:
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Subverted. Salem tries it on [[spoiler:Shafax's zombies]] Shafax's zombies with a series of head shots, with little effect. He eventually [[spoiler:hacks hacks them into so many pieces that it is too difficult for Shafax to continue animating their flesh.]]
Changed line(s) 209 (click to see context) from:
* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:Shafax threatens it against Simon, planning to torture Anita to death while Simon watches. Salem intervenes.]]
to:
* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:Shafax Shafax threatens it against Simon, [[spoiler:Simon, planning to torture Anita to death while Simon watches. watches. Salem intervenes.]]
Changed line(s) 216,217 (click to see context) from:
** The first time, [[spoiler:she reluctantly leaves Simon holding the TigerByTheTail with a knife to Salem's throat, which he is doing to save her]].
** The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows [[spoiler:Simon's direction to run for it, leaving him to fight Christine]].
** The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows [[spoiler:Simon's direction to run for it, leaving him to fight Christine]].
to:
** The first time, [[spoiler:she she reluctantly leaves [[spoiler:leaves Simon holding the TigerByTheTail with a knife to Salem's throat, which he is doing to save her]].
** The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows[[spoiler:Simon's Simon's direction to run for it, leaving him to fight [[spoiler:fight Christine]].
** The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows
Changed line(s) 226,227 (click to see context) from:
* SequelHook:
** [[spoiler:Vampire hunters are pursuing Shafax, Heidi and Miguel are undead, and exactly what happened to Anita and Simon is unclear]].
** [[spoiler:Vampire hunters are pursuing Shafax, Heidi and Miguel are undead, and exactly what happened to Anita and Simon is unclear]].
to:
* SequelHook:
**SequelHook: [[spoiler:Vampire hunters are pursuing Shafax, Heidi and Miguel are undead, and exactly what happened to Anita and Simon is unclear]].
**
Changed line(s) 238 (click to see context) from:
* SickeningCrunch: What accompanies [[spoiler:Salem caving in Matt's skull with a dumbbell]].
to:
* SickeningCrunch: What accompanies [[spoiler:Salem Salem caving in Matt's [[spoiler:Matt's]] skull with a dumbbell]].dumbbell.
Changed line(s) 240 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Anita's silver cross burns Simon.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Anita's Anita's silver cross burns [[spoiler:burns Simon.]]
Changed line(s) 244,246 (click to see context) from:
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the graveyard, [[spoiler:Simon, Anita, and Salem fight wild animals, then zombies, then Christine, and finally Shafax]].
* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:Salem spits on Shafax's robes during their fight.]]
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense. [[spoiler:Anita does not directly kill Christine, but she kicks Salem's katana out of Christine's reach to allow Simon to get the upper hand in their fight.]]
* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:Salem spits on Shafax's robes during their fight.]]
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense. [[spoiler:Anita does not directly kill Christine, but she kicks Salem's katana out of Christine's reach to allow Simon to get the upper hand in their fight.]]
to:
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the graveyard, [[spoiler:Simon, Simon, Anita, and Salem fight wild animals, then zombies, then Christine, [[spoiler:Christine]], and finally Shafax]].
[[spoiler:Shafax]].
* SpitefulSpit:[[spoiler:Salem Salem spits on Shafax's robes during their fight.]]
fight.
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense.[[spoiler:Anita Anita does not directly kill Christine, [[spoiler:Christine, but she kicks Salem's katana out of Christine's reach to allow Simon to get the upper hand in their fight.]]
* SpitefulSpit:
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense.
Changed line(s) 248 (click to see context) from:
** [[spoiler:Anita's uncle returns to Madrid, where it turns out he is part of a VampireHunter organization tracking Shafax.]]
to:
** [[spoiler:Anita's Anita's uncle returns to Madrid, where it turns out he is part [[spoiler:part of a VampireHunter organization tracking Shafax.]]
Changed line(s) 261,262 (click to see context) from:
* TacticalWithdrawal: Salem [[spoiler:flees St. Brigid's after narrowly surviving Shafax's surprise attack]].
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Simon gets in the way of a {{Curse}} Shafax intended for Anita; since he is already undead, it has no lasting effect.]]
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Simon gets in the way of a {{Curse}} Shafax intended for Anita; since he is already undead, it has no lasting effect.]]
to:
* TacticalWithdrawal: Salem [[spoiler:flees flees St. Brigid's after narrowly surviving Shafax's surprise attack]].
attack.
* TakingTheBullet:[[spoiler:Simon Simon gets in the way of a [[spoiler:a {{Curse}} Shafax intended for Anita; Anita]]; since he is already undead, it has no lasting effect.]]
* TakingTheBullet:
Changed line(s) 268,270 (click to see context) from:
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: Simon recounts [[spoiler:the demise of his friendship with Salem]] to Anita. Earlier in the novel, his mind briefly drifts to [[spoiler:the fire in the gym]].
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously. [[spoiler:During the assault on St. Brigid's, Shafax reanimates dead corpses into zombies, too.]]
** There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with [[spoiler:zombies]] on the bottom ("the least of the undead") and vampires somewhere higher on the list.
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously. [[spoiler:During the assault on St. Brigid's, Shafax reanimates dead corpses into zombies, too.]]
** There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with [[spoiler:zombies]] on the bottom ("the least of the undead") and vampires somewhere higher on the list.
to:
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: Simon recounts [[spoiler:the the demise of his friendship with Salem]] Salem to Anita. Earlier in the novel, his mind briefly drifts to [[spoiler:the fire in the gym]].
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously.[[spoiler:During During the assault on St. Brigid's, Shafax reanimates dead corpses into zombies, too.]]
too.
** There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with[[spoiler:zombies]] zombies on the bottom ("the least of the undead") and vampires somewhere higher on the list.
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously.
** There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with
Changed line(s) 273 (click to see context) from:
* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Shafax can not match Salem's hand-to-hand expertise, but is so titanically powerful that he only needs to land a few blows.]]
to:
* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Shafax Shafax can not match Salem's hand-to-hand expertise, but is so titanically powerful that he only needs to land a few blows.]]
Changed line(s) 292 (click to see context) from:
* VirusVictimSymptoms: [[spoiler:After consuming Shafax's blood, Christine struggles to keep up her complexion.]]
to:
* VirusVictimSymptoms: [[spoiler:After After consuming Shafax's [[spoiler:Shafax's]] blood, Christine [[spoiler:Christine]] struggles to keep up her complexion.]]
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[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oldscores_ebook_arc_quarter_size.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:305:The cover art.]]
->''"When enemies stir and rivalries reawaken, old scores will be settled and blood will flow."''
-->''The'' Old Scores ''tagline''
''Old Scores'' is a 2023 dark UrbanFantasy novel by A.J. Harrison. Vampire Simon and mortal Anita Rothard meet by coincidence and slowly grow closer, but are drawn into a centuries-old vampiric blood feud with far-reaching implications.
!! ''Old Scores'' contains examples of:
[[folder:A–M]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Hans Richtein finally starts to throw off Shafax's years of mental domination, but Shafax kills him before he can truly break free]].
* AndShowItToYou: Salem shows [[spoiler:Shafax his heart before dropping it in a torch]].
* AngryAnimalisticGrowl: Most of the vampires deploy this at least once.
* AnimateDead: [[spoiler:Shafax raises a cemetery full of zombies to fight Simon and Salem]].
* AssholeVictim: Tom Corley, Sr., who beats both [[WouldHitAGirl his wife]] and [[WouldHurtAChild his son]]. Simon brutalizes him before killing him.
* AttackOnTheHeart: One of the classic means of dispatching vampires, and given full credence here. [[spoiler:Simon debilitates Christine by stabbing her through the heart before he [[OffWithHisHead decapitates her]], and Salem rips out Shafax's heart and drops it into a torch]].
* AttackTheMouth: Simon hits Tom Corley in the jaw with a baseball bat, [[JawBreaker breaking it in several places]] and [[TeethFlying knocking out three teeth]].
* AuraVision: Downplayed, but Sarah remarks that Simon has an aura which is both very strong and very dark.
* TheBait: [[spoiler:Shafax vampirizes Christine to hurt Anita, hoping to draw out Simon, and thereby get to Salem.]]
* BastardUnderstudy: How [[spoiler:Salem]] seems to view [[spoiler:Simon]].
* BattleCouple:
**Downplayed when Simon in ambushed in an alley; Anita rescues him by whacking one of his attacks with a two-by-four, and he returns the favor by almost strangling one of her attackers to death.
**Closer to being played straight in [[spoiler:the graveyard]], when Simon and Anita trade off dealing with [[spoiler:Christine]].
* BattleStrip: Simon and Salem both strip off their shirts and coats before [[spoiler:fighting Shafax]].
* TheBeastmaster: A power of older vampires, which Shafax deploys in force.
* BigFancyHouse: Both the Rothard house (particularly given its hedge maze) and the Stokely estate.
* BitchSlap: [[spoiler:Anita]] slaps [[spoiler:Christine]] when goaded too far by [[spoiler:her flirtation with Simon]].
* BlackMagic: One of Shafax's specialties.
* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: When Salem pitches his katana across St. Brigid's, it lands point-first.
* {{Bloodlust}}: The scent of blood excites vampires' predatory reflexes. Simon's nearly leads him to bite Anita when she bleeds from her lip; he turns it into an aggressive FirstKiss with an instant to spare. [[spoiler:She comes out better than Maya in the backstory, when Simon's control was weaker.]]
**Invoked by Salem when he [[spoiler:cuts Maya's neck, leading Simon to kill her with VampiricDraining]].
* BondOneLiner: After killing a human looking to rent his backup lair, Salem tells the corpse, "I'm afraid I'm going to opt not to lease at this time."
* BoomHeadshot: Subverted. Salem shoots several [[spoiler:zombies]] dead-center in their heads, but unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain is not in effect]].
* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: Despite Simon being stronger than any human on earth, Salem taught him hand-to-hand and blade fighting anyway.
* BreakingAndBloodsucking: Downplayed, then averted; Simon uses his hypnotic powers to dominate Anita's mind, but rather than draw her out onto her balcony and bite her, he lets her go.
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:Anita's silver cross burns Simon's hand, which causes him to extend his fangs on reflex.]]
* BulliedIntoDepression: Downplayed with Anita, who evidently spent most of high school being bullied and, despite her kindness and good nature, has few friends.
* BurnTheUndead: Mentioned as a means of killing vampires, though, for obvious reasons, neither Simon nor Salem tries it.
* TheCaligula: Shafax is King of Vampires, a position never intended for real rule over vampires, let alone feeding on them. Salem suggests Shafax's blood gluttony has driven him insane, but notes that he was a megalomaniac even before.
* CannotCrossRunningWater: Unless there is a bridge over it, though the vampire can still only pass directly over the bridge.
* CastFromHitPoints: Downplayed. While there is evidently an element of [[MagicIsMental discipline and practice]], Simon can tap greater vampiric abilities than usual (such as SuperSpeed) only when he is well-fed, and Shafax needs to feed regularly to sustain his atypical powers; [[spoiler:the strain of trying to animate too much dead flesh in the graveyard actually causes mild physical degradation]].
* CastsNoShadow: Simon prefers dark spots during daylight in part because they camouflage his own lack of shadow.
* CementShoes: Shafax's victims are already dead, but Hans uses cinder blocks to weigh down their bodies before tossing them into Lake Michigan.
* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Chicago Chicago]]: The story is set almost entirely in Chicago and its nearby suburbs.
* ColorCodedEyes: Bloody sclera in a vampire (ranging from the appearance of pinkeye to flat-out red instead of white) is the mark of a blood glutton.
* CombatPragmatist: Salem, who wastes no time in killing his enemies with merciless efficiency.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Salem gets information on Simon by dislocating a gangbanger's arm and threatening to tear off his limbs.
* CoolCar: Christine's red Infiniti Coupe.
* CoolSword: Salem has two: a Roman gladius and a Japanese katana (the latter forged by legendary swordmaker Muramasa, or so Salem claims).
* CreepyCemetery: St. Brigid's was bad enough with just Salem living in it; [[spoiler:when Shafax claims it, it becomes a nightmarish den of lesser monsters]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Salem rips open Shafax's chest cavity with his gladius, tears out Shafax's heart, and drops it on a torch's flames, which causes Shafax to burn from the inside out before disintegrating]].
* CulturallyReligious: Anita, to some degree, since her family and Marion are Catholic. [[spoiler:She gets a rude awakening when she discovers Simon is a vampire and realizes there is hard truth underlying the faith.]]
* CurbStompBattle: What [[spoiler:Salem]] delivers to [[spoiler:Simon]].
* {{Curse}}: [[spoiler:Shafax attempts to curse Anita, but Simon gets in the way; since Simon is already undead, the curse has no lasting impact on him, though he is briefly disoriented.]]
* DamselInDistress: Heidi, while [[spoiler:she and Miguel are Shafax's prisoners]].
* DaywalkingVampire: Even direct sunlight is only disorienting, not harmful, unless it is dawn's light.
* DeadpanSnarker: After Shafax lays down an AGodAmI boast, Salem quotes Shelley's "Ozymandias".
* DeathGlare: Shafax gives several, notably to [[spoiler:Salem]] and [[spoiler:Anita]].
* {{Dedication}}: To the author's beta readers.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Name-dropped by Shafax, though [[spoiler:Salem manages to avert the "end" part]].
* DevourTheDragon: Shafax implies it was on his to-do list with [[spoiler:Christine]].
* DirtyCoward: Tom Corley, Sr., tries to get Simon to take his wife and son rather than him.
* DistressedDude: Anita comes to the aid of an injured and heavily outnumbered Simon, distracting his attackers at a critical moment to allow him to turn the tables.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Salem—not for any aversion to violence, but because he thinks they are beneath him. Despite his disdain, however, he is an exceptional pistol marksman.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Shafax's verbal bewitching in the nightclub evidently brings Christine to orgasm.
* DramaticThunder: [[spoiler:Christine]] conjures some up simply for the sake of dramatic emphasis.
* TheDreaded: Simon is clearly this to the people in his neighborhood.
* DualWielding: Salem indulges in it with his gladius and a katana.
* DugTooDeep: The Mari archaeological team that awakens Shafax in the prologue.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Christine's]] beauty fades back to what she had in life after [[spoiler:Simon decapitates her]].
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Although pale, black-haired Simon and Salem can both turn on the charm when they need to, their general appearance unsettles far more often than it entices.
* ElectiveMonarchy: The vampires have one, electing kings at infrequent assemblies called "coronas".
* ElementalPowers: Salem and Shafax both conjure mist out of thin air to veil their actions.
* {{Emo}} / {{Goth}}: Miguel's collection of friends includes people gravitating toward both stereotypes, though many in the group (including Miguel himself) do not fit either.
* EmoTeen: How Miguel's group is (collectively) treated by other humans. Simon seems to have a similarly dismissive view of them.
* EvilSorcerer: Shafax, a practitioner of BlackMagic of various kinds.
* EvilSmellsBad: Simon swishes mouthwash to remove the reek of blood from his breath.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans Richtein in the eye with a broken beer bottle.]]
* EyesOutOfSight: For most of the story, Shafax veils his eyes with a robe or sunglasses. When he finally reveals himself, it is immediately apparent why.
* FaintInShock: After the alley fight, Anita's flood of stress hormones catches up with her and she passes out. A doctor at an urgent care diagnoses her with an acute stress reaction.
* FanDisservice: Miguel and his friends stumble upon the beautiful Christine completely naked—[[spoiler:and in the middle of being sacrificed in a black magic ritual to turn her into a vampire]].
* FangsAreEvil: Vampires use their fangs as their primary feeding tool, though they are retractable to preserve the appearance of humanity.
* FirstKiss: Simon and Anita, outside the urgent care.
* ForceAndFinesse:
**[[spoiler:Christine]] and [[spoiler:Simon]], respectively.
**[[spoiler:Shafax]] and [[spoiler:Salem]] give the master class version.
* TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: Shafax can vaguely sense Salem's presence in Chicago, but he needs to use [[{{Necromancer}} necromancy]] to confirm his senses.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
**Salem is briefly distracted by the name "Rothard" on Anita's mailbox before shaking it off. [[spoiler:It turns out he should have given his concern more attention; Anita's uncle works for a VampireHunter organization.]]
**[[spoiler:After discovering Heidi's corpse, Simon notes she is prettier than he ever noticed—because she is becoming a vampire.]]
* FriendshipMoment: Downplayed. [[spoiler:When Shafax is dead, Salem has no clear reason to spare Simon, let alone Anita, but he does.]]
* GenreMashup: A dark UrbanFantasy with {{Horror}}, [[ActionGenre Action]], and ParanormalRomance elements.
* GenreSavvy:
**Played with for Christine. When Simon cringes away from garlic mashed potatoes, she correctly identifies him as a vampire, but she means it as a joke.
**Anita asks [[spoiler:Salem]] if he is going to drink her blood when he corners her in an alley. He is annoyed, but begrudgingly impressed.
**After [[spoiler:the fight in the Stokely house]], Simon asks Anita to wait while he retrieves his Kukri, but she [[NeverSplitTheParty thinks better of it and goes with him]].
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Vampires' eyes glow red as a sign of anger or intentional intimidation.
* AGodAmI: Shafax claims to be a god.
* GodzillaThreshold: Downplayed in the first chapter; the tenement's denizens are clearly terrified of Simon, but Tricia Corley has grown so desperate to save her son from abuse that she asks Simon for help.
* GratuitousSpanish: Between Marion and Anita. Justified, as it is Marion's native language and she is helping Anita practice it.
* GunsAreWorthless. Mostly played straight; they present effectively no threat to vampires (Salem is shot point-blank in the gut and is merely annoyed), and [[spoiler:Salem discovers they have no real effect on zombies, either.]] Salem does [[spoiler:provide Anita with a pistol so she can shoot Hans Richtein if given the chance, but Shafax kills him instead, though she manages to kill a coyote with it.]]
* HealingFactor: Vampires heal quickly from most wounds, though serious injuries take longer and [[HealItWithBlood require feeding]].
* HeroicBSOD: After the alley fight, Anita suffers an acute stress reaction, though she bounces back within a couple hours.
* HideYourOtherness: Simon cuts his claws, shaves the hair from his palms, and steals clothes with more color than black before visiting Anita's house.
* HissBeforeFleeing: [[spoiler:Shafax, after Anita shoves a crucifix in his face.]]
* HolyBurnsEvil: Vampires are repelled by crucifixes.
* HorrorHunger: Salem notes that becoming a blood glutton amplifies a vampire's appetite, and it grows worse the more vampires are consumed.
* HumanMail: How Shafax reaches the United States, though he has planted Hans among the cargo ship's crew.
* HumanoidAbomination: How vampires see blood gluttons, like Shafax, whose physical appearance is far more bestial than Simon's or Salem's unless he is intentionally disguising himself with magic. His bloody sclera, however, can not be disguised.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Salem makes this observation when he and Simon come upon a group of teenagers beating up a homeless man.
* HypnoticEyes: All the vampires have this power, though it varies in intensity; Simon's control does not seem to last long after he breaks eye contact, whereas Shafax turns Hans Richtein into TheRenfield for years.
* IdentityAmnesia: Of a sort. Apparently uniquely among vampires, Simon has no memory of his human life.
* IGaveMyWord: Part of Salem's justification for [[spoiler:sparing Anita's life in the end]].
* ImmortalityHurts: Among the vampires in the novel, they endure beatings, stabbings, slashes, telekinetically broken bones, biceps clawed to shreds of muscle, stabbing through the heart, and opened chest cavities, and only [[spoiler:two]] of them die.
* ImmortalityImmorality: None of the vampires show much remorse, but Shafax seems intent on consuming all living and unliving things.
* ImmuneToBullets: Downplayed. Bullets generate enough speed and force to pierce vampire skin, but unless blessed or made of silver, don't appear to be much more than annoyances; when Salem is shot, he is more irritated about the hole in his tee shirt than the hole in his stomach.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
**Hans stabs [[spoiler:Rachel]] through the chest and out the back with a knife.
**Simon stabs [[spoiler:Salem]] so hard the blade not only comes out the other side, but [[spoiler:pins Salem to a boxing ring]].
**Simon pulls off another "all the way through" stab (with the same weapon, no less) against [[spoiler:Shafax]].
* ImprovisedWeapon: Quite a few throughout.
**[[spoiler:Salem uses a shovel against Simon in the construction site. Simon tries to use both a cement mixer and a screwdriver, [[NoSell without effect]].]]
**[[spoiler:In the flashback, Salem bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans in the eye with a broken beer bottle]].
* InnateNightVision: Simon reflects that he actually sees ''better'' in darkness, without lights distracting him.
* InsaneTrollLogic: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Salem clearly sees Shafax's strategy (draw Salem out by hurting Simon, which he accomplished by vampirizing Christine to hurt ''Anita'') as this. As Shafax notes, however, it worked (though Salem derides it as "pure, dumb luck").]]
* {{Intangibility}}: Shafax briefly manifests this power; even Salem is bewildered.
* InterClassRomance: Between Anita (whose family owns a lakefront property in Evanston) and Simon (who steals everything he owns).
* IronicEcho: After [[spoiler:thoroughly beating Simon within an inch of his unlife]], Salem greets him with a cheerful, "Hello Simon, how are you?" He repeats the line somewhat less cheerfully when [[spoiler:Simon has a knife to his throat, prepared to decapitate him if he kills Anita]].
* ItsAllAboutMe: Played for ([[BlackComedy dark]]) Laughs in the pawn shop. After brutally killing two gangbangers, Salem is shot by a third, and castigates the terrified man for putting a hole in his shirt before killing him, too.
* ItsPersonal: It clearly is between Shafax and Salem; the story is vague as to exactly why, though apparently each killed someone the other valued.
* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Shafax (whether intentionally or simply by being present) has imposed unnatural silence on St. Brigid's.
* IveNeverSeenAnythingLikeThisBefore: Salem makes the observation about Shafax's powers.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. Though Salem has a katana (evidently forged by Muramasa), he prefers his Roman gladius. [[spoiler:The gladius survives the fight with Shafax, while the katana does not]].
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler:Salem intends this for Anita until Simon intervenes.]]
* TheKingslayer: [[spoiler:Salem (and, by extension, Simon and Anita).]]
* KissingUnderTheInfluence: Christine flirts with and kisses Simon while she has been drinking, though at least partly in a (misguided, but nonetheless successful) attempt to galvanize Anita into acting on her own feelings for Simon.
* KissOfTheVampire:
**[[spoiler:Christine's memories of her night with Shafax are a little blurry, but even those hazy memories give her a rush of pleasure.]]
**[[spoiler:Downplayed in the ending; Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: [[spoiler:Salem stabs Shafax in the knee with the broken-off tip of his katana, distracting him at a critical moment.]]
* KukrisAreKool: Simon uses a kukri when he needs a bladed weapon.
* LargeHam: In response to Shafax [[spoiler:reviving the corpses of St. Brigid's as zombies]], Salem remarks, "Always the melodrama."
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Simon and Salem remorselessly prey on mortals, but their slender code of honor and Simon's relationship with Anita (and Salem's begrudging tolerance of it) set them well apart from Shafax.
* LipLosses: After Anita smacks a man attacking Simon with a two-by-four, he threatens to bite off her lips.
* TheLoad: Heidi has traces of this even before [[spoiler:she and Miguel become Shafax's prisoners]], but it is played straight thereafter. Briefly subverted, though, when she [[spoiler:stabs Hans Richtein in the eye to save Miguel]].
* TheLostLenore: Hans Richtein's thoughts reveal the death of his significant other sent him into depression.
* MasterSwordsman: Salem is implied to be one.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Averted. Simon has only been a vampire roughly two decades, and is about that old physically, putting him around Anita's age.
* MeaningfulRename: Salem stopped calling himself "Flavius" at some point before meeting Simon, although, [[MysteriousPast as with most things concerning Salem]], ''what'' the choice means is not clear.
* MeetCute: Simon (distracted by Miguel) and Anita (listening to headphones with her eyes closed) walk into each other.
* MentorInSourArmor: Salem to Simon. His "soft side deep down" is very much downplayed, but he does [[spoiler:spare both Simon and Anita after Shafax's death]].
* MindOverMatter: Shafax is telekinetic.
* MissingReflection: Vampires have no reflections.
* ModestyBedsheet: Christine uses one the morning after [[spoiler:her night with Shafax]].
* MonstrousCannibalism: Vampires who drink the blood of other vampires increase their power, at the expense of amplifying their own {{Bloodlust}} and undergoing physical mutations.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Played straight with Simon and Shafax, who are both thin, but vastly stronger than any human. Downplayed a little with Salem; his vampiric strength is just as far beyond human reach, but he also has a soldier's muscular build.
* MustBeInvited: Simon narrowly averts an awkward moment at Anita's door when she steps out of his way and gestures him inside; the invitation must be verbal.
* MysteriousPast:
**The story heavily implies Salem [[spoiler:was Roman in life]], and makes clear he and Shafax were enemies before ''Old Scores'', but the rest is unknown.
**Simon's human life is a mystery even to him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:N–Z]]
* NeckLift: [[spoiler:Christine]] muses that she could do it to Hans Richtein.
* {{Necromancer}}: Shafax showcases both the classical variant (communing with the spirits of the dead) and [[spoiler:the modern take ([[AnimateDead raising an army of undead]])]].
* TheNicknamer: Salem comes up with a series of food-related nicknames for Anita.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown:
**Simon delivers one to Tom Corley before killing him.
**[[spoiler:Downplayed when Simon fights Salem; Salem beats Simon savagely, but is clearly holding back the full extent of his skills, and lets Simon go with his injuries and a warning.]]
* NoodleIncident:
**Simon killing Lenny Nelson; whatever happened was apparently gruesome.
**Exactly how and why Salem killed Trixie and her friends in St. Brigid's.
* NoSell: After Renee elbows Chris in the solar plexus and winds him, Fritz Kalten tries the same thing on Hans, but Hans is much too tough and simply shrugs it off.
* OddCouple: [[spoiler:Simon and Anita—the stoic, predatory vampire and the thoughtful artist.]]
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Simon kills Christine by beheading her]].
* OminousClouds: A storm gathers in Newark when the ''John Polidori'' docks, bearing Shafax.
* OminousFog: Shafax and Salem both conjure mist to veil their actions.
* OneManArmy: Salem mows through [[spoiler:most of Shafax's zombies without assistance]].
* OneToMillionToOne: Shafax turns into a swarm of locusts. [[spoiler:Salem kills one of the swarm with a throwing knife, and when Shafax reconstitutes himself, he has a minor injury.]]
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Largely based on ''{{Literature/Dracula}}'', but with nods to ''Literature/SalemsLot'' and ''{{Film/Nosferatu}}'', with a few twists.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Although "different" here is synonymous with "extinct" (according to Salem, the last werewolf was killed in 1873).
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Shafax bolsters his defenses by reanimating the dead in St. Brigid's; they are, in effect, VoodooZombies, and Salem explicitly calls them "zombies."]]
* PaintedOnPants: Christine's clubbing outfit.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: "Don't abuse your wife and child, or you'll be savagely beaten to a pulp and murdered by a vampire"—a SpaceWhaleAesop for the ages.
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:Christine's face softens after her final death]].
* PetTheDog: Salem bribes a homeless man with burritos for information on Simon; the man (truthfully) reports that he does not know and has not seen Simon, but Salem gives him the burritos anyway.
* PinkIsErotic: Christine's nail polish, lipstick, and choli top.
* PlaceOfProtection: Salem [[spoiler:mentions offhand to Anita that he could not have pursued her into Holy Name Cathedral]].
* ThePowerOfBlood:
**Simon can occasionally tap vampiric abilities outside his usual range, such as SuperSpeed, but only when he is well-fed.
**Possibly [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Salem, who [[spoiler:takes the time to slaughter Shafax's summoned beasts and conjured zombies to deplete Shafax's powers; as a blood glutton, Shafax needs more blood than a normal vampire anyway]].
* ProtectionFromTheElements: Simon not only ignores a rainstorm, he doesn't even blink.
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom:
**[[spoiler:Salem sends Simon flying with a shovel during their one-sided fight in the construction site.]]
**Downplayed between [[spoiler:Shafax and Salem; the former knocks the latter around during their second fight.]]
* PuppyDogEyes: Simon thinks of Anita's eyes this way.
* PutTheirHeadsTogether: Simon does it to a pair of reanimated corpses.
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Simon indulges in it when [[spoiler:Salem slaughters his friends at the boxing gym.]] He winds up [[spoiler:stabbing Salem through the stomach]].
* RavenHairIvorySkin:
**Christine. [[spoiler:Her beauty persists into undeath, but though it is amplified even further, Anita thinks it looks eerie.]]
**Subverted with both Simon and Salem—despite their black hair and pale skin (and inexplicably magnetic personalities), their overall look is more [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette unsettling]] than attractive.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: As to be expected with vampires, but Shafax is somewhere around 3,800 years old, while Salem is [[spoiler:explicitly at least 500 and heavily implied to be Roman, putting him at least at 1,500]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Blood in the sclera is the first (and apparently only non-concealable) sign of a blood glutton vampire.
* ReflectiveEyes: Vampiric eyes reflect the light unnaturally.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Subverted. Salem tries it on [[spoiler:Shafax's zombies]] with a series of head shots, with little effect. He eventually [[spoiler:hacks them into so many pieces that it is too difficult for Shafax to continue animating their flesh.]]
* TheRenfield: Hans Richtein is turned into one for Shafax. [[spoiler:The story implies that Hans's depression over the death of his significant other in a motorcycle accident left him vulnerable to Shafax's mental domination.]]
* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:Shafax threatens it against Simon, planning to torture Anita to death while Simon watches. Salem intervenes.]]
* RitualMagic: Shafax uses BlackMagic rituals to commune with the dead and [[spoiler:expedite Christine's vampiric transformation]].
* RuleOfThree: Amidst the final confrontation, Salem still seizes the opening when Shafax presents it.
-->'''Shafax:''' "I am lord! I am god! I am—"
-->'''Salem:''' "Ozymandias, King of Kings."
* RunningGag: Salem's tee shirts getting [[WardrobeWound ripped/torn/punctured]].
* RunOrDie: Anita is subjected to it twice.
**The first time, [[spoiler:she reluctantly leaves Simon holding the TigerByTheTail with a knife to Salem's throat, which he is doing to save her]].
**The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows [[spoiler:Simon's direction to run for it, leaving him to fight Christine]].
* SatelliteFamilyMember: Richard and Nancy Rothard (and Marion de Santos, who is [[HiredHelpAsFamily like family]] to Anita); though each has a distinct personality, all serve the narrative by their relation to Anita.
* SavageWolves: Averted. Since Chicago is a dense urban environment which has long since eradicated its native wolf population, Shafax relies on urban coyotes instead.
* SealedEvilInACan: It is not clear how Shafax wound up in the tomb in Mari in the first place (or, indeed, whether it was a prison or merely a resting place), but the archaeologists [[DugTooDeep digging too deep]] definitely triggered his reemergence.
* SecretChaser: Miguel, to Simon.
* SelfHarm: Heidi bears the scars on her wrists. Her sister later reflects that Heidi was hospitalized for a suicide attempt.
* SelfMadeOrphan:
**[[spoiler:Christine]], sort of. [[spoiler:She kills both her parents, but only after becoming a vampire, so she is (un)dead too.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi]] becomes one in the epilogue, with the same caveat, and a helping of SiblingMurder too.
* SequelHook:
**[[spoiler:Vampire hunters are pursuing Shafax, Heidi and Miguel are undead, and exactly what happened to Anita and Simon is unclear]].
* SensitiveArtist: Anita, though her emotionality is particularly emphasized in contrast to Simon's stoicism.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Invoked by Anita in response to Simon during their first meeting.
-->'''Anita:''' "Aww, aren't you sweet."
-->'''Simon:''' "Not generally, though the appropriate stimulus can make me so."
-->'''Anita:''' ''([[{{Beat}} beat]])'' "I'm pleased to have catalyzed your infrequent flirtatiousness."
* ShoutOut:
**Salem tells Anita, "The dead travel fast," a quote from ''{{Literature/Lenore}}'' which was itself quoted in ''{{Literature/Dracula}}''.
**Salem quotes the classic boast from [[Creator/PercyByssheShelley Shelley's]] "Ozymandias" to mock Shafax.
* ShrinkingViolet: Heidi, in spades.
* ShutUpHannibal: When [[spoiler:Shafax is threatening Salem in the Stokely house, Anita shoves a crucifix in his face, forcing him to break off as he cringes]].
* SickeningCrunch: What accompanies [[spoiler:Salem caving in Matt's skull with a dumbbell]].
* SilverHasMysticPowers:
**[[spoiler:Anita's silver cross burns Simon.]]
**Salem mentions silver bullets as a means of killing vampires, though no one has any on hand.
* SinisterSuffocation: Simon nearly strangles someone who assaulted Anita and him, but Anita persuades him to stop.
* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: Shafax is about as far to the Unfriendly side as possible, preying not only on humans, but other vampires. Simon and Salem are still quite Unfriendly, but they have a (thin) code of honor which makes them ALighterShadeOfBlack.
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the graveyard, [[spoiler:Simon, Anita, and Salem fight wild animals, then zombies, then Christine, and finally Shafax]].
* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:Salem spits on Shafax's robes during their fight.]]
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense. [[spoiler:Anita does not directly kill Christine, but she kicks Salem's katana out of Christine's reach to allow Simon to get the upper hand in their fight.]]
* TheStinger: Two of them, each of which gets an epilogue.
**[[spoiler:Anita's uncle returns to Madrid, where it turns out he is part of a VampireHunter organization tracking Shafax.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi and Miguel are revealed to be undead.]]
* StormingTheCastle: [[spoiler:Salem, Simon, and Anita attack St. Brigid's, which Shafax has commandeered for his own use.]]
* AStormIsComing: Anita notes a thunderstorm over Lake Michigan the same night Shafax arrives in Chicago.
* StrongerWithAge: Demonstrated to brutal effect when [[spoiler:Simon fights Salem]].
* SupermodelStrut: Anita thinks Christine does it without even meaning to.
* SuperReflexes: Though his SuperSpeed is spotty, Simon manifests this more reliably.
* SuperSenses: Particularly sight, hearing, and smell, for vampires.
* SuperSpeed: Simon, a relatively young vampire, can use it in short bursts; Salem and Shafax almost seem to teleport with speed.
* SuperStrength: Simon effortlessly takes out most non-vampire attackers. Notably, this is one of the few vampiric powers which persists into daytime.
* SuperToughness: At night, little can harm a vampire in melee combat besides another vampire. During the day, however, they are much more susceptible to injury.
* SwarmOfRats: Shafax conjures one.
* SwitchingPOV: The only major character not to get a POV section is Shafax.
* TacticalWithdrawal: Salem [[spoiler:flees St. Brigid's after narrowly surviving Shafax's surprise attack]].
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Simon gets in the way of a {{Curse}} Shafax intended for Anita; since he is already undead, it has no lasting effect.]]
* TheTeamNormal: Anita, teamed with Simon and Salem.
* TigerByTheTail: To [[spoiler:stop Salem from killing Anita]], Simon [[spoiler:holds his kukri knife to Salem's throat]]. [[spoiler:Salem lets her go, but Simon is left with the choice to kill him in cold blood anyway or let him go and risk almost certain death]]. Anita lampshades the trope by name.
* TrainingFromHell: Simon implies learning from Salem was like this.
* TripleShifter: Downplayed with Simon, who can only emerge from vampiric sleep at noon or sunset (and can't sleep at night); socializing with Anita during the day means he gets, at most, half a day's rest.
* {{Troll}}: Salem takes obvious pleasure in aggravating most of the people he meets, from random humans who cross his path all the way up to the King of All Vampires.
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: Simon recounts [[spoiler:the demise of his friendship with Salem]] to Anita. Earlier in the novel, his mind briefly drifts to [[spoiler:the fire in the gym]].
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously. [[spoiler:During the assault on St. Brigid's, Shafax reanimates dead corpses into zombies, too.]]
**There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with [[spoiler:zombies]] on the bottom ("the least of the undead") and vampires somewhere higher on the list.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: [[spoiler:Shafax and Christine]] are both slain, though [[spoiler:Simon and Salem]] "survive".
* UndeathlyPallor: Even well-fed, Simon and Salem both look pale.
* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Shafax can not match Salem's hand-to-hand expertise, but is so titanically powerful that he only needs to land a few blows.]]
* VampireBitesSuck: Usually averted, but Shafax's victims in Syria are gruesomely mutilated around the throat, and [[spoiler:Christine takes after her sire when feeding on her parents]].
* VampireDance: Simon is able to keep up with Anita and Christine.
* VampireHickey:
**[[DefiedTrope Defied]] in the first chapter; Simon splits the skin between the bite marks he left on a victim to give the appearance of a knife wound rather than bites.
**[[spoiler:Christine has bite marks on her skin after her night with Shafax.]]
* VampireMonarch: Downplayed. Shafax is King of All Vampires, but Salem and Simon note that the role is intended to arbitrate disputes among vampires, not to actually reign.
* VampireProcreationLimit: Vampiric transformation requires consuming a vampire's blood, not simply being bitten.
* VampiresAreSexGods:
**Downplayed, but, despite his general lack of expressed emotion, Simon nonetheless has a magnetic effect on the women around him, including Anita and Christine (who find him appealing) and Nancy Rothard and Marion (who have a favorable impression of him). Averted with Heidi, who is obviously unsettled by Simon.
**Christine later notes that [[spoiler:Shafax has a much more intense version of the same quality than Simon]]. She [[spoiler:has no complaints about the night they spent together, though whether they actually had sex is unclear]].
* VampiresHateGarlic: Simon has a close call with garlic mashed potatoes.
* VampiresSleepInCoffins: Salem is "borrowing" the stone sarcophagus of a dead Irish immigrant at the beginning of the story, though he has filled it with his own native soil.
* VampireVannabe: Hans Richtein, though it is not clear how much is his actual desire and how much Shafax imposed on his mind.
* VampiricDraining: The vampires usually drain their victims dry.
* VillainBall: Lampshaded by Anita and Discussed by Salem. [[spoiler:Shafax, after driving Salem out of St. Brigid's, moves in there rather than literally anywhere else in a metropolitan area of thousands of square miles. Salem speculates that Shafax's blood gluttony, while not driving him insane in the usual sense of hallucinations and muddled memories, has amplified his arrogance and sense of invulnerability.]]
* VillainousRescue: Sort of. [[spoiler:Anita and Salem]] are on the same side by the time he [[spoiler:slaughters the SwarmOfRats attacking her under Shafax's direction]].
* VillainProtagonist: Simon, a more-or-less classical vampire.
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:Salem claims to spare Anita's life out of respect for her courage.]]
* VirusVictimSymptoms: [[spoiler:After consuming Shafax's blood, Christine struggles to keep up her complexion.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Simon's is limited to [[{{Animorphism}} turning into a wolf or bat]]. Shafax takes it [[ExaggeratedTrope UpToEleven]] by turning into [[OneToMillionToOne a swarm of locusts]].
* VoluntaryVampireVictim: [[spoiler:Anita allows Simon to feed on her so he will "survive" after the climactic fight.]]
* WallCrawl: Simon sticks to walls, even without handholds.
* WardrobeWound: Salem is increasingly annoyed as his tee shirts keep getting torn, slashed, or punctured.
* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere: Simon stopped taking night classes at UIC because he found them too distracting.
* WeakenedByTheLight: Contrary to most modern depictions of vampires (but true to ''{{Literature/Dracula}}''), vampires do not burst into flames in sunlight; they are merely weakened, losing most of their powers until sunset. In an homage to ''{{Film/Nosferatu}}'', though, ''dawn's'' light will kill a vampire.
* WeatherManipulation:
**A storm follows Shafax into Chicago.
**[[spoiler:During the graveyard confrontation, Christine conjures up thunder by force of will.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends:
**Christine kissing Simon drives a wedge between her and Anita; both feel uncomfortable with the separation, but before they can patch things up, [[spoiler:Shafax turns Christine into a vampire and the rift becomes permanent]].
**Both Simon and Salem express skepticism about the term "friend", but they worked together for years before their falling-out.
* WolverineClaws: Shafax in particular fights with his claws, which have mutated into talons.
* WouldHitAGirl:
**Tom Corley, Sr., beats his wife (including with a bat).
**[[spoiler:Simon fights Christine twice, and holds nothing back either time.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Tom Corley, Sr., is hardly gentler with his son than his wife.
* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Simon's and Salem's few moral compunctions is refusal to prey on children.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:When Christine is killed and Shafax knows direct battle is inevitable, he feeds on Hans to bolster [[CastFromHitPoints his depleted powers]] (though this is something of a case of "you are ''more'' useful as food"). He implies he had the same fate in mind for Christine eventually.]]
[[/folder]]
[[caption-width-right:305:The cover art.]]
->''"When enemies stir and rivalries reawaken, old scores will be settled and blood will flow."''
-->''The'' Old Scores ''tagline''
''Old Scores'' is a 2023 dark UrbanFantasy novel by A.J. Harrison. Vampire Simon and mortal Anita Rothard meet by coincidence and slowly grow closer, but are drawn into a centuries-old vampiric blood feud with far-reaching implications.
!! ''Old Scores'' contains examples of:
[[folder:A–M]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Hans Richtein finally starts to throw off Shafax's years of mental domination, but Shafax kills him before he can truly break free]].
* AndShowItToYou: Salem shows [[spoiler:Shafax his heart before dropping it in a torch]].
* AngryAnimalisticGrowl: Most of the vampires deploy this at least once.
* AnimateDead: [[spoiler:Shafax raises a cemetery full of zombies to fight Simon and Salem]].
* AssholeVictim: Tom Corley, Sr., who beats both [[WouldHitAGirl his wife]] and [[WouldHurtAChild his son]]. Simon brutalizes him before killing him.
* AttackOnTheHeart: One of the classic means of dispatching vampires, and given full credence here. [[spoiler:Simon debilitates Christine by stabbing her through the heart before he [[OffWithHisHead decapitates her]], and Salem rips out Shafax's heart and drops it into a torch]].
* AttackTheMouth: Simon hits Tom Corley in the jaw with a baseball bat, [[JawBreaker breaking it in several places]] and [[TeethFlying knocking out three teeth]].
* AuraVision: Downplayed, but Sarah remarks that Simon has an aura which is both very strong and very dark.
* TheBait: [[spoiler:Shafax vampirizes Christine to hurt Anita, hoping to draw out Simon, and thereby get to Salem.]]
* BastardUnderstudy: How [[spoiler:Salem]] seems to view [[spoiler:Simon]].
* BattleCouple:
**Downplayed when Simon in ambushed in an alley; Anita rescues him by whacking one of his attacks with a two-by-four, and he returns the favor by almost strangling one of her attackers to death.
**Closer to being played straight in [[spoiler:the graveyard]], when Simon and Anita trade off dealing with [[spoiler:Christine]].
* BattleStrip: Simon and Salem both strip off their shirts and coats before [[spoiler:fighting Shafax]].
* TheBeastmaster: A power of older vampires, which Shafax deploys in force.
* BigFancyHouse: Both the Rothard house (particularly given its hedge maze) and the Stokely estate.
* BitchSlap: [[spoiler:Anita]] slaps [[spoiler:Christine]] when goaded too far by [[spoiler:her flirtation with Simon]].
* BlackMagic: One of Shafax's specialties.
* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: When Salem pitches his katana across St. Brigid's, it lands point-first.
* {{Bloodlust}}: The scent of blood excites vampires' predatory reflexes. Simon's nearly leads him to bite Anita when she bleeds from her lip; he turns it into an aggressive FirstKiss with an instant to spare. [[spoiler:She comes out better than Maya in the backstory, when Simon's control was weaker.]]
**Invoked by Salem when he [[spoiler:cuts Maya's neck, leading Simon to kill her with VampiricDraining]].
* BondOneLiner: After killing a human looking to rent his backup lair, Salem tells the corpse, "I'm afraid I'm going to opt not to lease at this time."
* BoomHeadshot: Subverted. Salem shoots several [[spoiler:zombies]] dead-center in their heads, but unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain is not in effect]].
* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: Despite Simon being stronger than any human on earth, Salem taught him hand-to-hand and blade fighting anyway.
* BreakingAndBloodsucking: Downplayed, then averted; Simon uses his hypnotic powers to dominate Anita's mind, but rather than draw her out onto her balcony and bite her, he lets her go.
* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:Anita's silver cross burns Simon's hand, which causes him to extend his fangs on reflex.]]
* BulliedIntoDepression: Downplayed with Anita, who evidently spent most of high school being bullied and, despite her kindness and good nature, has few friends.
* BurnTheUndead: Mentioned as a means of killing vampires, though, for obvious reasons, neither Simon nor Salem tries it.
* TheCaligula: Shafax is King of Vampires, a position never intended for real rule over vampires, let alone feeding on them. Salem suggests Shafax's blood gluttony has driven him insane, but notes that he was a megalomaniac even before.
* CannotCrossRunningWater: Unless there is a bridge over it, though the vampire can still only pass directly over the bridge.
* CastFromHitPoints: Downplayed. While there is evidently an element of [[MagicIsMental discipline and practice]], Simon can tap greater vampiric abilities than usual (such as SuperSpeed) only when he is well-fed, and Shafax needs to feed regularly to sustain his atypical powers; [[spoiler:the strain of trying to animate too much dead flesh in the graveyard actually causes mild physical degradation]].
* CastsNoShadow: Simon prefers dark spots during daylight in part because they camouflage his own lack of shadow.
* CementShoes: Shafax's victims are already dead, but Hans uses cinder blocks to weigh down their bodies before tossing them into Lake Michigan.
* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Chicago Chicago]]: The story is set almost entirely in Chicago and its nearby suburbs.
* ColorCodedEyes: Bloody sclera in a vampire (ranging from the appearance of pinkeye to flat-out red instead of white) is the mark of a blood glutton.
* CombatPragmatist: Salem, who wastes no time in killing his enemies with merciless efficiency.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Salem gets information on Simon by dislocating a gangbanger's arm and threatening to tear off his limbs.
* CoolCar: Christine's red Infiniti Coupe.
* CoolSword: Salem has two: a Roman gladius and a Japanese katana (the latter forged by legendary swordmaker Muramasa, or so Salem claims).
* CreepyCemetery: St. Brigid's was bad enough with just Salem living in it; [[spoiler:when Shafax claims it, it becomes a nightmarish den of lesser monsters]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Salem rips open Shafax's chest cavity with his gladius, tears out Shafax's heart, and drops it on a torch's flames, which causes Shafax to burn from the inside out before disintegrating]].
* CulturallyReligious: Anita, to some degree, since her family and Marion are Catholic. [[spoiler:She gets a rude awakening when she discovers Simon is a vampire and realizes there is hard truth underlying the faith.]]
* CurbStompBattle: What [[spoiler:Salem]] delivers to [[spoiler:Simon]].
* {{Curse}}: [[spoiler:Shafax attempts to curse Anita, but Simon gets in the way; since Simon is already undead, the curse has no lasting impact on him, though he is briefly disoriented.]]
* DamselInDistress: Heidi, while [[spoiler:she and Miguel are Shafax's prisoners]].
* DaywalkingVampire: Even direct sunlight is only disorienting, not harmful, unless it is dawn's light.
* DeadpanSnarker: After Shafax lays down an AGodAmI boast, Salem quotes Shelley's "Ozymandias".
* DeathGlare: Shafax gives several, notably to [[spoiler:Salem]] and [[spoiler:Anita]].
* {{Dedication}}: To the author's beta readers.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Name-dropped by Shafax, though [[spoiler:Salem manages to avert the "end" part]].
* DevourTheDragon: Shafax implies it was on his to-do list with [[spoiler:Christine]].
* DirtyCoward: Tom Corley, Sr., tries to get Simon to take his wife and son rather than him.
* DistressedDude: Anita comes to the aid of an injured and heavily outnumbered Simon, distracting his attackers at a critical moment to allow him to turn the tables.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Salem—not for any aversion to violence, but because he thinks they are beneath him. Despite his disdain, however, he is an exceptional pistol marksman.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Shafax's verbal bewitching in the nightclub evidently brings Christine to orgasm.
* DramaticThunder: [[spoiler:Christine]] conjures some up simply for the sake of dramatic emphasis.
* TheDreaded: Simon is clearly this to the people in his neighborhood.
* DualWielding: Salem indulges in it with his gladius and a katana.
* DugTooDeep: The Mari archaeological team that awakens Shafax in the prologue.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Christine's]] beauty fades back to what she had in life after [[spoiler:Simon decapitates her]].
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Although pale, black-haired Simon and Salem can both turn on the charm when they need to, their general appearance unsettles far more often than it entices.
* ElectiveMonarchy: The vampires have one, electing kings at infrequent assemblies called "coronas".
* ElementalPowers: Salem and Shafax both conjure mist out of thin air to veil their actions.
* {{Emo}} / {{Goth}}: Miguel's collection of friends includes people gravitating toward both stereotypes, though many in the group (including Miguel himself) do not fit either.
* EmoTeen: How Miguel's group is (collectively) treated by other humans. Simon seems to have a similarly dismissive view of them.
* EvilSorcerer: Shafax, a practitioner of BlackMagic of various kinds.
* EvilSmellsBad: Simon swishes mouthwash to remove the reek of blood from his breath.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans Richtein in the eye with a broken beer bottle.]]
* EyesOutOfSight: For most of the story, Shafax veils his eyes with a robe or sunglasses. When he finally reveals himself, it is immediately apparent why.
* FaintInShock: After the alley fight, Anita's flood of stress hormones catches up with her and she passes out. A doctor at an urgent care diagnoses her with an acute stress reaction.
* FanDisservice: Miguel and his friends stumble upon the beautiful Christine completely naked—[[spoiler:and in the middle of being sacrificed in a black magic ritual to turn her into a vampire]].
* FangsAreEvil: Vampires use their fangs as their primary feeding tool, though they are retractable to preserve the appearance of humanity.
* FirstKiss: Simon and Anita, outside the urgent care.
* ForceAndFinesse:
**[[spoiler:Christine]] and [[spoiler:Simon]], respectively.
**[[spoiler:Shafax]] and [[spoiler:Salem]] give the master class version.
* TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: Shafax can vaguely sense Salem's presence in Chicago, but he needs to use [[{{Necromancer}} necromancy]] to confirm his senses.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
**Salem is briefly distracted by the name "Rothard" on Anita's mailbox before shaking it off. [[spoiler:It turns out he should have given his concern more attention; Anita's uncle works for a VampireHunter organization.]]
**[[spoiler:After discovering Heidi's corpse, Simon notes she is prettier than he ever noticed—because she is becoming a vampire.]]
* FriendshipMoment: Downplayed. [[spoiler:When Shafax is dead, Salem has no clear reason to spare Simon, let alone Anita, but he does.]]
* GenreMashup: A dark UrbanFantasy with {{Horror}}, [[ActionGenre Action]], and ParanormalRomance elements.
* GenreSavvy:
**Played with for Christine. When Simon cringes away from garlic mashed potatoes, she correctly identifies him as a vampire, but she means it as a joke.
**Anita asks [[spoiler:Salem]] if he is going to drink her blood when he corners her in an alley. He is annoyed, but begrudgingly impressed.
**After [[spoiler:the fight in the Stokely house]], Simon asks Anita to wait while he retrieves his Kukri, but she [[NeverSplitTheParty thinks better of it and goes with him]].
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Vampires' eyes glow red as a sign of anger or intentional intimidation.
* AGodAmI: Shafax claims to be a god.
* GodzillaThreshold: Downplayed in the first chapter; the tenement's denizens are clearly terrified of Simon, but Tricia Corley has grown so desperate to save her son from abuse that she asks Simon for help.
* GratuitousSpanish: Between Marion and Anita. Justified, as it is Marion's native language and she is helping Anita practice it.
* GunsAreWorthless. Mostly played straight; they present effectively no threat to vampires (Salem is shot point-blank in the gut and is merely annoyed), and [[spoiler:Salem discovers they have no real effect on zombies, either.]] Salem does [[spoiler:provide Anita with a pistol so she can shoot Hans Richtein if given the chance, but Shafax kills him instead, though she manages to kill a coyote with it.]]
* HealingFactor: Vampires heal quickly from most wounds, though serious injuries take longer and [[HealItWithBlood require feeding]].
* HeroicBSOD: After the alley fight, Anita suffers an acute stress reaction, though she bounces back within a couple hours.
* HideYourOtherness: Simon cuts his claws, shaves the hair from his palms, and steals clothes with more color than black before visiting Anita's house.
* HissBeforeFleeing: [[spoiler:Shafax, after Anita shoves a crucifix in his face.]]
* HolyBurnsEvil: Vampires are repelled by crucifixes.
* HorrorHunger: Salem notes that becoming a blood glutton amplifies a vampire's appetite, and it grows worse the more vampires are consumed.
* HumanMail: How Shafax reaches the United States, though he has planted Hans among the cargo ship's crew.
* HumanoidAbomination: How vampires see blood gluttons, like Shafax, whose physical appearance is far more bestial than Simon's or Salem's unless he is intentionally disguising himself with magic. His bloody sclera, however, can not be disguised.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Salem makes this observation when he and Simon come upon a group of teenagers beating up a homeless man.
* HypnoticEyes: All the vampires have this power, though it varies in intensity; Simon's control does not seem to last long after he breaks eye contact, whereas Shafax turns Hans Richtein into TheRenfield for years.
* IdentityAmnesia: Of a sort. Apparently uniquely among vampires, Simon has no memory of his human life.
* IGaveMyWord: Part of Salem's justification for [[spoiler:sparing Anita's life in the end]].
* ImmortalityHurts: Among the vampires in the novel, they endure beatings, stabbings, slashes, telekinetically broken bones, biceps clawed to shreds of muscle, stabbing through the heart, and opened chest cavities, and only [[spoiler:two]] of them die.
* ImmortalityImmorality: None of the vampires show much remorse, but Shafax seems intent on consuming all living and unliving things.
* ImmuneToBullets: Downplayed. Bullets generate enough speed and force to pierce vampire skin, but unless blessed or made of silver, don't appear to be much more than annoyances; when Salem is shot, he is more irritated about the hole in his tee shirt than the hole in his stomach.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
**Hans stabs [[spoiler:Rachel]] through the chest and out the back with a knife.
**Simon stabs [[spoiler:Salem]] so hard the blade not only comes out the other side, but [[spoiler:pins Salem to a boxing ring]].
**Simon pulls off another "all the way through" stab (with the same weapon, no less) against [[spoiler:Shafax]].
* ImprovisedWeapon: Quite a few throughout.
**[[spoiler:Salem uses a shovel against Simon in the construction site. Simon tries to use both a cement mixer and a screwdriver, [[NoSell without effect]].]]
**[[spoiler:In the flashback, Salem bashes Matt's skull in with a dumbbell.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi stabs Hans in the eye with a broken beer bottle]].
* InnateNightVision: Simon reflects that he actually sees ''better'' in darkness, without lights distracting him.
* InsaneTrollLogic: Downplayed. [[spoiler:Salem clearly sees Shafax's strategy (draw Salem out by hurting Simon, which he accomplished by vampirizing Christine to hurt ''Anita'') as this. As Shafax notes, however, it worked (though Salem derides it as "pure, dumb luck").]]
* {{Intangibility}}: Shafax briefly manifests this power; even Salem is bewildered.
* InterClassRomance: Between Anita (whose family owns a lakefront property in Evanston) and Simon (who steals everything he owns).
* IronicEcho: After [[spoiler:thoroughly beating Simon within an inch of his unlife]], Salem greets him with a cheerful, "Hello Simon, how are you?" He repeats the line somewhat less cheerfully when [[spoiler:Simon has a knife to his throat, prepared to decapitate him if he kills Anita]].
* ItsAllAboutMe: Played for ([[BlackComedy dark]]) Laughs in the pawn shop. After brutally killing two gangbangers, Salem is shot by a third, and castigates the terrified man for putting a hole in his shirt before killing him, too.
* ItsPersonal: It clearly is between Shafax and Salem; the story is vague as to exactly why, though apparently each killed someone the other valued.
* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Shafax (whether intentionally or simply by being present) has imposed unnatural silence on St. Brigid's.
* IveNeverSeenAnythingLikeThisBefore: Salem makes the observation about Shafax's powers.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. Though Salem has a katana (evidently forged by Muramasa), he prefers his Roman gladius. [[spoiler:The gladius survives the fight with Shafax, while the katana does not]].
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler:Salem intends this for Anita until Simon intervenes.]]
* TheKingslayer: [[spoiler:Salem (and, by extension, Simon and Anita).]]
* KissingUnderTheInfluence: Christine flirts with and kisses Simon while she has been drinking, though at least partly in a (misguided, but nonetheless successful) attempt to galvanize Anita into acting on her own feelings for Simon.
* KissOfTheVampire:
**[[spoiler:Christine's memories of her night with Shafax are a little blurry, but even those hazy memories give her a rush of pleasure.]]
**[[spoiler:Downplayed in the ending; Anita [[VoluntaryVampireVictim willingly allows Simon to bite her]], but to save his unlife rather than for her own enjoyment.]]
* {{Kneecapping}}: [[spoiler:Salem stabs Shafax in the knee with the broken-off tip of his katana, distracting him at a critical moment.]]
* KukrisAreKool: Simon uses a kukri when he needs a bladed weapon.
* LargeHam: In response to Shafax [[spoiler:reviving the corpses of St. Brigid's as zombies]], Salem remarks, "Always the melodrama."
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Simon and Salem remorselessly prey on mortals, but their slender code of honor and Simon's relationship with Anita (and Salem's begrudging tolerance of it) set them well apart from Shafax.
* LipLosses: After Anita smacks a man attacking Simon with a two-by-four, he threatens to bite off her lips.
* TheLoad: Heidi has traces of this even before [[spoiler:she and Miguel become Shafax's prisoners]], but it is played straight thereafter. Briefly subverted, though, when she [[spoiler:stabs Hans Richtein in the eye to save Miguel]].
* TheLostLenore: Hans Richtein's thoughts reveal the death of his significant other sent him into depression.
* MasterSwordsman: Salem is implied to be one.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Averted. Simon has only been a vampire roughly two decades, and is about that old physically, putting him around Anita's age.
* MeaningfulRename: Salem stopped calling himself "Flavius" at some point before meeting Simon, although, [[MysteriousPast as with most things concerning Salem]], ''what'' the choice means is not clear.
* MeetCute: Simon (distracted by Miguel) and Anita (listening to headphones with her eyes closed) walk into each other.
* MentorInSourArmor: Salem to Simon. His "soft side deep down" is very much downplayed, but he does [[spoiler:spare both Simon and Anita after Shafax's death]].
* MindOverMatter: Shafax is telekinetic.
* MissingReflection: Vampires have no reflections.
* ModestyBedsheet: Christine uses one the morning after [[spoiler:her night with Shafax]].
* MonstrousCannibalism: Vampires who drink the blood of other vampires increase their power, at the expense of amplifying their own {{Bloodlust}} and undergoing physical mutations.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: Played straight with Simon and Shafax, who are both thin, but vastly stronger than any human. Downplayed a little with Salem; his vampiric strength is just as far beyond human reach, but he also has a soldier's muscular build.
* MustBeInvited: Simon narrowly averts an awkward moment at Anita's door when she steps out of his way and gestures him inside; the invitation must be verbal.
* MysteriousPast:
**The story heavily implies Salem [[spoiler:was Roman in life]], and makes clear he and Shafax were enemies before ''Old Scores'', but the rest is unknown.
**Simon's human life is a mystery even to him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:N–Z]]
* NeckLift: [[spoiler:Christine]] muses that she could do it to Hans Richtein.
* {{Necromancer}}: Shafax showcases both the classical variant (communing with the spirits of the dead) and [[spoiler:the modern take ([[AnimateDead raising an army of undead]])]].
* TheNicknamer: Salem comes up with a series of food-related nicknames for Anita.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown:
**Simon delivers one to Tom Corley before killing him.
**[[spoiler:Downplayed when Simon fights Salem; Salem beats Simon savagely, but is clearly holding back the full extent of his skills, and lets Simon go with his injuries and a warning.]]
* NoodleIncident:
**Simon killing Lenny Nelson; whatever happened was apparently gruesome.
**Exactly how and why Salem killed Trixie and her friends in St. Brigid's.
* NoSell: After Renee elbows Chris in the solar plexus and winds him, Fritz Kalten tries the same thing on Hans, but Hans is much too tough and simply shrugs it off.
* OddCouple: [[spoiler:Simon and Anita—the stoic, predatory vampire and the thoughtful artist.]]
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Simon kills Christine by beheading her]].
* OminousClouds: A storm gathers in Newark when the ''John Polidori'' docks, bearing Shafax.
* OminousFog: Shafax and Salem both conjure mist to veil their actions.
* OneManArmy: Salem mows through [[spoiler:most of Shafax's zombies without assistance]].
* OneToMillionToOne: Shafax turns into a swarm of locusts. [[spoiler:Salem kills one of the swarm with a throwing knife, and when Shafax reconstitutes himself, he has a minor injury.]]
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Largely based on ''{{Literature/Dracula}}'', but with nods to ''Literature/SalemsLot'' and ''{{Film/Nosferatu}}'', with a few twists.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Although "different" here is synonymous with "extinct" (according to Salem, the last werewolf was killed in 1873).
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Shafax bolsters his defenses by reanimating the dead in St. Brigid's; they are, in effect, VoodooZombies, and Salem explicitly calls them "zombies."]]
* PaintedOnPants: Christine's clubbing outfit.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: "Don't abuse your wife and child, or you'll be savagely beaten to a pulp and murdered by a vampire"—a SpaceWhaleAesop for the ages.
* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:Christine's face softens after her final death]].
* PetTheDog: Salem bribes a homeless man with burritos for information on Simon; the man (truthfully) reports that he does not know and has not seen Simon, but Salem gives him the burritos anyway.
* PinkIsErotic: Christine's nail polish, lipstick, and choli top.
* PlaceOfProtection: Salem [[spoiler:mentions offhand to Anita that he could not have pursued her into Holy Name Cathedral]].
* ThePowerOfBlood:
**Simon can occasionally tap vampiric abilities outside his usual range, such as SuperSpeed, but only when he is well-fed.
**Possibly [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Salem, who [[spoiler:takes the time to slaughter Shafax's summoned beasts and conjured zombies to deplete Shafax's powers; as a blood glutton, Shafax needs more blood than a normal vampire anyway]].
* ProtectionFromTheElements: Simon not only ignores a rainstorm, he doesn't even blink.
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom:
**[[spoiler:Salem sends Simon flying with a shovel during their one-sided fight in the construction site.]]
**Downplayed between [[spoiler:Shafax and Salem; the former knocks the latter around during their second fight.]]
* PuppyDogEyes: Simon thinks of Anita's eyes this way.
* PutTheirHeadsTogether: Simon does it to a pair of reanimated corpses.
* RageAgainstTheMentor: Simon indulges in it when [[spoiler:Salem slaughters his friends at the boxing gym.]] He winds up [[spoiler:stabbing Salem through the stomach]].
* RavenHairIvorySkin:
**Christine. [[spoiler:Her beauty persists into undeath, but though it is amplified even further, Anita thinks it looks eerie.]]
**Subverted with both Simon and Salem—despite their black hair and pale skin (and inexplicably magnetic personalities), their overall look is more [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette unsettling]] than attractive.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: As to be expected with vampires, but Shafax is somewhere around 3,800 years old, while Salem is [[spoiler:explicitly at least 500 and heavily implied to be Roman, putting him at least at 1,500]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Blood in the sclera is the first (and apparently only non-concealable) sign of a blood glutton vampire.
* ReflectiveEyes: Vampiric eyes reflect the light unnaturally.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Subverted. Salem tries it on [[spoiler:Shafax's zombies]] with a series of head shots, with little effect. He eventually [[spoiler:hacks them into so many pieces that it is too difficult for Shafax to continue animating their flesh.]]
* TheRenfield: Hans Richtein is turned into one for Shafax. [[spoiler:The story implies that Hans's depression over the death of his significant other in a motorcycle accident left him vulnerable to Shafax's mental domination.]]
* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:Shafax threatens it against Simon, planning to torture Anita to death while Simon watches. Salem intervenes.]]
* RitualMagic: Shafax uses BlackMagic rituals to commune with the dead and [[spoiler:expedite Christine's vampiric transformation]].
* RuleOfThree: Amidst the final confrontation, Salem still seizes the opening when Shafax presents it.
-->'''Shafax:''' "I am lord! I am god! I am—"
-->'''Salem:''' "Ozymandias, King of Kings."
* RunningGag: Salem's tee shirts getting [[WardrobeWound ripped/torn/punctured]].
* RunOrDie: Anita is subjected to it twice.
**The first time, [[spoiler:she reluctantly leaves Simon holding the TigerByTheTail with a knife to Salem's throat, which he is doing to save her]].
**The second time, she again (and more quickly) follows [[spoiler:Simon's direction to run for it, leaving him to fight Christine]].
* SatelliteFamilyMember: Richard and Nancy Rothard (and Marion de Santos, who is [[HiredHelpAsFamily like family]] to Anita); though each has a distinct personality, all serve the narrative by their relation to Anita.
* SavageWolves: Averted. Since Chicago is a dense urban environment which has long since eradicated its native wolf population, Shafax relies on urban coyotes instead.
* SealedEvilInACan: It is not clear how Shafax wound up in the tomb in Mari in the first place (or, indeed, whether it was a prison or merely a resting place), but the archaeologists [[DugTooDeep digging too deep]] definitely triggered his reemergence.
* SecretChaser: Miguel, to Simon.
* SelfHarm: Heidi bears the scars on her wrists. Her sister later reflects that Heidi was hospitalized for a suicide attempt.
* SelfMadeOrphan:
**[[spoiler:Christine]], sort of. [[spoiler:She kills both her parents, but only after becoming a vampire, so she is (un)dead too.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi]] becomes one in the epilogue, with the same caveat, and a helping of SiblingMurder too.
* SequelHook:
**[[spoiler:Vampire hunters are pursuing Shafax, Heidi and Miguel are undead, and exactly what happened to Anita and Simon is unclear]].
* SensitiveArtist: Anita, though her emotionality is particularly emphasized in contrast to Simon's stoicism.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Invoked by Anita in response to Simon during their first meeting.
-->'''Anita:''' "Aww, aren't you sweet."
-->'''Simon:''' "Not generally, though the appropriate stimulus can make me so."
-->'''Anita:''' ''([[{{Beat}} beat]])'' "I'm pleased to have catalyzed your infrequent flirtatiousness."
* ShoutOut:
**Salem tells Anita, "The dead travel fast," a quote from ''{{Literature/Lenore}}'' which was itself quoted in ''{{Literature/Dracula}}''.
**Salem quotes the classic boast from [[Creator/PercyByssheShelley Shelley's]] "Ozymandias" to mock Shafax.
* ShrinkingViolet: Heidi, in spades.
* ShutUpHannibal: When [[spoiler:Shafax is threatening Salem in the Stokely house, Anita shoves a crucifix in his face, forcing him to break off as he cringes]].
* SickeningCrunch: What accompanies [[spoiler:Salem caving in Matt's skull with a dumbbell]].
* SilverHasMysticPowers:
**[[spoiler:Anita's silver cross burns Simon.]]
**Salem mentions silver bullets as a means of killing vampires, though no one has any on hand.
* SinisterSuffocation: Simon nearly strangles someone who assaulted Anita and him, but Anita persuades him to stop.
* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: Shafax is about as far to the Unfriendly side as possible, preying not only on humans, but other vampires. Simon and Salem are still quite Unfriendly, but they have a (thin) code of honor which makes them ALighterShadeOfBlack.
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In the graveyard, [[spoiler:Simon, Anita, and Salem fight wild animals, then zombies, then Christine, and finally Shafax]].
* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:Salem spits on Shafax's robes during their fight.]]
* StakingTheLovedOne: In a more metaphorical sense. [[spoiler:Anita does not directly kill Christine, but she kicks Salem's katana out of Christine's reach to allow Simon to get the upper hand in their fight.]]
* TheStinger: Two of them, each of which gets an epilogue.
**[[spoiler:Anita's uncle returns to Madrid, where it turns out he is part of a VampireHunter organization tracking Shafax.]]
**[[spoiler:Heidi and Miguel are revealed to be undead.]]
* StormingTheCastle: [[spoiler:Salem, Simon, and Anita attack St. Brigid's, which Shafax has commandeered for his own use.]]
* AStormIsComing: Anita notes a thunderstorm over Lake Michigan the same night Shafax arrives in Chicago.
* StrongerWithAge: Demonstrated to brutal effect when [[spoiler:Simon fights Salem]].
* SupermodelStrut: Anita thinks Christine does it without even meaning to.
* SuperReflexes: Though his SuperSpeed is spotty, Simon manifests this more reliably.
* SuperSenses: Particularly sight, hearing, and smell, for vampires.
* SuperSpeed: Simon, a relatively young vampire, can use it in short bursts; Salem and Shafax almost seem to teleport with speed.
* SuperStrength: Simon effortlessly takes out most non-vampire attackers. Notably, this is one of the few vampiric powers which persists into daytime.
* SuperToughness: At night, little can harm a vampire in melee combat besides another vampire. During the day, however, they are much more susceptible to injury.
* SwarmOfRats: Shafax conjures one.
* SwitchingPOV: The only major character not to get a POV section is Shafax.
* TacticalWithdrawal: Salem [[spoiler:flees St. Brigid's after narrowly surviving Shafax's surprise attack]].
* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Simon gets in the way of a {{Curse}} Shafax intended for Anita; since he is already undead, it has no lasting effect.]]
* TheTeamNormal: Anita, teamed with Simon and Salem.
* TigerByTheTail: To [[spoiler:stop Salem from killing Anita]], Simon [[spoiler:holds his kukri knife to Salem's throat]]. [[spoiler:Salem lets her go, but Simon is left with the choice to kill him in cold blood anyway or let him go and risk almost certain death]]. Anita lampshades the trope by name.
* TrainingFromHell: Simon implies learning from Salem was like this.
* TripleShifter: Downplayed with Simon, who can only emerge from vampiric sleep at noon or sunset (and can't sleep at night); socializing with Anita during the day means he gets, at most, half a day's rest.
* {{Troll}}: Salem takes obvious pleasure in aggravating most of the people he meets, from random humans who cross his path all the way up to the King of All Vampires.
* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: Simon recounts [[spoiler:the demise of his friendship with Salem]] to Anita. Earlier in the novel, his mind briefly drifts to [[spoiler:the fire in the gym]].
* TheUndead: The vampires, obviously. [[spoiler:During the assault on St. Brigid's, Shafax reanimates dead corpses into zombies, too.]]
**There is evidently something of a hierarchy, with [[spoiler:zombies]] on the bottom ("the least of the undead") and vampires somewhere higher on the list.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: [[spoiler:Shafax and Christine]] are both slain, though [[spoiler:Simon and Salem]] "survive".
* UndeathlyPallor: Even well-fed, Simon and Salem both look pale.
* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Shafax can not match Salem's hand-to-hand expertise, but is so titanically powerful that he only needs to land a few blows.]]
* VampireBitesSuck: Usually averted, but Shafax's victims in Syria are gruesomely mutilated around the throat, and [[spoiler:Christine takes after her sire when feeding on her parents]].
* VampireDance: Simon is able to keep up with Anita and Christine.
* VampireHickey:
**[[DefiedTrope Defied]] in the first chapter; Simon splits the skin between the bite marks he left on a victim to give the appearance of a knife wound rather than bites.
**[[spoiler:Christine has bite marks on her skin after her night with Shafax.]]
* VampireMonarch: Downplayed. Shafax is King of All Vampires, but Salem and Simon note that the role is intended to arbitrate disputes among vampires, not to actually reign.
* VampireProcreationLimit: Vampiric transformation requires consuming a vampire's blood, not simply being bitten.
* VampiresAreSexGods:
**Downplayed, but, despite his general lack of expressed emotion, Simon nonetheless has a magnetic effect on the women around him, including Anita and Christine (who find him appealing) and Nancy Rothard and Marion (who have a favorable impression of him). Averted with Heidi, who is obviously unsettled by Simon.
**Christine later notes that [[spoiler:Shafax has a much more intense version of the same quality than Simon]]. She [[spoiler:has no complaints about the night they spent together, though whether they actually had sex is unclear]].
* VampiresHateGarlic: Simon has a close call with garlic mashed potatoes.
* VampiresSleepInCoffins: Salem is "borrowing" the stone sarcophagus of a dead Irish immigrant at the beginning of the story, though he has filled it with his own native soil.
* VampireVannabe: Hans Richtein, though it is not clear how much is his actual desire and how much Shafax imposed on his mind.
* VampiricDraining: The vampires usually drain their victims dry.
* VillainBall: Lampshaded by Anita and Discussed by Salem. [[spoiler:Shafax, after driving Salem out of St. Brigid's, moves in there rather than literally anywhere else in a metropolitan area of thousands of square miles. Salem speculates that Shafax's blood gluttony, while not driving him insane in the usual sense of hallucinations and muddled memories, has amplified his arrogance and sense of invulnerability.]]
* VillainousRescue: Sort of. [[spoiler:Anita and Salem]] are on the same side by the time he [[spoiler:slaughters the SwarmOfRats attacking her under Shafax's direction]].
* VillainProtagonist: Simon, a more-or-less classical vampire.
* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:Salem claims to spare Anita's life out of respect for her courage.]]
* VirusVictimSymptoms: [[spoiler:After consuming Shafax's blood, Christine struggles to keep up her complexion.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Simon's is limited to [[{{Animorphism}} turning into a wolf or bat]]. Shafax takes it [[ExaggeratedTrope UpToEleven]] by turning into [[OneToMillionToOne a swarm of locusts]].
* VoluntaryVampireVictim: [[spoiler:Anita allows Simon to feed on her so he will "survive" after the climactic fight.]]
* WallCrawl: Simon sticks to walls, even without handholds.
* WardrobeWound: Salem is increasingly annoyed as his tee shirts keep getting torn, slashed, or punctured.
* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere: Simon stopped taking night classes at UIC because he found them too distracting.
* WeakenedByTheLight: Contrary to most modern depictions of vampires (but true to ''{{Literature/Dracula}}''), vampires do not burst into flames in sunlight; they are merely weakened, losing most of their powers until sunset. In an homage to ''{{Film/Nosferatu}}'', though, ''dawn's'' light will kill a vampire.
* WeatherManipulation:
**A storm follows Shafax into Chicago.
**[[spoiler:During the graveyard confrontation, Christine conjures up thunder by force of will.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends:
**Christine kissing Simon drives a wedge between her and Anita; both feel uncomfortable with the separation, but before they can patch things up, [[spoiler:Shafax turns Christine into a vampire and the rift becomes permanent]].
**Both Simon and Salem express skepticism about the term "friend", but they worked together for years before their falling-out.
* WolverineClaws: Shafax in particular fights with his claws, which have mutated into talons.
* WouldHitAGirl:
**Tom Corley, Sr., beats his wife (including with a bat).
**[[spoiler:Simon fights Christine twice, and holds nothing back either time.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: Tom Corley, Sr., is hardly gentler with his son than his wife.
* WouldntHurtAChild: One of Simon's and Salem's few moral compunctions is refusal to prey on children.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:When Christine is killed and Shafax knows direct battle is inevitable, he feeds on Hans to bolster [[CastFromHitPoints his depleted powers]] (though this is something of a case of "you are ''more'' useful as food"). He implies he had the same fate in mind for Christine eventually.]]
[[/folder]]
