History Literature / TheElementals

* MagicalNegro: Odessa is focused on helping the white characters, and has some natural mystical psychic powers that allow her to dispense some important exposition, and [[spoiler: passes on her power to India via having India eat her eyes after the Elementals murder her, which is what finally allows India to destroy the third house and help the survivors get out]]. Actually invoked; at one point she snaps that she doesn't understand why the Savages and McCrays think she understands ''everything'' that's going on, and she admits most of her rituals for keeping the Elementals at bay were ineffective all along.

* AssholeVictim: Lawton McCray is emotionally abusive, cheats on Big Barbara, and [[spoiler: plans to burn down the Beldame houses so he can sell the land for oil.]] Therefore it's not really that sad when [[spoiler: he unwisely goes into the third house and gets murdered.]]

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael [=McDowell=], most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Beetlejuice'' and two of the three segments of ''Film/TalesFromTheDarkside''.

* EldritchAbomination: The Elementals are not ghosts, or elemental spirits, or demons. They're malicious and they like to toy with people for fun, but that's just about all it's possible for humans to really understand about them.

* MagicalNegro: Odessa is focused on helping the white characters, and has some natural mystical psychic powers that allow her to dispense some important exposition, and [[spoiler: passes on her power to India via having India eat her eyes after the Elementals murder her, which is what finally allows India to destroy the third house and help the survivors get out]]. Actually invoked; at one point she snaps that she doesn't understand why the Savages and McCrays think she understands ''everything'' that's going on.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Luker. He and India are keeping some kind of secret from his family, and it's implied he has feelings for Dauphin that go beyond just a lifelong friendship.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:All of the family except Dauphin, Lawton, and Odessa make it out of Beldame alive and the houses will be destroyed to make way for oil excavation, but India knows that, even with Beldame gone, whatever curse is afflicting the Savage family will continue with Leigh's twin children.]]

* MagicalNegro: Averted, unfortunately for everybody. While Odessa knows a lot more about what's going on than she admits and has odd magic rituals that are supposed to keep the Elementals from doing any real harm, she herself says they were ineffective all this time. [[spoiler:In the end, the Elementals kill her too. However, what insight she does have she passes on to India...by having India ''eat her eyes from her corpse.'']]

The matriarch of the wealthy Savage family, Mariam Savage, has died. Her son Dauphin and his wife Leigh, along with the family's lifelong African-American servant Odessa and Leigh's mother "Big" Barbara [=McCray=], brother Luker, and niece India, decide to spend some weeks after the funeral at Beldame, a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast owned jointly for generations by the Savage and [=McCray=] families that consists of three Victorian houses on an isolated beach that becomes an island at high tide.

Of the identical houses, one is owned by the [=McCrays=], one by the Savages, and the third...well, that's something of a mystery. The third house has been seemingly unoccupied for as long as anyone remembers. Not only that, but it's slowly being swallowed up by a massive sand dune. ''Something'' does live there, though. And that something has long been involved in the tragic history of the Savage family, and it's not done with them yet...

* MagicalNegro: Tragically averted. While Odessa knows a lot more about what's going on than she admits and has odd magic rituals that are supposed to keep the Elementals from doing any real harm, she admits they all ultimately prove ineffective. [[spoiler:In the end, the Elementals kill her too. However, what insight she does have she passes on to India...by having India ''eat her eyes from her corpse.'']]

* Shapeshifting: What the Elementals do and are. In particular, they like to take the forms of the dead or of extremely odd looking people. They can still be spotted because they have black eyes with white pupils and, when they try to talk, sand pours out of their mouths. It's not even clear how many of them there are or even if it's really a ''them'' or an ''it''.

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael [=McDowell's=] prose work, this certainly qualifies. Besides taking place in Alabama and involving the supernatural and family secrets, there is the element of decay. Although Beldame is still kept up (with the exception of the third house), it's clear that along with the third house being overtaken by a dune the very island the houses rest on is slowly giving way to erosion.

Of the identical houses, one is owned by the [=McCrays=], one by the Savages, and the third...well, that's something of a mystery. The third house has been seemingly unoccupied for as long as anyone remembers. Not only that, but it's slowly being swallowed up by a massive sand dune. ''Something'' does live there, though. That something has long been involved in the tragic history of the Savage family, and it's not done with them yet...

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael [=McDowell's=] prose work, this certainly qualifies. Besides taking place in Alabama and involving the supernatural and family secrets, there is the element of decay. Although Beldame is still kept up (with the exception of the third house), it's clear that the island the houses rest on is slowly giving way to erosion.

The matriarch of the wealthy Savage family, Mariam Savage, has died. Her son Dauphin and his wife Leigh, along with the family's lifelong African-American servant Odessa and Leigh's mother "Big" Barbara McCray, brother Luker, and daughter India, decide to spend some weeks after the funeral at Beldame, a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast owned jointly for generations by the Savage and [=McCray=] families that consists of three Victorian houses on an isolated beach that becomes an island at high tide.

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael [=McDowell's=] prose work, this certainly qualifies. Besides taking place in Alabama, although Beldame is still kept up (with the exception of the third house), it's clear that the island the houses rest on is slowly giving way to erosion.

* ChaoticEvil: The titular Elementals. [[spoiler:However, it is implied that their actions and behavior are somehow linked to the Savage family and its history.]]

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael {{McDowell}}, most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Beetlejuice'' and two of the three segments of ''Film/TalesFromTheDarkside''.

The matriarch of the wealthy Savage family, Mariam Savage, has died. Her son Dauphin and his wife Leigh, along with the family's lifelong African-American servant Odessa and Leigh's mother "Big" Barbara McCray, brother Luker, and daughter India, decide to spend some weeks after the funeral at Beldame, a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast owned jointly for generations by the Savage and {{McCray}} families that consists of three Victorian houses on an isolated beach that becomes an island at high tide.

Of the identical houses, one is owned by the {{McCrays}}, one by the Savages, and the third...well, that's something of a mystery. The third house has been seemingly unoccupied for as long as anyone remembers. Not only that, but it's slowly being swallowed up by a massive sand dune. ''Something'' does live there, though. That something has long been involved in the tragic history of the Savage family, and it's not done with them yet...

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael [[McDowell's]] prose work, this certainly qualifies. Although Beldame is still kept up (with the exception of the third house), it's clear that the island the houses rest on is slowly giving way to erosion.

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael {{McDowell}}, most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Film/Beetlejuice'' and two of the three segments of ''Film/TalesFromTheDarkside''.

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael {{McDowell's}} prose work, this certainly qualifies. Although Beldame is still kept up (with the exception of the third house), it's clear that the island the houses rest on is slowly giving way to erosion.

* SouthernGothic: Like most of Michael {{McDowell's}} prose work, this certainly qualifies.

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael {{McDowell}}, most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Film/Beetlejuice'' and two of the three segments of ''Film/TalesfromtheDarkside''.

The matriarch of the wealthy Savage family, Mariam Savage, has died. Her son Dauphin and his wife Leigh, along with the family's lifelong African-American servant Odessa and Leigh's mother "Big" Barbara McCray, brother Luker, and daughter India, decide to spend some weeks after the funeral at Beldame, a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast owned jointly for generations by the Savage and McCray families that consists of three Victorian houses on an isolated beach that becomes an island at high tide.

!! ''The Damnation Game'' contains examples of the following tropes:

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael {{McDowell}}, most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Film/Beetlejuice''.

The matriarch of the wealthy Savage family, Mariam Savage, has died. Her son Dauphin and his wife Leigh, along with the family's lifelong African-American servant Odessa and Leigh's mother "Big" Barbara McCray, brother Luker, and daughter India, decide to spend some weeks after the funeral at Beldame, a vacation spot on the Gulf Coast owned jointly for generations by the Savage and McCray families that consists of three Victorian houses on a beach that becomes separated from the mainland at high tide.

Of the identical houses, one is owned by the McCrays, one by the Savages, and the third...well, that's something of a mystery. The third house has been unoccupied for as long as anyone remembers. Not only that, but it's slowly being swallowed up by a massive sand dune. ''Something'' does live there, though,

''The Elementals'' is a 1981 Southern Gothic horror novel by Michael McDowell, most known today for writing the screenplay for ''Film/Beetlejuice''.