History Literature / TheNightLand

%%* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Naani]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:The Giant Slug]]

* {{Utopia}}: About the only positive thing mankind has going for them in this bleak setting. The Redoubt seems to be utterly free of war, unrest, famine, or disaster and has been that way for millions of years. The history books are instead long chronicles of the minor changes the Monstruwacans see in the Night Land (Whose abominations play one hell of a long game) Mankind's impossibly dire situation was apparently what it took to finally and permanently unite them as one.

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: All the monsters and forces of evil in the Night Land want to destroy all of humanity and feast on their flesh and souls. When the monsters have no humans to murder and mutilate, they do so to each other on a constant basis.

* KillAllHumans: Or worse.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Well, grey armour, anyway.

* MadeOfIron
** The Great Redoubt and the Underground Fields are covered with a nearly-indestructible grey metal which could withstand dozens of millions of years untarnished.
** Some of the monsters could fight entire battalions of men before being destroyed by energy weaponry.

* AlwaysNight: The sun died a long time ago.
** Note that this story was written before it was understood that the Sun's power source is nuclear fusion, which should keep it burning for a few ''billion'' more years (not to mention it will expand at the end of its life, either engulfing the Earth outright, or if it doesn't get that far, burning it to a cinder). Also, the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s don't like light and may very well have had the power to mess with this process.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: In the climactic scene, the main characters are nearly to safety but the hideous creatures of the Night Land are almost upon them. Millions of people are about to watch them die a few hundred yards from the shelter of the [[DeflectorShields Air-Clog]]. Cue the Master Monstruwacan authorizing the activation of the [[CitadelCity Last Redoubt]]'s main energy weapon emplacements, which have not been used for tens of thousands, maybe millions of years. [[spoiler:They still work; though the power drain nearly shuts the entire pyramid down and the backblast almost kills the main characters, the pursuing hordes are obliterated.]]
** This almost counts as a [[SuperweaponSurprise Superweapon Surprise]], but the main character knows perfectly well that the energy guns exist, he just doesn't think that the people in charge will use them, as the risk to the entire citadel is too great.

* FantasyGunControl: Despite being set thousands of years in the future, humans don't use firearms, only the Diskos—a circular, spinning sawblade on a stick. The basic explanation is that knowledge of the workings of still-extant ranged weapons was [[BlackBox lost ages ago]]; besides, the humans' philosophy is that if a monster is too far to be struck with a melee weapon, then it's better to avoid it rather than provoke it into attacking. (The narrator also suggests that, perhaps, the laws of chemistry don't work the same way in the future. The Last Redoubt ''used'' to have fearsome energy weapons, but they were AwesomeButImpractical (their use diminishes the power available for the Last Redoubt's exterior defensive field, the [[DeflectorShield Air-Clog]]) and were ultimately abandoned. Well, mothballed.)

* {{God}}: No joke. You would think that the idea of the Judeo-Christian God would be incompatible with a post-sun death universe where reincarnation, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and PsychicPowers are a fact of life, but the narrator tells us that men of our age should be "thankful unto God" that we live in the Days of Light and not the Night Land. The Forces Of Good that defend the Redoubt from their enemies are vaguely defined and could be interpreted as God or angels providing protection.

* HalfHumanHybrid: The Giants are an extremely unpleasant type, between unspecified monsters and 'bestial humans'.

* JumpedAtTheCall: When news of the plight of the Lesser Redoubt becomes known, a large group of young men break the rules and sally forth to try to go to their aid. This is the absolute worst ''possible'' idea because large groups of humans cannot travel in stealth through the Night Land. And there are two ways to travel through the Night Land: in stealth, or metaphorically ringing a large dinner bell.

* NothingIsScarier: The fact that the Hero doesn't know exactly what happens to the red shirts after they [[spoiler:enter the House of Silence]] freaks him out all the more. It gets to the point that the noises of the other abominations become a comforting distraction.
** Despite the verbosity, many of the Evils of the Night Land get only a vague description, sometimes only a noise, leaving much to the imagination.
*** Part of this is because many of the creatures are psychic and know when someone is thinking about them, which can give them a way to influence that person's mind. Descriptions of the creatures are therefore purposefully limited to "roughly where it is" and/or "some prominent but not unique feature of it."

* SchizoTech: Despite super-strong metals, electric DeflectorShields, EnergyWeapons, and the like, men still fight monsters in armor and carrying a melee weapon rather than a gun. Aircraft used to exist, but the air has become too thin for them.
** While it's true that this looks like SchizoTech to the modern reader, almost every single one of these is explained in-story. In particular, the main power source for everything is the Earth-Current, which is most efficiently used in melee weapons (and also, see above on FantasyGunControl.)

* TrustPassword: The Master-Word. Only humans can say it, either aloud or in their minds. Nothing which cannot speak the Master-Word can pass the Air-Clog, though it is not necessary to say or think it to do so. Any entity which tries to communicate with a human, psychically or otherwise, claiming to be one itself can easily be identified as a Night creature if it will not say or think it.
** It is not clear whether the Master-Word was something coded into humans genetically at some point, or if its properties are one of the few things the Good Powers have managed to keep the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from screwing with. It appears to be related to the "brain-elements", but they have the same ambiguity.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: In the climactic scene of ''The Night Land,'' the main characters are nearly to safety but the hideous creatures of the Night Land are almost upon them. Millions of people are about to watch them die a few hundred yards from the shelter of the [[DeflectorShields Air-Clog]]. Cue the Master Monstruwacan authorizing the activation of the [[CitadelCity Last Redoubt]]'s main energy weapon emplacements, which have not been used for tens of thousands, maybe millions of years. [[spoiler:They still work; though the power drain nearly shuts the entire pyramid down and the backblast almost kills the main characters, the pursuing hordes are obliterated.]]

* {{Determinator}}: Despite all the horrors he experiences in his journey, the protagonist never wavers from his journey.

Creator/WilliamHopeHodgson's ''The Night Land'' was first published in 1912. On the most basic level, it's a heroic fantasy in which the KnightInShiningArmor [[DeathWorld braves terrible monsters and overcomes formidable challenges]] to rescue the DistressedDamsel. In practice, its main appeal is not the somewhat tedious hero's quest, but the vividly-described and extraordinarily imaginative creatures and horrors of the Land itself, prompting Creator/HPLovecraft to describe it as "one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written" even in the face of its ludicrous [[AntiquatedLinguistics pseudo-17th-century writing style]]. A rewrite of sorts, titled ''The Night Land: A Story Retold'' follows the exact same plot but does away with the PurpleProse in favor of a rather faithful recreation of the writing style many 1950s scifi authors had, making the book a far more enjoyable experience without altering the plot.

%%* DistressedDamsel: Naani.

** Doorways In The Night: A type of sentient portal that appear to be related to The House Of Silence. They hide themselves and suck in any unsuspecting explorer who gets too close. What waits on the other end is apparently AFateWorseThanDeath.

->{{Creator/H P Lovecraft}}: ''The pseudo-archaic English is an acute agony -- a cursed hybrid jargon belonging to no age at all! That's Hodgson's weakness -- you'll note a sort of burlesque Elizabethan speech supposed to be of the 18th century in "Glen Carrig". Why the hell can't people pick the right archaic speech if they're going to be archaic?''

* CosmicHorrorStory: Before Creator/HPLovecraft invented it. Mankind cannot hope to defeat the horrors. They can do nothing but wait out the Aeons for their last defenses to fail, all alone in a darkened wasteland haunted by things beyond comprehension, and that can never be reasoned with.

** Note that this story was written before it was understood that the Sun's power source is nuclear fusion, which should keep it burning for a few ''billion'' more years. Also, the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s don't like light and may very well have had the power to mess with this process.

->{{Creator/H P Lovecraft}}: ''The pseudo-archaic English is an acute agony—a cursed hybrid jargon belonging to no age at all! That’s Hodgson’s weakness—you’ll not a sort of burlesque Elizabethan speech supposed to be of the 18th century in “Glen Carrig”. Why the hell can’t people pick the right archaic speech if they’re going to be archaic?''

* EldritchAbomination: Tons of them; the Night Land is crawling with them. They have a distinctly "ghostly" feel about them, in contrast to CosmicHorror type abominations [[BigNameFan Lovecraft]] would later create.

%%* {{Determinator}}: The protagonist.

%%* HeroicFantasy

* WaveMotionGun: The blast of Earth-Current at the end of the novel used to take out the [[BigBadWolf Night Hounds]] is one of these, with an emphasis on the 'slow recharge' - it uses up almost all of the energy of the Redoubt (a habitat holding ''millions'') to the point where elevators, pumps, etc. shut down. These attacks are used VERY rarely, both because of the power drain and because there are just too many monsters, and some are way too powerful.

** Averted when the airships stored in the Last Redoubt, which are perfectly preserved and almost certainly still operational, cannot be used to go to the aid of the Lesser Redoubt because the air is no longer thick enough to carry them safely. [[spoiler:Also, as the hero learns during his journey to the Lesser Redoubt, there are plenty of flying Night creatures and it's very unlikely any airship could get past them.]]

** Of all the non-material evil forces, the Doors of Silence and the House of Silence are the most terrifying things in the night land, considered far worse than all the flesh and blood monsters because they have the power to trap and devour the human soul in eternal torment.

* FantasyGunControl: Despite being set thousands of years in the future, humans don't use firearms, only the Diskos—a circular, spinning sawblade on a stick. The basic explanation is that knowledge of the workings of still-extant ranged weapons was [[BlackBox lost ages ago]]; besides, the humans' philosophy is that if a monster is too far to be struck with a melee weapon, then it's better to avoid it rather than provoke it into attacking. The narrator also suggests that, perhaps, the laws of chemistry don't work the same way in the future. The Last Redoubt ''used'' to have fearsome energy weapons, but they were AwesomeButImpractical (their use diminishes the power available for the Last Redoubt's exterior defensive field, the [[DeflectorShield Air-Clog]]) and were ultimately abandoned. (Well, mothballed.)

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: In the climactic scene of ''The Night Land,'' the main characters are nearly to safety but the hideous creatures of the Night Land are almost upon them. Millions of people are about to watch them die a few hundred yards from the shelter of the [[DeflectorShields Air-Clog]]. Cue the Master Monstruwacan authorizing the activation of the [[CitadelCity Last Redoubt]]'s main energy weapon emplacements, which have not been used for tens of thousands, maybe millions of years. [[spoiler:They still work. Though the power drain nearly shuts the entire pyramid down and the backblast almost kills the main characters, the pursuing hordes are obliterated.]]
** This almost counts as a [[SuperweaponSurprise Superweapon Surprise]], but the main character knows perfectly well that the energy guns exist, he just doesn't think that the people in charge will use them as the risk to the entire citadel is too great.

** The Watchers: NighInvulnerable mountain sized beings who have unfathomable psychic powers. Their movements are so slow that they are barely perceptible, but they can control the lesser (much faster) horrors of the Night Land. They do not seem to require sleep, food, water, or really any of the standard needs of biotic life. Other than their shared traits of size, age, and speed, each one is totally unique.

** While the creatures of the Night Land can and do prey on each other, they will ALL come a-running at the prospect of human flesh and human soul for dinner. Any use of a weapon which makes a lot of noise is tantamount to suicide. Also, you will run out of bullets before they run out of monsters.

* TheAce: The protagonists future self (named Andros in ''Retold'') is bodybuilder strong, extremely smart, brave, a gifted Monstruwaccan, a master Diskos fencer, and has a kind heart. Justified in that anything less than TheAce would have been chewed up and spat out by the Night Land. Even with his all skill and strength, he has to fight with everything he has to survive.

[[TimeAbyss The Sun has died.]] The remaining millions of the human race have moved downward into deep ravines, where volcanism still provides enough heat to keep the air in a breathable form. They live within a colossal pyramidal Redoubt, lit, heated, and defended by the mysterious [[LifeEnergy Earth Current]], and besieged by the incomprehensible creatures of darkness who have overtaken the rest of the Earth. They await the inevitable day when the Current fails and the monsters gathering outside swarm their defences.

The complete work is available [[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10662 here]] at Project Gutenberg, or [[http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hodgson/1.html here]]. It also got some other works set in the same universe, like Literature/AwakeInTheNightLand.

->'''{{Creator/H P Lovecraft}}''': ''The pseudo-archaic English is an acute agony—a cursed hybrid jargon belonging to no age at all! That’s Hodgson’s weakness—you’ll not a sort of burlesque Elizabethan speech supposed to be of the 18th century in “Glen Carrig”. Why the hell can’t people pick the right archaic speech if they’re going to be archaic?''

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Comically butchered 17th-century English.

%%* DeathByChildbirth: Naani's first incarnation, Mirdath.

* {{God}}: No joke. You would think that a post-sun death universe where reincarnation, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and PsychicPowers are a fact of life would be pretty alien to the notion of Yahweh, but the narrator tells us that men of our age should be "thankful unto God" that we live in the Days of Light and not the Night Land. The Forces Of Good that defend the Redoubt from their enemies are vaguely defined and could be interpreted as God or angels providing protection.

* DeathWorld: Everything living that exists outside of the redoubt ranges from merely life-threateningly violent, to downright malevolent and evil to the core. Even though humanity numbers in the millions and could probably raise an army large enough to destroy the flesh and blood monsters inhabiting the night land, they would lose most of their numbers doing it - and would also fall prey to indestructible evil forces of will that would sap their resolve to fight and draw their souls towards certain oblivion.

** While the creatures of the Night Land can and do prey on each other, they will ALL come a-running at the prospect of human flesh and human soul for dinner. Any use of a weapon which makes a lot of noise is tantamount to suicide.
** Also, you will run out of bullets before they run out of monsters.

* AfterTheEnd: ''Several'' ends: the cataclysmic explosion that blew a 100-mile-deep valley into the Earth; the experiments that let the soul-eating {{Eldritch Abomination}}s get to Earth; the death of the Sun.

-->"This to be Love, that your spirit to live in a natural holiness with the Beloved, and your bodies to be a sweet and natural delight that shall be never lost of a lovely mystery… And shame to be unborn, and all things to go wholesome and proper, out of an utter greatness of understanding; and the Man to be an Hero and a Child before the Woman; and the Woman to be an Holy Light of the Spirit and an Utter Companion and in the same time a glad Possession unto the Man... And this doth be Human Love...."