Line #15 Literature/Creed1990


1	[[quoteright:334:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2019_12_03_at_204128.png]]
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3	A 1990 novel by Creator/JamesHerbert.
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5	At the funeral of actress Lily Neverless, paparazzo Joe Creed awaits photo opportunities. On dispersal of the mourners, he sees an elderly man masturbate over the gravesite, which, to Creed’s bewildered disquiet, momentarily writhes, as if disturbed from beneath. He photographs the man, who turns to meet his gaze with a look of frightening penetration.
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7	That night, a press launch draws his eye to Cally [=McNally=], who asks if Creed might garner some publicity for her boss. Woken in the early hours, Creed braves the stairs to his darkroom, where, petrified and perplexed by the intruder’s [[LooksLikeOrlok resemblance]] to [[Film/{{Nosferatu}} the first onscreen Dracula]], a fall downstairs knocks him unconscious.
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9	Investigation reveals the grave defiler to closely resemble Nicholas Mallik, a murderous occultist hanged just before UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. Following a terrifyingly surreal encounter with his toilet, Creed finds a note demanding delivery of the incriminating photos. Cally entreats his compliance. Attempt to extort an exorbitant fee sees Creed chased home by the [[LooksLikeOrlok Orlok lookalike]] to find Sammy, his visiting ten-year-old son, suddenly absent...
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11	Not to be confused with the 2015 [[Film/Creed2015 film]].
12	----
13	!!This novel provides examples of:
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15	* ActionDad: Creed, with his son threatened, is quite willing to walk into danger, [[CowardlyLion even if scared rigid]].
16	* AmicableExes: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Creed and ex-wife Evelyn, whose vexation with Creed’s antisocial occupation extends to rather extravagant outbursts.
17	* BigBad: Mallik, head of demonic cult the Fallen Angels, instigates the overall threat.
18	* BigEater: In a nice aversion of StrawCharacter, Sammy’s appetite is implied to be innate, rather than fanned by parental indulgence.
19	* BlobMonster: Laura, of the Fallen Angels, briefly morphs into a [[BodyHorror very]] [[NightmareFuel memorable]] such beastie.
20	* CameBackWrong: The reanimated corpse of [[spoiler: Lily Neverless]] retains effects of putrefaction, which rather impedes her movements.
21	* CameraSniper: [[LemonyNarrator Our hero]] is very good at his job. With considerable audacity, he infiltrates high-profile crowds; the cottage retreat of a burly IRA supporter, and the Mountjoy Retreat, mental asylum base of the Fallen Angels.
22	* CatsAreMean: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; Grin, Creed’s live-in stray, is aloof and impudent rather than mean.
23	* TheCavalry: [[spoiler: Creed’s paparazzi colleagues descend upon the Mountjoy Retreat.]]
24	* CelebrityResemblance: Creed, to a young Mickey Rouerke.
25	* EldritchLocation: Creed opens a door to find Mallik standing in a black void.
26	* EvilSoundsRaspy: Mallik’s voice is wearily hoarse.
27	* GenreBlind: An already nervous Creed thinks he can [[BullyingADragon extort from Mallik]] an exorbitant fee in return for incriminating photos.
28	* GoodGirlGoneBad: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with [[spoiler: Cally,]] who [[spoiler: grew weary of evilness]].
29	* HandsomeLech: Creed’s forward advances are sometimes reciprocated.
30	* IntrepidReporter: Prunella, a colleague who takes a shine to Creed, uncovers the location of villainous headquarters the Mountjoy Retreat.
31	* JekyllAndHyde: [[spoiler: Laura]], another side of [[spoiler: Cally’s]] persona, born of [[spoiler: base lust for Creed]].
32	* {{Jerkass}}: Gossip columnist Anthony Blythe, a snide, bullying misanthrope.
33	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While his cynicism extends to photographing an elderly inmate of the squalid recesses of the Mountjoy Retreat, Creed doesn’t mean any real harm, and cares for his son.
34	* LemonyNarrator: Herbert has some fun with this.
35	* NightmareFace: On [[spoiler: arrival of the paparazzi]], Mallik’s face is “literally blackened with rage”.
36	* NeverMyFault: Evelyn, primary custodian of Sammy, blames his recent tendency to thievery on Creed.
37	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
38	** Jovially averted, with cameos from George Melly, Creator/AnjelicaHuston and Creator/JackNicholson.
39	** Creator/AleisterCrowley is depicted as having undergone occultic experimentation with the fictional BigBad.
40	* {{Paparazzi}}: Creed is a cynical, often ruthless such specimen.
41	* ThePrimaDonna: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]], with Lily mentioned to have been a “queen bitch of the theatre.”
42	* ProfessionalKiller: An elderly Henry Pink, imprisoned in squalor at the Mountjoy Retreat, recounts his 1939 hanging of Mallik.
43	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: By occultic means, [[spoiler: Mallik]] survived being hanged, and lived the next fifty-odd years with no further bodily ageing.
44	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
45	** Creed forgets any thoughts of extortion when Mallik sets [[LooksLikeOrlok Bliss]] on him.
46	** Mallik, on [[spoiler: discovery by the paparazzi]] of [[spoiler: Lily’s]] botched resurrection, [[spoiler: retreats to his basement throne room to incinerate himself and his collection of exotic artefacts]].
47	* SexMagic:
48	** Mallik’s seed initiates [[spoiler: Lily’s eventual resurrection]].
49	** From Creed’s ejaculate, Laura conjures “weanlings” , tiny spectral spores, apparently to aid her brief bout of shape shifting.
50	* SpookyPhotographs: In several shots of Mallik, his gaze meets the camera with eerily blackened eyes.
51	* ToiletSeatDivorce: Lily Neverless had a tendency to this, having divorced a disabled, speech-impaired husband for alleged insensitivity.
52	* ToiletHorror: Creed’s toilet briefly grows teeth, which, with jaws of elongated porcelain, lunge forth.
53	* WouldHurtAChild: Just before UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, Nicholas Mallick ritually murdered several children.
54	* WrongGenreSavvy: Creed jumps into a pond to evade [[LooksLikeOrlok Bliss]], who, rather than actual vampirism, retains a form derived from traditional demonic conception.

Context Literature / Creed1990