Line #17 Literature/DemonRoad


1	[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9780008140816.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:298: She's having a hell of a time]]
3
4	-> "For anyone who ever thought their parents were monsters..."
5
6	''Demon Road'' is a trilogy of books by Irish author Creator/DerekLandy, creator of ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant''. The series consists of ''Demon Road'', ''Desolation'', and ''American Monsters''.
7
8	The story revolves around Amber, an ordinary 16 year old girl from Florida who, after a shocking encounter, discovers a dark and twisted family secret. Her parents and their friends are demons, out for her blood to fulfil a violent pact with a creature known as the Shining Demon. Forced to run for her life, Amber finds herself under the protection of Milo, a quiet, sarcastic and mysterious man driving a Dodge Charger, which seems to be alive. Tagging along for the ride is Glen, the annoying road trip companion from hell, who has come to America from Ireland after being told he has forty days to live.
9
10	Forced to flee across America on the eponymous Demon Road, the trio find themselves facing demonic and otherworldly dangers as they search for a way to stop Amber's parents; Undead serial killers, Vampires, Servants of hell and, of course, the ebony-horned and red-skinned demons that are relentlessly hunting the trio.
11
12	----
13	!!''Demon Road'' contains examples of:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder: ''Demon Road'']]
18	* AbhorrentAdmirer: The hideous [[{{Treants}} Treant]] witch [[spoiler:is in love with Jacob.]]
19	* AloneWithThePsycho: Dacre Shanks tricks Amber into shrinking down to join him in his dollhouse.
20	* AlwaysABiggerFish: Varga ends up proving to be this for Amber's parents. Taking on six demons by himself, with only Bill and Betty proving to slightly inconvenience him.
21	* AmbiguousGender: Fool.
22	* AmnesiacHero: Milo [[spoiler:woke up in a motel one day with the charger parked outside and no idea who he was.]]
23	* ApologeticAttacker: Imelda apologizes before punching a hysterical Amber unconscious.
24	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Glen, who during the closing of the story is revealed to not be dead, but has instead been turned into a vampire.]]
25	* BaldOfEvil: Gregory's demon form is bald.
26	* BigRedDevil: What demons look like when transformed.
27	* BottomlessBladder: Milo doesn't seem to need the toilet while driving the charger. Glen theories it uses his waste as fuel.
28	* BlessedWithSuck: Demons gain power by eating other demons. Amber's parents and their friends have ritualistically eaten their own children for decades, but throughout the series their physical strength seems only marginally impressive next to the other monsters encountered, making it seem like they've wasted a ''lot'' of time without much reward.
29	* BloodierAndGorier: To Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant.
30	* BloodMagic: When the demons eat their children, a representative of the Shining Demon shows up with six scalpels and jars so each demon can give him a jar of blood.
31	* ButtMonkey: Glen. Oh poor Glen.
32	* CarvedMark: Amber threatens to carve the word "Troll" onto the forehead of a street thug who calls her that but ends up not going through with it after scratching him once.
33	* CasanovaWannabe: Glen fancies himself a ladies' man even though most of them can't stand him.
34	* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Abigail]] shows up again in American Monsters.
35	* ChildEater: The demons have to eat their children as part of the sacrifice.
36	* ClassicalMovieVampire: The vampires of ''Demon Road'' have a lot of the standard traits, including weaknesses to sunlight and being staked.
37	* CoolCar: The Charger. Which is arguably even cooler than the Bentley from Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant.
38	* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: Not a sequel, but Amber is this to [[Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant Valkyrie Cain.]] Whereas Valkyrie JumpedAtTheCall and enjoyed her dangerous lifestyle, Amber is forced into it and takes no joy in the horror she encounters. While Valkyrie, eager for action, is cunning and quick on her feet, Amber is reluctant and prone to making monumentally bad decisions as a result. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Further, Valkyrie has a much better relationship with her parents.]]
39	* CouldntFindAPen: Caleb Tylk wrote "Caleb Tylk loves Rosalie Masterson" on her bedroom wall in her blood while kidnapping her and murdering her family.
40	* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: demon children start to exhibit powers shortly after their 16th birthday.
41	* DeadpanSnarker: Milo, who at the beginning the story speaks to Amber and Glen entirely in this manner.
42	* DealWithTheDevil:
43	** Near the beginning of the story, Amber performs a simple ritual in order to gain herself an audience with the Shining Demon, hoping he will change the terms of the deal he made with her parents. They come to an agreement, but unsurprisingly, the Shining Demon backstabs Amber with a surprise extra condition.
44	** Amber's parents themselves, along with their friends, made a deal with the Shining Demon that would grant them immortality. The condition was that they would, every sixteen years, sacrifice one of their children, eating them, and give a representative of the Shining Demon the parents' now enhanced blood.
45	** When Gregory Buxton's son was dying of severe cancer, he made a deal with the Shining Demon in order to save his sons life. He was tasked with harvesting three souls a year for the Shining Demon, but Gregory Buxton was able to outwit the Shining Demon and escape, vanishing without a trace using LoopholeAbuse
46	* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: The hierarchy of the Demons is left reasonably vague, but seems to consist of a Devil-analogue called the Blood-dimmed king served by Demons like the Shining Demon, who in turn have servants like Fool and his representative. It seems that lowest in the hierarchy are humans that make deals in order to become demons themselves.
47	* DemonOfHumanOrigin: The demons were humans who got the ability to transform after making a DealWithTheDevil.
48	* DevilButNoGod: Some characters have faith in God but we see no evidence that he exists. Amber briefly wonders if praying to God or confessing to a priest will solve her problems but dismisses the idea.
49	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Amber [[spoiler: backstabs The Shining Demon by giving its assistant Fool a dazed Edgar instead of Gregory Buxton, quickly taking the cure that removes the changing scar from her arm, before moving on to flat out mock and insult the Shining Demon itself, calling it out for its inability to find Gregory in over fifteen years when she did it in three weeks. Sure it didn't end well, but it was pretty awesome]]
50	* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: [[spoiler: Gregory Buxton wanted to save his son from cancer, so he went to the Shining Demon and made a pitch so good the Demon didn't notice that he was leaving loopholes in the deal. Some time later, once he was sure his son was safe, Gregory Buxton was gone and became known in urban legend as the man who escaped the Shining Demon.]]
51	* TheDreaded: Amber's Parents and Co., who prove to be well known and feared throughout the country.
52	* EldritchAbomination: The Shining Demon has shades of this.
53	* EvilIsPetty: Dacre Shanks admits he's petty and refuses to tell Amber the identity of the man who tricked the Shining Demon because it's the only fun he's had in years.
54	* EvilMeScaresMe: Amber begins to fear her demon side and the horrific things it does when let loose.
55	* EvilVersusEvil: Amber's parents Vs. Varga.
56	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Most of the deaths in the story, ranging from [[spoiler: Varga to Faith to Imelda and Alistair]] just to name a few.
57	* {{Fingore}}: Amber bites the finger off Brandon when he attacks her. She later does it to [[spoiler:Alistair.]]
58	* GiveMeBackMyWallet: Amber gets her money back off Glen when he steals it from her clothes.
59	* GreaterScopeVillain: The Shining Demon.
60	* HenshinHero: How demons work. They can't do much in their human forms but transform into a super strong and fast BigRedDevil.
61	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Teenage Heather fighting an undead serial killer sounds like it would make an interesting slasher movie.
62	* HerosClassicCar: Milo's 1970 Charger (440 six-pack, 3 2-barrel carbs and 390 horses). [[spoiler: It is actually his demonic symbiote from his days as an urban legend known as the Highway Ghost. It is not clear whether it was once simply a normal Charger.]]
63	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Imelda. Killing herself in order to give Amber a chance to escape her parents.]]
64	* HolyBurnsEvil: Vampires are terrified of crosses. Amber briefly worries about stepping into a church but nothing happens.
65	* HotAsHell: Demons are a lot more attractive in their demon forms.
66	* HumansAreInsects: Well, demons are insects. When Amber's parents and the crew go against Varga, he says they are insects to him.
67	* ICanSeeMyHouseFromHere: Glen mentions that he can see Althea's house from Amber's hotel room window [[spoiler:before a vampire pulls him out of it.]]
68	* IdiotHero: {{Downplayed}} with Amber. Being forced into her situation and put up against the horrors of the Demon Road, she understandably makes a number of terrible decisions.
69	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Edgar badly wants the Shining Demon to grant him power [[spoiler:and has been killing young women for years in hopes he'll take them as sacrifices.]]
70	* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: Lautaro Soto said this to Glen, which got him the Deathmark.
71	* InLoveWithTheMark: The Witch [[spoiler:was sent to torment Jacob but ended up falling in love with him.]] One of her captives realizes this when she says her sniper brother grew attached to his targets after a few days and found it hard to shoot them.
72	* InstantArmor: Lower case demons can grow and retract black scale armour over different parts of their bodies which is controlled subconsciously.
73	* LightIsNotGood: The Shining Demon constantly shines brilliantly, hence the name, but he enjoys suffering and is part of the hierarchy of Demons.
74	* LikesOlderWomen: Glen prefers women in their twenties and sometimes older.
75	* MouseHole: When Amber worries about Dacre Shanks escaping from his dollhouse, Glen asks her where he'd go and suggests a cartoon Mouse Hole in the skirting board.
76	* MustBeInvited: Vampires but they can hypnotise humans into inviting them or just reach into windows to pull people out.
77	* MysteriousPast: Milo's history is chock full of mystery. [[spoiler: To him as well.]]
78	* TheNeedless;
79	** Dacre Shanks doesn't need to eat or sleep.
80	** Milo doesn't need to eat while driving the charger.
81	* NestedMouths: When the Shining Demon's representative [[spoiler:transforms, he reveals a second mouth inside his original that is just a huge hole lined with curved teeth.]]
82	* NoBodyLeftBehind: Vampires when exposed to sunlight will burst into flames until there's nothing left.
83	* NonActionGuy: Glen has no fighting ability and Edgar's first reaction is to hide behind the sofa when a fight starts.
84	* OffingTheOffspring: The demons have to sacrifice one of their children every few years in order to stay immortal.
85	* OlderThanTheyLook: Ambers parents and their friends, who are eternally youthful thanks to their deal with the Shining Demon. Also Abigail, who looks like a little girl.
86	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Varga refuses to hand Amber over to her parents because he believes anyone who spills his childrens' blood is his to kill.
87	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: There are two kinds, demons seemingly made when a mortal human makes a DealWithTheDevil and gains power from it by harvesting souls and the children of these humans, and Demons, far more mysterious entities who dwell in what may or may not be Hell and hand out a DealWithTheDevil to mortals who interest them enough.
88	** Gregory is a winged, grey-skinned variant of the demon type with a ring of crown-like protrusions on his head instead of two big horns.
89	** The Shining Demon's representative can turn into a 10 foot tall shark-man.
90	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Fairly standard. They drink blood, are allergic to sunlight, can fly and fear crosses. Their leader Varga at least and can turn into smoke and a giant wolf.
91	* PainfulTransformation: Shifting into a demon hurts the first few times Amber does it.
92	* PortalDoor: Dacre Shanks has a magic key that can link any door to the interior of his dollhouses. Anyone the goes through will shrink. Shanks claims he can use the key to travel from a doorway to any other doorway but only he can control where, even if someone else is using the key.
93	* PossessionBurnout: The Witch tries to possess women by filling them with her branches but this quickly tears them apart. She thinks Amber's demon body might be able to handle it though.
94	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: To keep their powers and immortality, demons have to sacrifice their children every few decades.
95	* RagnarokProofing: The charger was able to last 12 years with no maintenance.
96	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Imelda acknowledges this trope saying that she deserves to die for all the children she's killed. [[spoiler:When Amber offers her life to save her, Imelda immediately kills herself so the demons will eat her instead of Amber.]]
97	* RunningGag: Disney World.
98	* ScottyTime: Amber tells the Shining Demon she needs six weeks to bring him the man who escaped him, [=GD=] gives her three.
99	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Amber's parents have the police well enough bribed that they can cover most things up.
100	* SealedEvilInACan: Heather has Dacre Shank trapped in one of his own dollhouses.
101	* SelfMadeOrphan: Abigail was originally a child who went insane and murdered her parents.
102	* ShowWithinAShow: Amber loves a ParanormalRomance show called ''The Dark Places'', based on a series of young adult novels of the same name.
103	* TheSleepless;
104	** Dacre Shanks doesn't sleep.
105	** Milo doesn't need to sleep while driving the charger.
106	* SlippingAMickey: Amber's parents drug her coke before they intend to sacrifice her.
107	* StatuesqueStunner;
108	** Betty and Imelda are described as looking like this, possibly as a side effect of their DealWithTheDevil.
109	** Any female demon when shifted really.
110	* SoulEating: Demons get more powerful by eating souls. Gregory Bruxton realized he could get stronger and avoid detection from the Shining Demon by eating the souls himself instead of passing them on to [=SD=].
111	* StayFrosty: Wallace says it to Amber when he leaves the cafe.
112	* SternChase: The entire book is Amber being chased across America by her parents.
113	* SummoningRitual: Played straight when Amber's parents would summon the Shining Demon but he later changed thing so that the summoner gets teleported to his castle.
114	* TomeOfEldritchLore: The ritual to summon the Shining Demon was found in a book called ''The Blood-dimmed King''.
115	* TownWithADarkSecret;
116	** Springton had a serial killer that the locals don't like talking about, especially the fact [[spoiler:he came back from the dead to kill again.]]
117	** Cascade Falls is run by vampires.
118	* {{Treants}}: The witch plaguing Jacob is basically a humanoid tree monster.
119	* VainSorceress: The Witch is kidnapping women [[spoiler:and filling their bodies with her branches, hoping to take over them so Jacob will love her back.]]
120	* VampiresSleepInCoffins: Rosalie sleeps in one and (chained in the basement) Caleb implies that sleeping in the ground would be an acceptable alternative.
121	* WalkingSpoiler: Milo.
122	* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler:Alastair offers Amber a chance to take Imelda's place as his mate and sacrifice their own future children.]]
123	* WingedHumanoid: Gregory's demon form has two huge bat-like wings.
124	* WolverineClaws: Lower case demons can grow and retract their claws at will.
125	* YouRemindMeOfX: After saving her from Varga, Betty says Amber reminds her of her own mother.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder: ''Desolation'']]
129	* AlliterativeName: Warrick's last name is Wyman.
130	* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Warrick says that red demons are pretty rare with them usually being various shades of grey. The demons in Desolation are various colours.
131	* AnimateDead: Mauk can resurrect his victims as zombie slaves.
132	* AnArmAndALeg: Ardat-Ko happily feeds her limbs to [[spoiler:the police]] in exchange for her freedom and it's implied she can regrow them when she gets free. [[spoiler:They end up eating all of her.]]
133	* {{Autocannibalism}}: Amber has a nightmare where she's at a diner in demon form with her parents, eating her human head.
134	* BadassBiker: The Hounds of Hell.
135	* BarbaricBully: Cole Blanchard. He steals a gun at one point and threatens to kill his stepfather and Austin with it.
136	* BasementDweller: The Party Monster lives with his parents, seemingly lying in bed playing video games most of the day.
137	* BondageIsBad: BarbaricBully, Cole Blanchard has a poster of a naked woman in chains in his bedroom.
138	* BlackComedyRape;
139	** Warrick gets the information he wants out of Ricky by threatening to let Two hump his face.
140	* CannibalismSuperpower;
141	** [[spoiler:The Desolation Hill police became demons after summoning and eating The Smiling Demon.]]
142	** Benjamin tries to eat Amber in hopes of getting stronger and the ability to be a demon all year round. Ironically, [[spoiler:she eats him and uses up the extra energy to regenerate from her gunshot wounds]].
143	* CoolOldGuy: Virgil Abernathy and Javier Santorum, a pair of retired actors who meet up with the heroes.
144	* CriminalDoppelganger: Oscar Moreno who killed Virgil's neighbour, Snyder looks like a young version of his old colleague, Javier. Later revealed [[spoiler:to be The Narrow Man who used Javier's face because he was a fan of his TV shows.]]
145	* CutHimselfShaving: Amber tells a man in a diner that she broke her fingers by slamming both hands in a car door.
146	* DealWithTheDevil;
147	** Jesper had one with the two Shining Demons to prolong his life if he sacrificed souls to them. He later makes a similar one with Naberius to keep Astaroth and the Hounds out of the town.
148	** Amber [[spoiler:makes a deal to become Astaroth's new representative in exchange sending Milo back to Earth.]]
149	* DepravedBisexual: [[spoiler: The demonized citizens will attack and have sex with each other indiscriminantely during Hell Night.]]
150	* DeusExMachina: When Kirsty is about to kill Amber, [[spoiler:Glen flies in, bites Kirsty and fies off with her.]]
151	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Not the future but drinking Astaroth's blood gives Amber realistic interactive dreams of her dead siblings in the past.
152	* EvilDetectingDog: Two can detect demons in human form.
153	* {{Expy}}: Kelly and friends are a far more capable stand-ins for [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Mystery Inc.]]
154	** The serial killer Amber is briefly taken to jail with comes off as a more succesful and yet ''more'' pathetic [[Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant Vaurien Scapegrace.]]
155	* EyeScream: Fool loses its eyes at some point between books 1 and 2.
156	* {{Fingore}};
157	** Mauk breaks all Amber's fingers with a hammer to stop her clawing him.
158	** As per usual, Amber bites the fingers off a waitress but given that she's one of Mauk's zombies, she doesn't feel it.
159	** Ardat-Ko started the lroces of [[spoiler:turning the police officers into demons]] by cutting off the fingers on her left hand and feeding them to them.
160	* FlippingTheBird;
161	** Amber attempts it to The Hounds of Hell through the town barrier but ends up waving her bandaged hand at them instead. Though she succeeds later on when they chase her back into the town.
162	** Amber does it when Kristy's trying to kill her, emulating a famous death scene in ''The Dark Places'' show.
163	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: The Party Monster lives the idea of Kelly being a lesbian and is disappointed that Linda isn't.
164	* HealingFactor;
165	** Milo says Amber's fingers should heal in a couple days if she stays in her demon form.
166	** The Narrow Man can regenerate in his true form including reattaching a foot.
167	* HotterAndSexier: To the first Demon Road.
168	* HumanoidAbomination: Astaroth and Naberius are shown as humanoid here.
169	* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: Ronnie gets annoyed at Kelly for asking Amber what she's in (jail) for because he'd always wanted to say it.
170	* IKnowMortalKombat: Invoked when Novak wonders whether he or Milo would be quicker on the draw. Amber said Milo because he reads cowboy novels.
171	* ILoveTheDead: Two ends up jumping the decapitated head of one of the serial killers who storms the town.
172	* TheInternetIsForPorn: Kenneth the motel clerk says they do t have a website because his mother told him it's only for lerverts who want to use it for porn.
173	* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: [[spoiler: The entire adult population of Desolation Hill turn into demons during Hell Night. The thing though; ''they love it.'']]
174	* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: Warrick is writing a comic strip based on the gang's adventures with himself portrayed in a more heroic light.
175	* MasterOfUnlocking: Javier is able to pick the locks of he and Virgil's shackles which he learned when he played an escapologist on TV.
176	* MistakenForGay: Amber thinks Virgil and Javier are a couple.
177	* MonsterClown: Kelly has a tattoo of one she fought on her first job with her gang.
178	* TheNeedless: Ardat-Ko was able to spend over a year trapped in a cellar without getting hungry.
179	* ObliviousMockery: Mrs Galloway tells Virgil how great it is he lives independently and says that people who live in retirement homes leech from the system. Javier points out that he lives in a retirement home and she immediately starts back pedaling and saying it's wonderful.
180	* OnePhoneCall: Ronnie asks about it when he and Kelly get arrested but the officer says it's too late and the chief will talk to them in the morning.
181	* OurDemonsAreDifferent;
182	** Jesper mentions a Demon called Demoriel who makes deals with people who have steeds or vehicles that end up linked to the demons. He's implied to be the source of Milo's power.
183	** [[spoiler:Officer Lucy Thornton's]] demon form is tall, broad and angular with the lines of her bones visible through her skin. She has talons for hands, no horns and green, sandpaper-like skin.
184	* PainfulTransformation: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] Becoming a demon feels ''great.''
185	* PerpetualSmiler;
186	** [[spoiler:Lucy's]] demon form has a some twisted into a permanent grin.
187	** Ardat-Ko who gave her her powers is aptly named the Smiling Demon due to her constant smiling, [[spoiler:even while being eaten alive.]]
188	* PortalDoor: Mayor Jesper has a key similar to the in Dacre Shanks had that links any door to the cavern where [[spoiler:Naberius is trapped]].
189	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:The Mayor Jesper has to sacrifice a soul (he finds children easier to kill) each year to maintain his longevity. He later feeds an annual soul to the trapped demon Naberius to maintain the forcefield that keeps Astaroth out of the town.]]
190	* PowerIncontinence: In Desolation, Amber and Milo have to constantly concentrate to stop from shifting into their demon forms.
191	* RearWindowWitness: Virgil looks out his window and sees his neighbour getting murdered and the cops hiding the body.
192	* RejectedApology: Virgil rings Javier who's still sore about Virgil giving him the nickname, Goat-molester 40 years ago and won't accept his apology.
193	* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: It turns out beheading is the only way to kill [[spoiler:The Hounds of Hell]].
194	* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Near the end,[[spoiler:one of the Hounds takes Milo to Hell and Amber has to get him back.]]
195	* SafeZoneHopeSpot: Essentially the plot. Desolation Hill is surrounded by a barrier that keeps the Shining Demon's minions out. Too bad it's got its got plenty of horrors already inside.
196	* SealedEvilInACan: Naberius [[spoiler:is trapped in a cave under Desolation and maintains the town's forcefield.]]
197	* TheSleepless: Ardat-Ko was said to never get tired.
198	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Lucy Thornton is the only woman ever to serve on Desolation's police force.
199	* StoryboardBody: Kelly has tattoos all over her body of all the monsters and villains she's fought.
200	* SuperCop: [[spoiler:Desolation's police force are all demons]].
201	* TakeMeInstead: Virgil and Javier ask the Narrow Man to sacrifice them instead of a child. He agrees [[spoiler:but says he'll sacrifice a child anyway because he doesn't want the town's votes to be for nothing and he'll take Virgil and Javier to be killed by Naberius anyway.]]
202	* TaughtByTelevision: The Narrow Man learned to interact with people by watching Javier on TV.
203	* ThereIsAnother: Astaroth isn't the only Shining Demon. He has a brother called Naberius who also uses the title.
204	* TownWithADarkSecret: Desolation Hill has a lot.
205	* VampireVarietyPack: There's said to be multiple breeds of vampire. Most of which are pack animals, implying others aren't.
206	* TheVoiceless: The Hounds Of Hell never talk.
207	* YouKilledMyFather: Kirsty vows revenge for Amber for killing her husband.
208	[[/folder]]
209
210	[[folder: ''American Monsters'' ]]
211	* ActuallyADoombot: When Amber brings [[spoiler:Astaroth to her parents to eat]], it's actually [[spoiler:his brother, Naberius]].
212	* ActuallyIAmHim: Mauk tells Amber that he's expecting Astaroth's representative.
213	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Fool. Amber assumes he used to be alive or still is and was raised in Hell since childhood but he says he was always in Astaroth's castle and has never been a child.
214	* AndIMustScream;
215	** [[spoiler: Glen's fate, until Amber comes to save him.]]
216	** Switch on the radio of a vehicle belonging to one of Demoriel's demons and you'll hear his screaming victims still trapped somewhere.
217	* AndTheAdventureContinues: The ending.
218	* AnArmAndALeg: Fool cuts Bigmouth's arms off as punishment for attempting to escape Hell
219	* AscendingToAHigherPlaneOfExistence;
220	** Aaliyah Brewer moves on when Amber persuades her to stop killing people.
221	** Was thought to happen to [[spoiler:Glen]] because he disappears when he's rescued from Hell but he ends up going back to his body.
222	* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: [[TheBusCameBack Warrick, Linda and Ronnie]] reappear just to get killed by [[EvilMatriarch Betty.]]]]
223	* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler: Glen is back, [[EmpoweredBadassNormal as a vampire.]]]]
224	* BatmanColdOpen: The book starts with Amber and Milo chasing a man who owes his soul to Astaroth.
225	* BigGood: [[spoiler: The Foundation of Light, and [[ALighterShadeOfBlack Demorial, kind of.]]]]
226	* BlatantLies:
227	** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments This exchange]]:
228	---> '''Milo''': Did they lay eggs on you?
229	---> '''Amber''': No.
230	* BloodMagic;
231	** To get back to Astaroth, Amber has to cut herself and make a circle around herself in blood in order to be teleported to Hell.
232	** Amber's parents put a ''mur du sang'' on the funeral home. It's where they put demon blood along the edges of the doorframe that stops anyone other than members of the demon's family to get in. Amber lampshades the trope by hoping her parents have died from blood loss.
233	* BodySurf: Aaliyah Brewer can move from person to person.
234	* BreedingSlave: The [[ImAHumanitarian Gundersons']] plans for Amber.
235	* BringMyBrownPants: Clarissa eventually pees herself after hours of being trapped in a truck that the demon driver refuses to stop.
236	* BroughtDownToBadass: [[spoiler: Milo loses his demon powers after Amber negotiates with Demorial. It ultimately gets him killed.]]
237	* CannotTellALie: Demoriel claims he doesn't lie when Amber is bargaining with him.
238	* CantLiveWithoutYou: Amber and Milo have to defend a comatose old woman from Buddy. It's implied Abigail would die if this old woman did.
239	* DeathAmnesia: When [[spoiler:Glen's]] soul is reunited with his body, he remembers what the body did but not his time in Hell.
240	* DeathEqualsRedemption: Amber holds [[spoiler: her mother's]] hand so she won't die alone.
241	* DefiantCaptive: [[spoiler:Kelly]] burns down the first house Amber's parents keep her in and hack their accounts to donate all their money to charity.
242	* DevilButNoGod: {{Discussed}} by Amber and Milo.
243	* DoNotCallMePaul: Bigmouth writes Amber a note telling her not to call him Edgar anymore.
244	* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Amber does. Milo does not.]]
245	* EtTuBrute: Mauk criticizes his former partner, Milo for working with Amber against him.
246	* ExplosiveBreeder: Bogles breed quite quickly with six to nine babies in each litter.
247	* {{Expy}}: Being an InvisibleToAdults MonsterClown that murders children, Buddy is basically Pennywise from ''Literature/{{It}}'' by Creator/StephenKing.
248	* EyeScream;
249	** A bogle Rio's the eyes out of a mall security guard and plays tennis with them.
250	** Fool rip's out Bigmouth's eyes and puts them in his own head.
251	* FamilyThemeNaming: The Gundersons are all named after Greek gods.
252	* FanConvention: Amber tracks her oarent to a ''Dark Places'' convention.
253	* TheFerryman: Amber has to pay one to take her from Astaroth's castle to The Blood-dimmed King's palace.
254	* FlippingTheBird: Amber to her father as he's trying to make a deal to work together against Astaroth.
255	* ForTheEvulz: Mauk's sole reason for torturing the teenagers in the cabin.
256	* FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire: [[spoiler:Glen]] vows to be one, only feeding off criminals. He later takes small amounts of blood off of innocent people when he can't find any criminals.
257	* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Amber wonders why the bogles are immigrating human movies and Axton mentions they watch TV.
258	* GirlOnGirlIsHot: A load of men cheer when Amber makes out with a girl in a club.
259	* GiveMeBackMyWallet: Amber chases Clarissa to get her bag back and the two end up becoming friends.
260	* GlamourFailure: People possessed by Aaliyah Brewer can be recognised because she always chews her upper lip.
261	* GuileHero: [[CharacterDevelopment Amber]], who [[spoiler: [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu cheats both her parents and The Shining Demon]].]]
262	* HauntedTechnology: Aaliyah Brewer is a ghost that can travel through the internet to phones and computers.
263	* HellHasNewManagement: What Amber's parents hope to accomplish in the long run.
264	* AHellOfATime: Though it's mostly torture, a priest Amber meets in Hell says some people occasionally form friendships or fall in love there.
265	* ImAHumanitarian: The Gundersons.
266	* InnOfNoReturn: The Catching Z's motel has rooms full of deadly traps and two-way mirrors where the manager watches the antics.
267	* InvisibleToAdults: Buddy the ghost MonsterClown can't be seen or felt by anyone over the age of 18. Interestingly, the injuries on his victim's bodies can only be seen by people under 18. To adults it seems like they died of sudden death in their sleep.
268	* JustJokingJustification;
269	** When Amber gets angry with Leon hinting that she and Pixie-cut would pay him and Spencer with sexual favours for directing them to a club, he says they weren't being totally serious.
270	** In jail, Reggie says his sexual comments were just a joke after Amber grabs him by the throat.
271	* KingIncognito: The priest Amber meets in Hell[[spoiler: is The Blood-dimmed King in disguise]].
272	* KissOfTheVampire: Being turned into a vampire is incredibly erotic. Even if you're straight and the vampire is the same gender.
273	* MarsNeedsWomen: The Gundersons want to capture a demon for the purpose of breeding with.
274	* TheMenInBlack: [[spoiler:The Foundation of Light is an organisation of ex-soldiers and cops who fight monsters and serial killers.]]
275	* MonsterClown: Simon Cranston/Buddy. He is [[{{Expy}} remarkable similar]] to Pennywise.
276	* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler: Balthazar's-Arm-Candy turns out to be [[HeroKiller Betty]], who [[KilledOffscreen kills Warrick, Linda and Ronnie offscreen.]]]]
277	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Amber after the nightclub scene.
278	* NoBodyLeftBehind: The undead serial killers after their [[SoulJar Soul Jars]] are destroyed.
279	* NoTellMotel: Catching Z's. Turns out to be a HellHotel.
280	* OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce: [[spoiler:Glen]] claims to have all the strengths of a vampire and none of the weaknesses, he then admits he's lying.
281	* OneWingedAngel: Astaroth takes a more EldritchAbomination type form when killing [[spoiler:Amber's parents.]]
282	* PlayAlongPrisoner: [[spoiler:Astaroth decides to do this with fake chains when Amber tells him her parents want her to deliver him to them.]]
283	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: One couple that Amber collects an offering from are strongly implied to have killed their baby. Their SoulJar is later shown to be a baby's skull.
284	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Milo get killed at the end.]]
285	* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: {{Discussed}}, then {{averted}}. Mauk's zombies need to be completely dismembered before they stop moving.
286	* RescuedFromTheUnderworld: Amber goes to Hell to bring [[spoiler:Glen's]] soul back. She promises to take Bigmouth with her for helping but he gets caught by Fool.
287	* ShinyNewAustralia: If Amber's parents manage to take over Hell, they decide to turn her into a Demon and give her a territory similar to what Astaroth has.
288	* SoulJar: Serial killers that are resurrected by Demons will be invincible unless a particular object they own is destroyed.
289	* TheSoulless: A persons soul passes straight to Hell when they become a vampire.
290	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Paul Axton sold his soul for the ability to communicate with bogles but he's implied to be able to communicate with any creature.
291	* TheStarscream:
292	** The Gundersons were loyal to Amber's parents for years just so they could capture a demon BreedingSlave when they got the chance.
293	** Amber's parents want to be this to the Blood-dimmed King, sucking up to him until they can overthrow him.
294	* SummonMagic: Demorial actually appears when summoned instead of taking the summoner to Hell, though he never leaves the circle.
295	* {{Technopath}}: Aaliyah Brewer can travel through the internet.
296	* ThroneMadeOfX: When they take over Astaroth's castle, Bill wants a throne made from the blood of his enemies and Betty wants one made from the blades that slew them.
297	* TookALevelInBadass: Amber.
298	* VillainsWantMercy: Amber meets Kirsty and Grant in Hell and they beg her to help them escape.
299	* WackyWaysideTribe: The [[ImAHumanitarian Gundersons]].
300	* WhaleEgg: Bogles look similar to teddy bears but lay eggs.
301	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The [[KarmaHoudini guy from the hotel with the chainsaw]] never comes up again.
302	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Amber's starting to hallucinate as a side effect of drinking Astaroth's blood and he confirms it's insanity.
303	* WolverineClaws: James couldn't shift into a demon form but could grow claws.
304	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness;
305	** When Amber's parents [[spoiler:think they've eaten Astaroth]], the quickly kill their vampire, Stromquist because they've no need for him.
306	** The Blood-dimmed King [[spoiler:kills Astaroth after his game playing had nearly let Amber's parents overthrow him]].
307	* YouKilledMyFather: Byrd shoots [[spoiler:Milo]] because he murdered her parents and brother when she was a child.
308	* YourCostumeNeedsWork: When Amber explores Salt Lake City while shifted, most people assume she's in costume.
309	[[/folder]]
310

Context Literature / DemonRoad