Line #58 Literature/PsychoKillersInLove


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2	[[caption-width-right:350: PayEvilUntoEvil]]
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4	''Psycho Killers in Love'' is a novel that takes place in the Literature/UnitedStatesOfMonsters universe by Creator/CTPhipps. It is a {{Prequel}} to the other series, taking place against the backdrop of the 2000 election and before TheReveal that led to the BrokenMasquerade that defines the other books.
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6	William Patrick is the son of infamous serial killer, Billy the Undying, and has inherited his dark powers as a slasher. So has his energetic Creator/StephenKing-loving sister, Carrie. Escaping from a mental institution, the pair attempt to find sanctuary only to find themselves hauted by the ghost of their dead father.
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8	Along the way, they encounter a [[HunterOfMonsters slasher hunter]] calling herself [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Nancy]] [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Loomis.]] Determined to kill William and Carrie, she finds herself changing her opinion as she finds a cult slaughtering young women for sport.
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10	Can the two sides team up? Will love bloom?
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12	----
13	!!This book contains the following tropes:
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15	* AbusiveParents: In addition to his trying to raise his children as slashers, Billy verbally insults them (even post-mortem) and is referred to have physically abused them as well.
16	* ActionSurvivor: All of the women of TAA sorority are this except for Nancy and Sunshine. [[spoiler: As well as Cassie, who is TheMole.]]
17	* AffectionateParody: This is an homage to 80s slasher movies and the horror genre as a whole.
18	* AffablyEvil:
19	** Both of the Patrick siblings are this if you don't subscribe to BlueAndOrangeMorality.
20	** The Spirit of the Hunt [[spoiler: a.k.a Bloody Mary]] is friendly even as she supports slashers globally.
21	** Marge is friendly to the antiheroes despite running a cannibal diner.
22	* AncientConspiracy: Subverted. The Fraternity of Orion was founded in the 70s.
23	* AncientTradition: Another subverted example. Nancy's family of ActionGirl HunterOfMonsters types is about three generations long.
24	* {{Antihero}}: Every single one of the protagonists. Even Nancy is willing to make a lot of moral compromises to save her friends.
25	* AristocratsAreEvil: The Fraternity of Orion is a bunch of mega-rich hunters who murder innocents for sport.
26	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Subverted with the Patrick siblings who are HeroesLoveDogs (or antiheroes) but played straight with their father.
27	* BattleCouple: William and Nancy evolve into one of these over the course of the book.
28	* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Subverted as all three of them look like (Nancy beauty, William brains, and Carrie as their brain). In fact, all three of them have elements of both.
29	* BigBrotherInstinct: William has a lot of this for his sister Carrie. She takes it in good grace.
30	* BigDamnHeroes: Nancy has a habit of coming to William's rescue.
31	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Humorously played with as William is the blond.
32	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Implied to be the case with William and Carrie. They're not evil like the rest of their family but they're removed from most standards of conventional morality.
33	* {{Expy}}:
34	** It's implied that all {{slasher movie}}s are based on folklore that is based on real criminals and monsters (citing Ed Gein for ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' and ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'' plus the ''Film/TheTownThatDreadedSundown'' as an example). It's stated that [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet "Fred"]], [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} "Mike"]], and [[Franchise/FridayThe13th "The Camp Killer"]] are all real. Mentions are also made of the [[Franchise/EvilDead Supermarket Guy]] and the [[Series/{{Dexter}} Miami Butcher]] too. They aren't the ''actual'' fictional characters but their inspirations.
35	** Subverted with Billy Patrick. While he's implied to be the inspiration for the killer in ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'' and ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight'', he is his own unique character with many elements of Freddy Krueger.
36	* BrotherSisterTeam: William and Carrie are this despite the former's reluctance.
37	* DeconstructedTrope: Running away as fast as you can is lampshaded as actually a terrible strategy in an isolated location since doing an OminousWalk actually will allow you to catch up faster than trying to match speeds.
38	* FinalGirl: This is apparently the function of an Artemis as they are women who are empowered to kill slashers.
39	* GoodCounterpart: Artemises serve as this to slashers, hunting monsters instead of humans. [[spoiler: They're actually the same species. Slashers are just the same primordial HunterOfMonsters types corrupted by the Spirit of Murder.]]
40	* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler: Billy's plan for his son William. He plans to go into his dreams and steal his body. It's frustrated by the fact William barely sleeps and is a slasher in his own right.]]
41	* HillbillyHorrors: Subverted with the Patrick family who are rural American serial killers. Both William and Carrie are self-educated but WickedCultured with a knowledge of Greek mythology as well as university-level education.
42	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Commented on as a favorite thing of Billy's. {{Parodied}} in that part of the book takes place during the 2000 Presidential Election.
43	* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame:
44	** The Fraternity of Orion's M.O. They specialize in FinalGirl types.
45	** This is the M.O. of all slashes as they are driven by the Spirit of the Hunt. [[spoiler: Actually, it's the Spirit of Murder.]]
46	* IAmAHumanitarian: Marge kills people and serves them up at the Last Stop Diner. Only William is disgusted by this.
47	* ImplacableMan: Slashers and Artemises are both capable of shrugging off most attacks.
48	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The mentions of various slashers through {{Expy}} stand-ins. This includes Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers, and a teddy bear version of Chucky.
49	* MonsterMisogyny: Very common among slashers.
50	** Billy is guilty of this his entire career. [[spoiler: He's one of the Fraternity of Orion's founders]]
51	** The Fraternity of Orion practices this as well, primarily hunting women during their games.
52	* MonsterSlayerRomance: William is a slasher (immortal serial killer) that is struggling against his urges to kill while Nancy is an "Artemis", a Final Girl who is empowered to kill slashers. [[spoiler: They manage to make it worse despite the odds.]]
53	* {{Nephilim}}: The slashers of this universe turn out to be this. Apparently, the first slashers were the descendants of angels and humans that hunted monsters for humanity. They were then corrupted by a demon, [[spoiler: the Spirit of Murder]], and gradually became enemies of mankind.
54	* PoliceAreUseless: {{justified}} in that the Fraternity of Orion is Fiction500 rich and two of our protagonists are escaped mental patients.
55	* ResurrectiveImmortality: Powerful slashers possess this. [[spoiler: So does Nancy.]]
56	* SerialKillerKiller: Both William and Carrie have this as their slasher power manifestation. William hunts murderers while Carrie hunts abusive men (whether or women, children, or animals).
57	* OurSlashersAreDifferent: The basis of the book is slashers are a monster type among things like vampires, werewolves, and other creatures. They possess ResurrectiveImmortality, a HealingFactor, SuperStrength, and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve grow stronger with people telling urban legends about them.]] They can also sense their type of prey and are compelled to hunt them.
58	* SlasherMovie: It is a parody of these sorts of films.
59	* SlashersPreferBlondes: Averted in the fact that Nancy is an Artemis with raven black hair.
60	* ShoutOut: As befitting a ''Creator/CTPhipps'' novel there's references to dozens of slasher movies, Stephen King, Star Wars, and more.
61	* TheStoic: William displays very little in the way of emotions. [[spoiler: It actually renders him immune to his father's mindcontrol.]]
62	* TakeThat: Several pointed political references.
63	** The Bush family is stated to be part of the extended Patrick clan of HillbillyHorrors cannibals.
64	** The Cassidy Brothers are one long extended one to the Koch Brothers.
65	** OJ Simpson and Jeffrey Epstein are stated to be part of the Fraternity of Orion MonsterMisogyny cult.
66	** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Olive Garden]] through Demeter's Garden where the food is terrible and atmosphere painfully generic.
67	* UnfortunateNames:
68	** Carrie names her mini-pitbull "Cujo." {{Justified}} as she's a Stephen King fangirl and not likely to think it bad luck given she's a slasher. Nancy, however, thinks its inviting bad luck given what happens to the dog in the novel. [[spoiler: Cujo ends up becoming an undead horror at the end, but still friendly.]]
69	** The Theta Alpha Alpha sorority is for survivors of violence, FinalGirl types, and self-defense. Carrie says their name could be T&A. Nancy comments that now she can't unsee it.
70	* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Most of the characters thanks to the PsychicPowers that come with being a slasher or Artemis. They're all connected to the Spirit of the Hunt that tends to try to push them to killing people in order to alleviate its boredom.
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Context Literature / PsychoKillersInLove