Traditional Dark
GENRE
ACTION ADVENTURE DETECTIVE DRAMA FAMILY RELIGIOUS HORROR YOUNG ADULT SUSPENSE/THRILLER DARK CHRISTIAN FICTION
Core Theme
RECKONING
TIME PERIOD
19th Century,Earlier 20th Century,20th Century (multiple decades)
COMPARABLE TITLES
VERONICA (2017)
CHARACTER LIST
PAUL: 17. LEAD. SHY AND IMPRESSIONABLE.
BRENDA: 40S. PAUL’S MOTHER.
KARA: 17. LURES PAUL OVER TO HER HOUSE.
JONATHAN PINKERTON: 19. SOMEONE FROM PAUL’S ANCESTRAL PAST.
BOGART STITCH: TEENS-30S. PAUL'S GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER
BOB: 40S/50S. COP WHO HELPS BRENDA.
Logline
Traditional Dark takes us deep into the life of a teenage boy, who wakes up the prisoner of a powerful, evil cult. His mother and a police detective get involved. Lives are on the line. Who will be able to survive? Who will come out on top?
Target Audiences
Age: 13-17,18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
Fictitious town "Cedar River"
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Publisher: Amazon
Year Published: 2020
Starting Description
Paul Miller, a teenage boy, is headed over to Kara's house to help her with a school project. At least, that's what he thinks. Kara convinces Paul that the project involves an experiment with an Ouiji board. He becomes bound by a darkness that is somehow connected to his ancestors from decades past.
Ending Description
The story concludes where the lives of Paul, his mom, and her detective friend are on the line. A climactic battle ensues where Paul must invoke the use of paranormal weapons to battle sinister priests and creatures of the night, who have a reckoning in mind.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
Yes
ISBN
ISBN- 9798670651714
Mature Audience Themes
Language/Profanity,Extreme Violence
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age,Meaningful Message,Philosophical Questions,Twist
Plot - Premise
Overcoming Monster/Villain,Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest
Main Character Details
Name: Paul Miller
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Modest,Faithful,Heroic,Honorable,Insecure,Strong Moral Code,Religious,Obedient,Aspiring
Additional Character Details
Name: Jonathan Pinkerton
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Aggressive,Charming,Confident,Faithful,Manipulative,Unapologetic,Secretive,Power Hungry,Villainous,Crazy,Criminal,Narcisstic
Additional Character Details
Name: Bogart Stitch
Age: 17 - 35
Gender: Male
Role: logical
Key Traits: Clumsy,Empathetic,Engaging,Heroic,Honorable,Masculine,Modest,Aspiring,Faithful,Leader,Uneducated,Religious,Selfless,Visionary,Strong Moral Code
Additional Character Details
Name: Brenda Miller
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Role: emotional
Key Traits: Desperate,Empathetic,Faithful,Religious
Genre
THRILLER, SUSPENSE, DRAMA, RELIGION, FANTASY
Brief
Ultra-religious boy gets kidnapped by a girl who's a devil worshipper. Boy's mother and a police detective search for the boy. Boy uses the power of faith and prayer to escape.
Overall Rating
GOOD
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: GOOD
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: EXCELLENT
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
Profile is accurate.
Draw of Story
It's a traditional story of good versus evil with a horror twist. Also, Paul's narration as a teenage boy is believable and fun to read.
Possible Drawbacks
Some of the morals of the story seemed a little heavy-handed--there was a lot of emphasis on Kara's sexuality that made me uncomfortable, as if her sexuality and her demonic worship were tied together.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY RELIES HEAVILY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
A religious boy is taken captive by a demonic worshipper, playing out a reckoning from their ancestral pasts.
Fanbase Potential
This could have a large fanbase within the religious community as it has strong religious themes and morals.
Awards Potential
I don't see this as an Awards-bait story, but it of course could have that potential depending on direction.
Envisioned Budget
LARGE BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
VERONICA (2017)
What’s New About the Story
This story is original in that it shows sins from the 1880s coming back to haunt a family in modern times, but it could be more unique if there was more moral complexity than simple good versus evil, Christianity versus Satanism.
Lead Characters
Paul is shy, but secure in himself and who he is.
Uniqueness of Story
This is not a rare gem, but it's very close--if there was added moral gray areas and more development of secondary and tertiary characters, this book would be a lot better.
Possible Formats
Film: Studio, Indie, Streaming
Analyst Recommendation
CONSIDER
Justification
This has a good story and religious horrors always make a great profit.
Brief
A teenage boy is invited over to a young girl's house. The girl soon seduces and imprisons him. Demons and good faith fight against each other in this conflict centered around ancestral pasts and sins.
What We Liked
This is a horror story with deep religious themes and a satisfying happy ending.
Film: As a film, this would be a blockbuster horror--audiences would be on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next and screaming along as the demons encroach.
TV: As a TV show, this would be a miniseries, first focusing on the events of the present and later filling in the stories of the past that got these characters to where they are.
Key points:
-Scary
-Religious
-Deep metaphors
-Romance
-Plot twists
Synopsis
In the 1880s, BOGART STITCH is much like Paul--nerdy, shy, and very religious. Bo has a crush on his schoolmate, Lizzy, and is excited when she invites him to a bonfire that evening. However, the school bully, TREVOR, and Bo's own reluctance to associate with people outside of his church, prevent him from going, at first. Outside of the school, Trevor pushes a young man, JON PINKERTON (JP), to the floor, and Bo helps him up. Bo takes a liking to Jon, who convinces him to go to the bonfire. At the bonfire, Trevor is drunk and attacks Lizzy. Bo comforts Lizzy, and they kiss, but suddenly, Bo is attacked from behind! He wakes up a few days later and has no memory of what happened, but the police and Lizzy's parents think that Bo raped her. Bo's parents are furious with him, but he swears he did not do it. Still, when Lizzy turns out pregnant from the incident, Bo decides to do the honorable thing and marries her. They name their newborn son Micah and eventually have two more daughters. However, Micah stops developing at around 6 years old, and they learn that Jon Pinkerton is half-sibling to both of them from their parents' affairs. They realize that Jon Pinkerton is the one who raped Lizzy the night of the bonfire. He hasn't been seen since. Trevor meets up with Bo one day, and now that they're adults, they're friendly, and Trevor is a religious man. Bo discovers that Lizzy and his daughters have been involved in a satanic ritual led by JP. They try to force Bo to join in the ritual, but Trevor appears and helps Bo escape. Micah kills JP.
In the present, PAUL is a religious 17-year old who gets invited to study at the house of his crush, KARA. Once there, Kara closes the door to her room, frightening Paul, who gets even more scared when she brings out an Ouija board. Paul is reluctant to use the Ouija board as he's very religious and conservative, but Kara convinces him that it's for her science project. They proceed, using the board, and all of a sudden, Paul loses consciousness. He wakes up restrained, unable to move. He soon learns that Kara has kidnapped him and set this all up because she hates him for being religious. Kara reveals that she is JP's great great granddaughter and worships Beelzebub.
Also in the present, BRENDA, Paul's mother, worries when she doesn't hear from Paul. She goes to the local police station and meets BOB, who reassures her that Paul is probably not missing but agrees to go visit Kara's house with Brenda. When they get to the address Kara gave Paul, however, the house is old and abandoned. As they walk inside to explore the house, they're separated, and start seeing creepy demonic sights. Bob and Brenda escape the house and go to a local diner, where a waitress offers to help them search for Paul. They follow the waitress, who leads them to a graveyard, where they lose Bob. Suddenly, the waitress kidnaps Brenda, revealing that she has been working with Kara the whole time.