Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Chain Letter 1986

 Chain Letter 1986
type
TVTItem
 Chain Letter 1986
label
Chain Letter 1986
 Chain Letter 1986
page
ChainLetter1986
 Chain Letter 1986
comment
Chain Letter is a horror novel by Christopher Pike written in 1986 about a group of kids and their Dark Secret. Alison, Fran, Brenda, Kipp, Tony, Joan, and Neil are driving back from a Beach Boys concert along a dark desert highway, more than a little buzzed, when a bout of horseplay leads to a moment of inattention and they hit someone on the road. After finding that the man they hit has no identification, and fearing what the accident could do to their futures, they agree to bury the man and never mention it again.Then, one of them receives a letter. Signed "Your Caretaker", it's evident that the writer knows exactly what they did that night, and requests that the recipient perform what seems to be a fairly harmless, if embarrassing, prank, cross their name off, and then pass the letter to the next person, who will receive their instructions. They quickly find out it's not a joke when one of them refuses their task and barely survives a car crash after their brakes are cut. Further attempts to avoid the pranks similarly result in life-threatening incidents that they survive. Then, the next round of instructions starts, and the dying starts...A sequel, Chain Letter 2, was released in 1992 with the survivors of the first book facing down The Caretaker once more. As often happens with sequels, the body count is higher and things get really weird.
 Chain Letter 1986
fetched
2023-06-19T06:14:09Z
 Chain Letter 1986
parsed
2023-06-19T06:14:09Z
 Chain Letter 1986
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_14beeefd
type
Darker and Edgier
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_14beeefd
comment
Darker and Edgier: The first book isn't light-hearted in the least, but there is a minimum of violence and most of the kids survive. The sequel kills several of them in pretty horrible ways. The Caretaker's tasks evolve from things like "flub your lines in the school play" or "spread the rumor that you're gay," to things like "drown your puppy" or "burn down your house." There's a lot more sex, too.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_14beeefd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_14beeefd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_14beeefd
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_1e584efa
type
Cruel and Unusual Death
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_1e584efa
comment
Cruel and Unusual Death: Fran and Kipp's deaths in the sequel. Fran is decapitated in a car accident, and Kipp is soaked in gasoline and set on fire after refusing to burn his sister's arm.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_1e584efa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_1e584efa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_1e584efa
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_2b88f42
type
Chain Letter
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_2b88f42
comment
Chain Letter: The protagonists are told to copy and forward the letter once they have performed their task, or they will be hurt.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_2b88f42
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_2b88f42
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_2b88f42
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_33987735
type
Disposing of a Body
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_33987735
comment
Disposing of a Body: Done via a desert burial a bit away from an isolated highway.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_33987735
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_33987735
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_33987735
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_454b2f2b
type
Secretly Dying
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_454b2f2b
comment
Secretly Dying: Neil's claimed diabetes and wrenched knee are actually a cover for the cancer he has in his leg, which has spread to his brain.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_454b2f2b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_454b2f2b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_454b2f2b
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_493bc214
type
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_493bc214
comment
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Ironically enough, Neil's final request is to be buried on the lone prairie, specifically beside the grave in the desert the group dug before.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_493bc214
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_493bc214
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_493bc214
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_5ee6a992
type
Oh, and X Dies
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_5ee6a992
comment
Oh, and X Dies: The back cover of Chain Letter 2 spoils Fran's death.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_5ee6a992
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_5ee6a992
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_5ee6a992
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_6439de78
type
Heroic Sacrifice
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: Fran's task in Chain Letter 2 is to drown her puppy. Since she loves her puppy more than anything, she refuses, and is killed soon after. Kipp also counts, though he didn't actually take the threat seriously until his death.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_6439de78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_6439de78
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_6439de78
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_77e8d49d
type
Clingy MacGuffin
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_77e8d49d
comment
Clingy MacGuffin: The protagonists try getting rid of the eponymous chain letter, but once the letter is sent to you and you are on the list, the only way to free yourself from eternally being commanded to perform tasks (each task progressively becoming more malicious and difficult) is death.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_77e8d49d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_77e8d49d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_77e8d49d
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_7d89315b
type
"The Reason You Suck" Speech
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_7d89315b
comment
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Brenda's tasks from the Caretaker involve insulting her teachers. Her first task has her telling the drama teacher he's the worst director in the world, and for the second she needs to tell every teacher to go to hell individually. Both times she gets a bit too into it, and during the second task she basically starts an in-class revolt against a particularly nasty English teacher.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_7d89315b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_7d89315b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_7d89315b
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_863fac26
type
Jerk Jock
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_863fac26
comment
Jerk Jock: Subverted with Tony. People are always telling him what an amazing football player he is and he's the best of Grant High's team, but he actually hates football and doesn't get along with his teammates because they have nothing in common. Unfortunately, he realizes that he does have something of an ego, and said ego blinded him to Neil's feelings because he's so used to enabling Neil's Hero Worship.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_863fac26
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_863fac26
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_863fac26
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_9c1f758a
type
Kill It with Fire
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_9c1f758a
comment
Kill It with Fire: Kipp's death in the sequel.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_9c1f758a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_9c1f758a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_9c1f758a
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f516f938
type
Never Found the Body
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f516f938
comment
Never Found the Body: Two of the kids disappear with no body found 2/3 of the way through the book.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f516f938
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f516f938
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_f516f938
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f909b16b
type
Dark Secret
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f909b16b
comment
Dark Secret: The seven killed a man in the desert in a car accident, and buried him there without reporting it.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f909b16b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f909b16b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_f909b16b
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f9876f7e
type
Faking the Dead
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f9876f7e
comment
Faking the Dead: Neil, Kipp, and Fran aren't actually dead, Kipp and Fran having been abducted by Neil, the Caretaker.
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f9876f7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_f9876f7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_f9876f7e
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
type
ItemName
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
comment
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
 Chain Letter 1986 / int_name
itemName
Chain Letter 1986

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie / int_ecc86840
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Dark Secret / int_ecc86840
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Disposing of a Body / int_ecc86840
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Secretly Dying / int_ecc86840
 Chain Letter 1986
hasFeature
Young Adult Literature / int_ecc86840