Trope: Shock Value

  • The Witch

    The Witch

    (lovely poster variant made by Becky Cloonan) In 1630, a farmer relocates his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of a forest where strange, unsettling things happen. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, each family member’s faith, loyalty and love are tested in shocking ways. Karen has been wondering about the Witch

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  • An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride Vol. 1-11

    An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride Vol. 1-11

    With an aloof demeanor, intimidating appearance, and tremendous power, Zagan the mage is seen as an evil sorcerer and feared by all around him. As he goes about his daily routine of studying magic and punishing any ruffians he comes across, he accepts an invitation to a mysterious auction featuring various items of a late

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  • One Room of Happiness Vol. 1-11

    One Room of Happiness Vol. 1-11

    The amount of psychic damage I took from this series should b illegal. It’s so heartfelt, so intense at times, that I would put down the series and walk away. I cried at the end for Sachi and Mister. The first few chapters gives the reader a strong impression of this being a kidnapping yandere

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  • Captive Prince

    Captive Prince

    “This was Vere, voluptuous and decadent, country of honeyed poison” Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

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  • Incidents Around the House

    Incidents Around the House

    A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity

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  • Bloat

    Bloat

    , ,

    “…this thing feels trapped in its own homeland.” — dude who suspects that a kappa want to go to america and so keeps doing weird shit to young american boys After a near-death drowning accident, a young boy’s family is horrified to discover he has become possessed by a legendary demon from the depths of

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  • They All Died Screaming

    They All Died Screaming

    It’s called The Scream… Once you get it, you simply cannot stop screaming. You can’t eat or sleep. It drives you more and more insane until you can’t stand to be alive a second longer. When the phenomenon hits Chuck’s city, the chronically unemployed pervert joins a band of misfits to make his final stand.

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  • Lovesickness

    Lovesickness

    An innocent love becomes a bloody hell in another superb collection by master of horror Junji Ito. Ryusuke returns to the town he once lived in because rumors are swirling about girls killing themselves after encountering a bewitchingly handsome young man. Harboring his own secret from time spent in this town, Ryusuke attempts to capture

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  • Deadman Wonderland Vol. 1-13

    Deadman Wonderland Vol. 1-13

    After a powerful earthquake nearly destroyed all of Tokyo, a prison known as Deadman Wonderland rose from what was left of the city. Privately-run through the guise and functions of a theme park, Deadman Wonderland takes in prisoners from all over Japan, using them as attractions for tourists. Little do the public know about the

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  • 100 Ghost Stories That will Lead to My Own Death Vol. 01

    100 Ghost Stories That will Lead to My Own Death Vol. 01

    I am a sucker for ghost story anthologies like this. Some stories linger, some flop, and then you have the framework to wonder about as well. Also, sometimes fun art. The conceit is that a grade schooler, depressed and suicidal, was told about these 100 ghost stories. He’ll summon a real ghost if he manages

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Welcome to the Menagerie.

Here is where M logs their media activity. Partly because Goodreads is forgettable and keeping physical logs is harder. Sometimes M writes a lot. Sometimes M doesn’t write enough. It doesn’t matter. This is just a for-fun little blog so that M can remember what they thought about whatever they watched or read or played or. Whatever.


What is M?

I read. Voraciously. I have subscriptions to those book things on digital retailers. I consume books at nearly all hours. The hours I don’t spend reading? I’m writing. I’m drawing. I have a problem. I have a problem in that I love to read things that are in the same vein repeatedly. Book journals don’t work and as much as I text my friends screenshots of book passages, it doesn’t scratch the itch. Now I’m going to be doing… tiny… tiny book reports.


Truck-Kun Kill Count:


Books & Light Novels Read in 2025: 23/50
46%
Comics Read in 2026: 51/200
25%
Physical Owned Books Read: 470/809
58%


Menagerie Categories


Tagged in the Menagerie

Absolute Asshole NPC (93) Accidentally in Charge (43) A Fetish For Suffering (48) Can't Say No (76) Chekov's Gun (47) Childhood Friends (52) Curiosity Fucks You Up (79) Cursed (64) Damsel in Distress (64) Damsel in Distress (subverted) (91) Dangerous Reputation (89) Doting Husband (68) Everyone Loves MC (94) Evil Eyes & Big Heart (49) Fan Service (98) Grumpy x Sunshine (54) Hypercompetent MC (74) If You Love Them, Set Them Free (55) I Know a Guy (52) Last Minute Hero (106) Loss of Humanity (53) Main Character Coloring (75) MC's Skewed Metrics (76) Mean Boy (123) Mean Boy Love Interest (49) Modern Morals (48) Nat 20s (92) Not Actually Dead (80) Nuclear Revenge (70) OP Protag (92) Petty Revenge (45) Power of Friendship (78) Power of Love (74) Self-Sacrifice (69) Shock Value (47) Sympathetic Evil (67) The Moral is Community (62) Tragic Backstory (84) Twist! (59) Uniquely Skilled (90) Unreliable Narrator (56) Weird and Wacky On Purpose (80) Western-Style Fantasy (87) Wrong Place Wrong Time (65) Zero to Hero (81)


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