Why Tropes Matter (and Why My New Book Is Full of the Best Ones)

If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I love stories about small towns hiding dark secrets,” then congratulations—you already speak fluent trope!

Tropes aren’t clichés. They’re storytelling DNA. They’re the patterns that help us fall in love with new stories because they echo something familiar—something we already know we enjoy. And in Shadows of Westville, I leaned all the way in.

Let’s take a look at a few of the tropes woven through Book 2, how they show up in your favorite books and shows, and why they’re the heartbeat of why we read (and write) stories like this in the first place.

Small Town, Big Secrets

There’s something irresistible about a quiet little town with far too much to hide.Think Twin Peaks, Stranger Things, or Stephen King’s It. On the surface, everything looks quaint—neighbors wave, the diner serves bottomless coffee—but underneath? There’s a rot in the roots.

Westville wears that mask beautifully. Book 2 digs even deeper into what happens when the past refuses to stay buried, and when the ghosts of your hometown aren’t just metaphorical.

Ancient Evil (Cosmic Horror)

If you love that “humans were never meant to understand this” vibe—welcome home. The creeping presence of the Seethe, gives Shadows of Westville its Lovecraftian pulse.

Stories like The Mist, The Magnus Archives, or even The Last of Us tap into the same fear: that the real monster might be older, stranger, and far more patient than we are.

Government Conspiracies & Secret Labs

You can’t have Midwest horror without a mysterious agency lurking in the background.The D.C.B. (Dimensional Containment Bureau) and the corporate giant Janus Global bring the X-Files and Fringe energy—science meets superstition, paperwork meets panic.

For readers who crave hidden corridors, classified files, and morally gray scientists, this trope scratches that itch.

Psychic Powers, Portals, and Dream Logic

Reality’s a fragile thing in Shadows of Westville. Characters see what shouldn’t be there. Dreams bleed into waking life. It’s that surreal, goosebump-raising “is this really happening?” energy that fans of Control, Alan Wake, or Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane will recognize instantly.

The Chosen One—But Make It Messy

Millie Thompson isn’t your shiny prophecy girl. She’s flawed, funny, and furious that the universe picked her at all. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Eleven from Stranger Things, you’ll recognize the shape of this trope—but in Westville, being chosen feels more like a curse than a calling.

The Clock Is Ticking

Nothing turns pages faster than a literal countdown. Book 2 builds toward a single moment—9:13—and everything spirals toward it.Fans of Lost, The Umbrella Academy, or 24 will feel right at home in this escalating race against time.

The Broken Hero & Found Family

Casey Benson’s a classic haunted protagonist—think Chief Hopper, Mulder, or even Joel from The Last of Us. He’s carrying the weight of his past while trying to protect the people who still believe in him.

And those people—the kids of Westville—remind us why “found family” stories never go out of style. They bicker, they screw up, they save each other anyway. Because that’s what love looks like when the world starts to fall apart.

Weaponized Trauma and the Monster Within

If Shadows of Westville had a motto, it might be: We become what we survive.Between the Janitors, the Peeled, and those who carry pieces of the Seethe inside them, the line between victim and villain blurs. It’s the same thread that runs through The Boys, Annihilation, and The Dark Knight—what happens when our pain is the thing that makes us dangerous.

So… Why Do Tropes Matter?

Because they’re how we find the stories that feel like home.

Readers use tropes like compass points. Maybe you love “dark small towns,” “found family,” or “haunted heroes.” Once you know that, you can skip the endless scroll and head straight for books that deliver exactly that emotional flavor.

For writers, tropes are tools—not rules. They give us shared expectations we can twist, subvert, or deepen. A trope isn’t a cage—it’s the foundation of a reader’s trust. When we recognize it, we lean in. When a story surprises us through it, we remember it forever.

If You Love…

Trope	You Might Also Love
Small Town Secrets	It by Stephen King, Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
Ancient Evil	Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Cosmic Mystery & Found Family	Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan
Dreamlike Horror	The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Government Conspiracy	Fringe, The X-Files, Control (video game)

The Bottom Line

Tropes aren’t a sign you’ve seen it all—they’re the reason stories feel right.They’re the familiar melody under a new song, the spark of recognition that says, “I’ve been here before—but never quite like this.”

And in Shadows of Westville, that melody hums beneath every page.

CHECK IT OUT HERE! >>> https://www.ryderjones.com/product-page/shadows-of-westville-westville-book-2

Happy 'trope hunting' and happier reading!

See you in Westville...

Ryder