Hell Bent

The demons in the story, while a literal threat for the characters, also represent the theme of Moral Duality and Hope Versus Hopelessness. Each character returns from hell with a demon that hunts that person specifically and feeds off their negative emotions, especially sadness, regret, or fear. They initially take the form of a person from their target’s past linked to these emotions, with all except Hellie being the person the character killed (Spenser, Carmichael, and Blake).

The demons’ connection to the theme of duality is most apparent in Darlington. His perspective shows him struggling to reconcile his humanity with his demonic tendencies toward extreme desire and cruelty. On a physical level, he becomes able to alternate between his human and demonic forms.

Puzzles serve as a major motif in Hell Bent. In the story, puzzles are a significant weakness of demons. When Dawes and Alex set up the first ritual at Scroll and Key, they note that the standard salt circle will not be enough protection. They must use a complex knot design because “demons loved puzzles and games and the knot would keep them occupied until they could be banished” (49).

On the other hand, the demons themselves enjoy drawing the characters into their games. Darlington, now a demon himself, can only give Alex hints on how to find the Gauntlet through cryptic riddles and clues that she must work out. The story also hints at the demonic connection of Professor Stephens and Dean Beekman early with the strange, staged nature of the crime scenes and especially the biblical quote. When Alex and Turner discuss the second murder, she thinks that it was, “Like someone was playing a game. And demons loved games and puzzles, but their only resident demon was currently trapped in a circle of protection” (125).

On an even broader scale, the narrative structure is built as a puzzle. While Hell Bent is a fantasy novel, it is also built around a murder mystery whodunnit. Just as the characters grapple with solving the murders and how to use the Gauntlet, the reader is invited to figure it out for themselves. This metatextual approach to using puzzles and puzzle structure blurs the line between fiction and reality.