How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You even smell a little like him," [Michael] said, his voice going throaty. […]
"Like who?" I choked out. Buff guy had a fierce grip.
"Like the grave," he said, not really answering my question. "Like cold, cold death" (2.33-35)
Ouch. Having a total stranger—who turns out to be a vicious werewolf—tell you that you smell like death isn't exactly the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On the contrary, it's the beginning of Michael doing Douglas's bidding by luring Sam into his trap.
Quote #2
She rubbed at some dirt on his cheek before letting go of his face. "Dougie, Charles got sick. Real sick." She paused. "He's, well, he can't play with you anymore. Charles has got to heaven." (3.21)
We feel kind of badly for young Douglas when he learns in perhaps the coldest, most disturbing way possible that his cousin Charlie is actually dead, not alive and well and in his jammies. Based on the care his mother takes in explaining the delicate matter, it's also highly likely that this is the first of many experiences little Dougie will have with mortality.
Quote #3
"I've been stuck in your apartment all day watching the news to see if they've discovered my body yet. It's weird, Sam, really freaking weird. I'm dead, but I'm not." (9.27)
Nobody in this story has to be more disoriented than Brooke, who has not only died, but had her head brought back to life and is now able to watch the discovery of her body unfold live on television. Mega creepy.
Quote #4
"What does it say on the back?" Brooke asked. Frank flipped it around. It said knock 'em dead. Frank clutched the bag and waited for us to decide if we wanted to use it or not. (9.77)
Dark humor strikes again (bowling pun semi-intended). Little details like the inscription on the back of Brooke's bowling bag are what make this book absolutely hilarious in spite of its disturbing content.
Quote #5
An enormous crow sat on the window ledge and started back at her. Crows were ambiguous creatures. Many saw them as ill omens, some as omens of change […] This particular crow, however, gave her a bit of the willies. (12.103-104)
Crows are big when it comes to death imagery, so it makes sense that Sam's mom would be slightly unnerved by the Arnold Schwarzenegger of black birds. For more on this, check out the "Symbols" section.
Quote #6
Yanking me over to a small easel, Lilly began to flip pages and tell me about her friends. She introduced them to me like they were important, like she didn't get to talk about them much. I took a good look at Lilly's friends. Something seemed off. When Haley was little, she'd drawn out pets, our family, and her friends, which were usually kids we knew or stuffed animals. Lilly's friends all looked like adults. (16.66)
What is it about stories where kids can see dead people that freaks folks out so much? We don't know for sure, but Lilly definitely joins the list of strange, paranormally advanced children in literature and cinema. Let's just hope her head doesn't spin around as she vomits pea soup.
Quote #7
"You're Death," I said. "In saddle shoes." I don't know why I was so surprised. It wasn't any weirder than anything else I'd been dealing with. (20.198)
Along with disturbing imagery of crows and kids that communicate with the dead, this book also has some awesomely discordant depictions of mortality. Check out Ashley the Harbinger, who's dressed like an extra from the "Baby One More Time" video and texts constantly. Not exactly the Grim Reaper, is she?
Quote #8
When I'd looked at the room earlier, I'd seen a haze and wondered if it was normal. I knew the answer. The air looked hazy because it held an amalgam of different specters. They were all angry, and they ere all howling for Douglas's blood. (27.10)
Imagine Douglas's decades of experiences stealing the gifts of other necromancers and experimenting with people's blood. The casualty list has to be enormous. And what's worse, every single one of them haunts the dungeon and wants Douglas dead.
Quote #9
The dead were scattered like toys that I needed to put away. Biting, undead toys. I shivered against the chill of her palms and nodded. I didn't even have to try to find them. The spirits were all there at my fingertips. Go to sleep, I told them. It's done. It's all over. (29.26)
When Sam defeats Douglas, something awesome happens: Sam himself is not only free from his nemesis's grasp, but all the spirits of people whose lives he ruined are free, too. With Douglas out of the way, everyone can rest.
Quote #10
It felt good to sit here. I felt welcome, like all the dead around me recognized me as an old friend. It should have felt creepy, but it didn't. I didn't want to analyze it. There had been so much bad lately, it was nice to take some good at face value. (31.69)
A graveyard isn't exactly the most comfortable place imaginable, but for a necromancer, it has to be kind of like going to a family reunion. For Sam, death has taken on a completely new identity—rather than something inevitable or to be feared, it's an arena he knows quite well.