Ghost imagery
Ghost stories and strange things that go bump in the night are shown in the collection. The central depiction of this type of imagery is when the castle family is teleported back in time to the murder scene from their ghost story.
Images of death
The last story is the central depiction of a larger, consistent imagery, the imagery of death. The title "The Trail of Your Blood In the Snow" is a snapshot of this image, the last vision Billy has of Nena, her pouring blood. Also, notice Miss Forbes's murder, the friends drowning in "Light is Like Water" and the dead saintly daughter in "The Saint."
Light bulbs in "Light is Like Water"
The story "Light is Like Water" contains an interesting image of broken bulbs where the light pours out like a fluid. Perhaps this image is designed ironically, indicating that humans are like light bulbs somehow, and the bulbs breaking might represent the friends perishing. The symbol asks this question: Does a soul leave the body at the time of death?
The dream seller's ring
In "I Sell My Dreams," the woman with the serpent ring is a fortune-teller. The relationship between the girl's ability to interpret dreams in a meaningful way seems to be tied to her penchant for serpentine energy. She is a conductor for the strange, unseeable, metaphysical unity of all things, and her ring represents this awareness of the unseen, unknown realm. Her strange death adds an interesting twist on this image, showing that ultimately, her spiritual knowledge cannot save her from death.
