Quotes from Jonathan Stroud

Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you. Everything pauses while you do familiar things with taps and kettles; it allows you to catch your breath and become calm.

Well, she may think it was her idea, but I'd been looking for an excuse to get you back all winter.

I'd never punched an old lady before; I didn't have any problem doing so now.

Water, running - It was observed in ancient times that ghosts dislike crossing running water. In modern Britain this knowledge is sometimes used against them. In central London a net of artificial channels, or runnels, protects the main shopping district. On a smaller scale, some house-owners build open channels outside their front doors and divert the rainwater along them.

Mum's dead." "I'm sorry," Lockwood said. A shrug of bony shoulders. "The good news is, she hasn't risen again. So far." There was a silence. "Try the cake," George said. "It's good.

You speak with eerie calm, but your face promises violence. I feel a little frightened.

That's just it. I'm the first. And if my venture goes well, and I return to record it, many others will follow after me. There will be a new era between djinn and men. I've made some of the notes already, Rekhyt-my book will take pride of place in every library on the Earth. I won't be there to see it-but who knows, perhaps you will.

Thus, those with long and glittering careers (e.g. me) tend to look down on those (e.g. Ascobol) whose names have been unearthed more recently, and haven't amassed so many fine achievements.

She's her?' - Lucy 'Exactly. Penelope Fittes is Marissa Fittes. They're one and the same person.' - The Skull

Mr Lockwood, you've impressed a lot of people over the years. Personally, I expected you to be ghost-touched long ago, but your agency has flourished. Impress me again now... Let them forget about you... Even now, it's probably not too late. - Inspector Barnes

The door closed; almost imperceptably, the lift began to rise. 'Going up,' the skull said. 'Next floor: cutlery, condiments and underpants.

I don't know how old the man was... but he was definitely closer to coffin than crib.

What kind of life was it, to sit dumbly in the dark, in living fear of death? Better to go out and face it, head-on.

A window to the Other Side.

That old cow gave me a right old whack. See this horrible red blob?

This was how you did it. This was how your spirit stayed strong. This was how you looked death in the eye and defied it.

The stories that bind us, Halli. The stories we live by, that dictate what we do and where we go. The stories that give us our names, our identities, the places we belong, the people we hate.

Don't lean in so much," Lockwood advised. "You were a bit off balance there. Try holding your arm forward a little more. Like this.…" He turned my wrist, and altered my stance by gently adjusting the position of my waist. "See? Is that better?" "Yes.

Lucy,' Lockwood said, 'the last time I saw body language like yours was when we were chatting to Martine Grey about her missing husband, and afterwards found him at the bottom of her freezer.

This was classic Lockwood. Friendly, considerate, empathetic. My personal impulse would have been to slap the girl soundly round the face and boot her moaning backside out into the night. Which is why he's the leader, and I'm not. Also why I have no female friends.

You,' I said. My throat was dry; I could barely speak. 'Not the greatest welcome I've ever had,' the voice said, 'but accurate. Yes, I can't deny it. Me.'

Dark Specter** - A frightening variety of Type Two ghost that manifests as a moving patch of darkness. Sometimes the apparition at the center of the darkness is dimly visible; at other times the black cloud is fluid and formless, perhaps shrinking to the size of a pulsing heart, or expanding at speed to engulf a room.

Sorry for what? Your appearance? Your character? Wait, I bet it's your smell. Twenty-four hours of terror, violence, chases, and being for all intents and purposes dead plays havoc with the armpits. Don't let Lockwood step downwind of you tonight, that's all I'm saying.

The men dug some way down, I believe they struck the coffin." "Excellent. We can deal with it now. George here is good with a spade, aren't you George?" "Well I certainly get plenty of practice." George said.