Darkness
Chapter 12 opens with an almost poetic rhapsody on darkness. "There is darkness in our mouths and ears; in our bags and wallets; within the swing of men’s jackets and beneath the flare of women’s skirts. We carry it around with us, the dark, and its influence stains us deep." That darkness is a metaphor capable of such language should not be surprising. It may not be officially recognized as such, but the strongest case for the defining metaphor of the modern age is darkness. Once one realizes its omnipresence—often inspiring writing to such elegant effect as in this example—it becomes almost impossible to not see it. This is especially so in fiction. And, for obvious reasons, is very especially so in horror fiction.
Headaches
Ghost hunting at Reverend Skinner's does not go well because he is not a believer. "Despite his contempt, he seemed fascinated by our efforts and hung around like a headache as we carried out our daytime survey." The failure to detect ghosts in this section offers a bit of sustained comic relief. The simile comparing the presence of the Reverend to a literal headache is not only funny, but apt.
The Girls
Holly is the most recent addition to the Lockwood and Co. agency. The relationship between Holly and Lucy, the only pre-existing female, is characterized by continual tension. "To be fair, since meeting her that morning she’d treated me with careful attention and respect; but since the same could also be said of a gloved scientist holding a blob of plague bacillus on a glass slide, I didn’t read too much into it." Lucy is describing the state of that tension here with an unusually creative metaphorical image. The comparison of herself to the blob of bacillus also offers insight into how Lucy thinks she compares to the "easy perfection" of Holly.
Dream State
A much less creative, but equitably effective simile is used to describe one of those strange uncanny moments of ill-defined weirdness that almost everybody has experienced at least once. "The spell broke—we all stirred, as though waking from a dream." The "spell" in this case is just a very brief period where all the characters behave alike in an unnatural way unbefitting the surrounding atmosphere. They are all quiet, and rigid, and remain in place almost as if they are incapable of movement. It is a description that can almost only be described as dreamlike because we really don't have any other experience which is comparable.
The British
This is a very British series of books. Only in England would any character think, "A warm feeling filled me: it was made of tea and biscuits and sudden gratitude." The really odd thing is that this is a metaphor for something that is not really clear. One can only surmise from the surrounding context that the warm feeling that is somehow constructed by the very British beverage/snack combo is something along the lines of fellowship or camaraderie.
