Friendship
Friendship plays a crucial role in The Creeping Shadow and the events therein. Many of the agencies in the "Lockwood and Co." series are formed by friends looking to do something together. Lucy's Lockwood and Co. is no exception. The agency was founded and run by friends who love each other and enjoy spending time with each other. They successfully defeat spirits and other demon-like things through their bond of friendship. It is also through their friendship that they remain grounded as people and ultimately, safe and successful as they navigate difficult and often dangerous work.
Reconnection
Reconnection is a critical theme in The Creeping Shadow. At the start of the novel, Lucy has disconnected from Lockwood and the rest of the people in her former agency, called Lockwood and Co. Many people in her agency, including and especially Lockwood, miss Lucy and regret her leaving. In some ways, Lucy regrets leaving her agency too. That's why Lucy agrees when Lockwood offers her the opportunity to come and work with the Lockwood and Co. agency. After all, it offers her the chance to connect with people that she has forged a beautiful friendship. She, like all other people, truly wants reconnection with people who she loves and cares about. And in the end, reconnecting is one of the most powerful and important things a person could do.
The supernatural
The supernatural plays a vital role in all of the novels in the "Lockwood and Co." book series. However, it plays an even bigger role in The Creeping Shadow. Throughout the story, Lucy and the rest of the gang in Lockwood and Co. come face-to-face with supernatural things, including ghosts, the Source, the Brixton cannibal, and other scary and horror-inducing things. The supernatural creatures that Lucy and Lockwood and Co. encounter throughout the novel are the novel's antagonists; they also add intrigue and mystery to the novel.
