The Whispering Skull Literary Elements

Supernatural

It is set in modern-day London, England

It is told from a third-person limited point of view, focusing on the main protagonist, Lockwood.

Tone: Suspenseful, eerie, spooky
Mood: Mysterious, dark, foreboding

The protagonist is Lockwood, an agent of Lockwood & Co., a small agency of young ghost hunters. The antagonist is the mysterious and powerful spirit that has been causing havoc in London.

The main conflict is the struggle between Lockwood & Co. and the supernatural forces of the skull. Lockwood & Co. is a small agency of ghost hunters in England that is trying to stop the skull from releasing the ghosts of the dead and unleashing chaos upon the world. The skull is a powerful, mysterious entity that has been dormant for centuries and is now trying to break free from its prison. The team must use their wits and ghost-hunting skills to battle the skull and its supernatural powers and prevent it from wreaking havoc.

The climax occurs when Lockwood, Lucy, and George venture into the subterranean vault to confront the Whisperer.

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For example, when Lockwood is trying to convince Lucy to help him in his investigation, he says, “It could be interesting.” This is an understatement, as Lockwood knows the danger they will be facing by getting involved.

The name of the house, Lockwood & Co., also alludes to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, who work as detectives in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Additionally, some of the characters and their interactions with each other allude to the classic fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast.

“In the middle of the wood we found a little open space where no trees grew, and here the whispering sound was loud. I traced it carefully back and forth through the long wet grass, until I discovered a mossy stone half buried at the centre of the glade. A cold spot hung above the stone, and spiders’ webs were strung across it. A clammy sensation of unnatural dread affected all three of us; once or twice I heard a disembodied voice muttering close by.”

The paradox of the whispering skull is that although the skull speaks, it does not have a mouth to do so. It is able to communicate with the living but in a mysterious, non-verbal way. It is whispering secrets from beyond the grave, and yet it is still physically present in the world.

There is a theme of duality present in the story. The duality between the living and the dead, the supernatural and the mundane, the light and the dark.

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"A heavy curtain spanned the window opposite, muffling the daylight”