History Literature / TheThiefOfAlways

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The heroes and all the previous children whose lives were stolen and souls got turned into fish escape Holiday House, but they have to go back to their separate time periods, going back hundreds of years ago, with most of them never seeing each other again. When Harvey encounters Lulu again outside the House, she's already a middle-aged woman (much older than Harvey’s parents) and engaged. Mrs Griffen is also killed, slowly fading away out of existence. Though that being said, it’s implied Mrs Griffen and Stew-Cat are ascending to heaven, where she can reunite with the deceased Clue-Cat (who died being burned alive by the lunch that was being cooked), Blue-Cat (who was murdered for leading Harvey and Wendell free) and Mrs Griffen’s father (who would have passed away many centuries ago). As well as that, Mrs Griffen had lived so long feeling so miserable and guilty allowing Mr. Hood to do what he does to his young guests that she had become a {{Death Seeker}}]].

* {{Really 700 Years Old}}: Mrs. Griffen, the housekeeper at Holiday House. [[spoiler:Mrs Griffen was the first child to visit the Holiday House. It was after her pet cat died and her father refused to get her another one; she ran away from home. Rictus then found her and invited her to visit the House. Mr. Hood gave her 3 pet cats (Blue Cat, Stew Cat and Clue Cat) that would live forever. However, rather than steal her soul, realising Mrs. Griffen’s skills at cooking, she could be handy to keep and spared her, granting her immortality with him. Mrs. Griffen doesn’t know what year it is when she meets Harvey or what year it is when he returns after the escape, but she doesn’t care, she’d rather not know. Her father is definitely dead and so is every person she knew before entering the Holiday House. Mrs. Griffen has no idea how old she really is, but she knows she must be at least a few centuries old. Probably more. Seeing so much misery and so many children come and go before imprisoned in the lake by Mr. Hood has made her a {{Death Seeker}}.]]

** [[spoiler: Rictus stole a bit of Hood's magic as insurance. However, he gloats about this right on top of the ruins, which promptly reform into Hood's hand, and forces him to release the magic, leading to Hood's OneWingedAngel form.]]

* ImpossiblyDeliciousFood: Every night is Halloween, then Thanksgiving.

** [[BodyHorror Marr]], [[HyperactiveSprite Jive]], [[CheshireCatGrin Rictus]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The heroes and all the previous children whose life was stolen and souls got turned into fish escape Holiday House, but they have to go back to their separate time periods, going back hundreds of years ago, with most of them never seeing each other again. When Harvey encounters Lulu again outside the House, she's already a middle-aged woman (much older than Harvey’s parents) and engaged. Mrs Griffen is also killed, slowly fading away out of existence. Though that being said, it’s implied Mrs Griffen and Stew-Cat are ascending to heaven, where she can reunite with the deceased Clue-Cat (who died being burned alive by the lunch that was being cooked), Blue-Cat (who was murdered for leading Harvey and Wendell free) and Mrs Griffen’s father (who would have passed away many centuries ago). As well as that, Mrs Griffen had lived so long feeling so miserable and guilty allowing Mr. Hood to do what he does to his young guests that she had become a {{Death Seeker}}]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The heroes escape Holiday House, but they have to go back to their separate time periods, most of them never seeing each other again. When Harvey encounters Lulu again outside the House, she's already grown up and engaged.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The heroes escape Holiday House, but they have to go back to their separate time periods. When Harvey encounters Lulu again outside the House, she's already grown up and engaged.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: At the end of the book all the children who were tapped at Holiday House return back to their own time periods. Lulu being older than Harvey is an old woman by the time Harvey is just the same age.

* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Griffin, who is herself a prisoner ([[spoiler: the first one, in fact]]), takes care of the children and tries to provide them with as much happiness as she can [[spoiler: before their end]]. She also [[spoiler: helps Harvey escape the first time around]].

* ChekhovsGun: The Ark is seen and referneced several times throughout the story, and features as part of Harvey's final attack on Hood.

* DisneyVillainDeath (doubles as KarmicDeath): Hood is killed when he falls [[spoiler:into the lake and is pulled into a swirling vortex]], which agonisingly destroys him.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Harvey's transformation into a vampire for Halloween

* RippleEffectProofMemory: [[[spoiler: When everyone returns to their own times, they all retain their memories of what happened, even though the BadFuture for Harvey and Wendell is erased]].