The tales written within Frankelda's Book of Spooks aren’t just meant to chill its listeners to the bone, but the lessons and fates of those within Herneval's pages can also be incredibly tragic.
- Let’s start with the fact that Frankelda and Herneval are trapped within the world of spooks by an unseen force. For over 150 years they have been unable to leave the mansion, relying on the company of those willing to listen to their stories as their only pleasure and company.
- In the very first story "Give Me Your Name", a boy named Nemo tires of his life of responsibilities plaguing him, endless chores and homework with apparently no time to actually have any fun. A gnome approaches the boy and offers to do all of his chores in exchange for Nemo's name. Nemo accepts… unaware that he’ll switch places with the Gnome, who proceeds to steal his life and his family. And the only way Nemo can escape is to trade with someone else, subjecting them to the same cruel fate.
- The fourth tale "Let's Get Out of the Darkness" is probably the bleakest of the bunch. In it, a girl named Tere is mercilessly bullied for her taste in musical instrument (in the illustration it's a glass harp, in the story itself it’s a theremin) to the point where even during her recital in front of a packed auditorium, her bullies insist on mocking her instrument from behind the scenes. In her lowest low, Tere surrenders her passion for music to El Coco to rid herself of the pain… only to realize that giving up her passion also means surrendering her passion for life itself. It’s heavily implied El Coco was secretly controlling the bullies to get to Tere and complete his collection of souls of passion. She is left a hollow shell of herself, her very soul crying out to her, asking why she would abandon her for such a petty reason.
