History Literature / GhostStory

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Harry tries to argue that [[spoiler: Molly and Thomas aren't that different from him. Molly is the Rag Lady because of a lie Harry was told by a Fallen Angel, while Thomas was tortured by a skinwalker]]. {{Averted|Trope}} because [[spoiler: Uriel says Molly wasn't the one lied to by the Fallen, so her free will was not influenced by one. And Thomas, though influenced by the torment, is still alive and has a choice. So they ''are'' different from Harry's predicament]].

* MeaninglessVillainVictory: Harry ultimately realizes [[spoiler:that, although he ''is'' the Winter Knight, Mab still doesn't have any ACTUAL power over him, allowing him to retain his free will and enabling him to determine HOW or even IF he follows Mab's orders. Which Harry really should have known, given what Lloyd Slate (Harry's predecessor as Winter Knight) [[Literature/SummerKnight was up to]] when Harry first found out that the [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fae courts had knights]].]]

** Harry is weakened, [[spoiler:barely alive, and Mab is smiling down upon him claiming she would turn him into her own monster]]. Then [[spoiler:ArchangelUriel whispers unto Harry, "Lies. Mab cannot change who you are." It invigorates Harry as he realized that his soul is truly immalleable to the powers of Mab unless ''he'' allows it. He can still be him and need not turn into a Monster that he feared he would become]].

** Mort does not ask [[spoiler: Karrin Murphy or her crew for protection when it became clear the ghosts attacking him were using mortal thugs]].

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Present in some of the later books, but ''Ghost Story'' takes this to new heights: it is ''impossible'' to discuss its plot (WhoDunnitToMe) without giving away the last few pages of ''Changes''.
* LightIsNotGood: Sunrise is lethal to ghosts (good or evil) caught outside of a sanctum. Harry muses that while sunrise isn't exactly a cleansing force of Good and Right, it is one hell of a cleansing force.

* DumbassHasAPoint: From [[spoiler:Evil Bob’s]] perspective Harry is an infant wizard with potential but clouded by stupid things like morality. However, when Harry claims that killing him isn't in their self-interest, they reply that they lack "self-interest." Harry rationally points out [[spoiler:that Evil Bob hesitating in killing Harry for even a second has no apparent rational basis, as Bob is stronger and in the superior position, serving the Corpsetaker would be best done by killing Harry, and Evil Bob isn't stopping to talk for Harry's sake]], therefore the hesitation is caused by [[spoiler:Evil Bob]] believing Harry being alive might be better off for them than a dead Harry, ergo it’s in their self-interest. Egro, they has some level of "self-interest." The being realizes there might be some validity to this and will think on it later, but now must kill Harry.

* DumbassHasAPoint: From [[spoiler:Evil Bob’s]] perspective Harry is an infant wizard with potential but clouded by stupid things like morality. However, when Harry claims that killing him isn't in their self-interest, they reply that they lacks "self-interest." Harry rationally points out [[spoiler:that Evil Bob hesitating in killing Harry for even a second has no apparent rational basis, as Bob is stronger and in the superior position, serving the Corpsetaker would be best done by killing Harry, and Evil Bob isn't stopping to talk for Harry's sake]], therefore the hesitation is caused by [[spoiler:Evil Bob]] believing Harry being alive might be better off for them than a dead Harry, ergo it’s in their self-interest. Egro, they has some level of "self-interest." The being realizes there might be some validity to this and will think on it later, but now must kill Harry.

** Morty doesn't realize he has become part of a new adventure in which the fate of Chicago lies in the balance. He thinks he just signed up for an hour to help Dresden contact some old friends. [[TemptingFate He wonders what could happen in an hour.]]

* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler: Harry believed that all the trouble in ''Changes'' was directly his fault. It is then revealed a Fallen deceivced him into believing this, leading him to kill himself.]]

* DumbassHasAPoint: From [[spoiler:Evil Bob]]'s perspective Harry is an infant wizard with potential but clouded by stupid things like morality. However, when Harry claims that killing him isn't in the being's self-interest, the being replies that it lacks "self-interest." Harry rationally points out [[spoiler:that Evil Bob hesitating in killing Harry for even a second has no apparent rational basis, as Bob is stronger and in the superior position, serving the Corpsetaker would be best done by killing Harry, and Evil Bob isn't stopping to talk for Harry's sake]], therefore the hesitation is caused by [[spoiler:Evil Bob]] believing Harry being alive might be better off for it than a dead Harry, ergo it is in its self-interest. Egro the being has some level of "self-interest." The being realizes there might be some validity to this and will think on it later, but now must kill Harry.

* DefiantCaptive: [[spoiler:Mort, while subjected to cold, methodical torture by the Grey Ghost, does not bend. He may scream in pain as the wraiths rip at his spiritual energies, but when he is out of it, screams things like "Go f- yourself" and "Watch a sunrise" and the like, being very clear he will not let her into his body]].

** Murphy notes to Molly that [[spoiler:not picking a superhero name and letting people and the papers name her the "Ragged Lady" for her ragged clothing and habit of leaving bloodied rags of clothing around her victims]] has led to an increase in PMS jokes. Molly is somewhat apologetic about the matter, but it is pointed out that to some, that association makes her ''more'' scary.

** Inez, the spirit of a little girl who Harry meets in the Graceland cemetery. She is generally friendlier and more polite than most versions of creepy kids, but she is still unsettling, not the least because she died a couple of centuries ago and has an extensive amount of knowledge about spirits and shades, and is convinced by long experience that Harry will become "a monster." [[spoiler:It is implied that Inez is a proxy for Mab, talking through a conduit because she couldn't come in person, what with being occupied as part of Harry's life support on Demonreach.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: Wouldn't you know it? The moment Harry's ghost comes back to Chicago [[spoiler:The ghost of Corpsetaker is about to finally break down Mort's defenses and capture him and use him to come back to life. And then lead an attack on the Chicago Alliance and kill Molly with her new Fomor allies]]. Oh and was it mentioned [[spoiler:like Harry, Captain Jack Murphy works for ArchangelUriel]] and [[spoiler:spring is freaking late this year with snow in May measuring in the feet]]? Surely [[spoiler:Mab couldn't be in town on some business]]. Nope. It is all perfectly normal stuff for your everyday ghost of a Wizard.

* CombatPragmatist: Harry as usual, taking the Grey Ghost's repeated attempts to gloat as opportunities to blast her. [[spoiler: It turns out the she, having met Harry before and knowing he's the type to always take a cheap shot when one is available, is doing this on purpose. She can tank his attacks, but he doesn't have the memories to keep throwing them.]]

** Upon realizing [[spoiler:Harry is not a ghost but his pure soul wandering around]], he is told that if he "dies" this will be his fate.

* CastFromHitPoints: It is revealed that just about every ability a ghost can have (other than simply existing and traveling) is fueled by memory. Ghosts are composed of the memories of the person they were before. Use up all the memories and it's bye-bye. [[spoiler:Harry comes dangerously close to this without realizing it.]]

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Uriel and Captain Jack]] play a mean game. Harry is needed and they ensure he will end up in the right place at the right time to help save his friends [[spoiler: all because Captain Jack lied to Harry, with or without Uriel's knowledge is not clear. It worked out as Karrin is able to move on emotionally from her current rut, Molly is finally grieving over her actions in helping Harry commit suicide, Morty has become a stronger and better man, Chicago is free from some of its worst malevolent shades, and Corpsetaker is on her way to hell. And while Harry is still the Winter Knight, Uriel's final act of Seven Words of Absolute Truth assures him he is not as screwed as he once thought]].

* BequeathedPower: Harry witnesses [[spoiler:Sir Stuart throw his pistol over a binding ring of fire to him. The only way this could be allowed is if the power was no longer Stuart's, to which Harry equates him having to amputate part of himself. At first Harry thinks he just got a powerful gun with one shot to it, but later he comes to realize it is more than that. It is a symbol of power and authority over the protector spirits and the Lecter Specters. Once this happens, Stuart doesn't cross over, rather becoming a weakened shade with little initiative like the other protector spirits]].

* AbnormalAmmo: Sir Stuart uses a large gun to blast a wraith to oblivion. Harry finds out that, much like everything else a ghost can do, it is powered by memory. Stuart makes a great effort to recover that energy each time it is used. [[spoiler: Harry finds out later that he can use magic again if it’s powered by his memories of using magic. However, if Harry doesn’t recover that energy (and there is no apparent way to do so, unlike Sir Stuart's bullets) he himself will eventually dissipate since, as a ghost, Harry is made of nothing ELSE but memory. Harry, being Harry, realizes this just a bit too late.]]

After Harry's sudden death at the end of the previous book, he finds himself in the afterlife. Or a sort of waiting room of the afterlife. There, he meets Captain Collin "Jack" Murphy, Karrin Murphy's father, who is working to clean up supernatural messes that affect the post-living when something screws with their deaths. One of those things Harry can help with, if he is willing to return to Earth as a ghost. It will be dangerous, though, and there will be no second chances.

* AbnormalAmmo: Sir Stuart uses a large gun to blast a wraith to oblivion. Harry finds out that, much like everything else a ghost can do, it is powered by memory. Stuart makes a great effort to recover that energy each time it is used. [[spoiler: Harry finds out later that he can use magic again if it is powered by his memories of using magic. However, if Harry does not recover that energy (and there is no apparent way to do so, unlike Sir Stuart's bullets) he himself will eventually dissipate since, as a ghost, Harry is made of nothing ELSE but memory. Harry, being Harry, realizes this just a bit too late.]]

** Harry can enter a church and cross holy ground. Something Father Forthill points out Ghosts are supposedly no able to do. [[spoiler:One of the first indication that Harry is not a mere Ghost]].
** Much like ''Literature/SmallFavor'', the omission of a major item repeatedly mentioned in the other books is a clue till Harry himself realizes it's missing. Namely [[spoiler:His pendant]].

** While certainly badass during [[spoiler:his fight with Aristedes the sorcerer]], Daniel Carpenter displays shades of this during his first appearance, [[spoiler: blurting out in his over-enthusiastic and dour-but-righteous zeal that Murphy has two of the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Swords of the Cross]] and that they should be used. The problem with this is that there is a member of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent White Court]] in the room, who had no idea that Murphy had the Swords in the first place.]] The vamp attempts to use this information to [[TooDumbToLive blackmail Murphy into being her]] [[HornyDevils next]] [[EmotionEater meal]], leading to a [[TalkToTheFist swift]] and [[PistolWhip brutal rebuttal]].

-->''Willie let out a high-pitched scream as we narrowly avoided being smashed by a truck.\\
Seriously. It was her. Nobody can prove otherwise.''

** ''Every spirit'' in ''Ghost Story'' pretty much can only communicate this way. At one point Harry runs into an entity named Eternal Silence, who attempts to explain things to Harry in a straightforward manner. Doing so results in [[spoiler: a paragraph of booming disconnected sentences, and the effect makes Harry's incorporeal body ''explode'' into a "Dresden-colored mist,"]] so there is some pretty good reasons for this. [[spoiler:As with Inez, it's implied that the Eternal Silence is actually Demonreach's proxy.]]

** Harry also spends ''Ghost Story'' feeling guilty about the mess he's made of the whole world, and particularly the lives of his friends and loved ones, by exterminating the Red Court (which he's not exactly wrong to feel guilty about). He feels particularly guilty about Molly, for not training her well enough to endure what befell at Chichen Itza, for setting a bad example by crossing the line when he became the Winter Knight, and especially for exposing her highly tuned psychic senses to the battle at Chichen Izta and the giant curse that ended it. [[spoiler:He also feels like crap for making her help him kill himself, once he remembers. And then about Thomas, for not telling him about it.]]

* HeroicFatigue: Played with in ''Ghost Story'': [[spoiler:Being dead makes all the pain and exhaustion go away. Then, later, Harry manifests and enjoys the sensation of pain as a sensation of being alive. However, Harry is using his own memories to fuel his limited magic and later manifestation, to the point that there is not enough of Harry left to even remain as a ghost by the time he is done. Uriel and Mab later set things right. Well, right-ish.]]

* ImpostorExposingTest: Murphy has Mort cut himself in ''Ghost Story'' before inviting him inside. A lot of supernatural beings that require an invitation to enter a building will bleed ectoplasmic goo rather than blood. Harry notes that this method is far from foolproof.

* TheInternetIsForPorn: In ''Ghost Story'', Bob now has access to the internet. He declares, almost giddy, "It's like ninety-percent porn!"

** One notable example, showing just how ''bad'' things have gotten. When we first see Harry trying to teach Molly about shielding spells, it's with her younger brothers and sisters throwing snowballs at her. Her shield fails, she's pelted with snow, and it's a hilarious and heartwarming moment. Cut to ''Ghost Story'', and she's again practicing shields. Only this time, it's [[spoiler:[[TheFairFolk Leanansidhe]] throwing ''hunks of ice'' like a major league pitcher, and Molly's as far from her warm, safe, loving home as you can get.]]

** Much of ''Ghost Story'' consists Harry enduring this sort of realization regarding his RoaringRampageOfRevenge in ''Changes''.

* NervousWreck: Molly Carpenter becomes one in ''Ghost Story'', following [[spoiler: Harry's apparent death in the previous book and her own attempt to fill in his shoes as the magic defender of Chicago]].

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Harry, as it turns out, at the end of ''Ghost Story''. His soul had just been separated from his body while said vessel was being kept alive by Mab, Demonreach, and a certain "parasite".]]

* OhCrap
** In the first couple chapters of ''Ghost Story'', Harry has a moment where he realizes that, [[spoiler: as a ghost, he has no magic. As he's being attacked by a wraith.]]

* StealthPun: Flickum Bicus is actually kinda subtle unless you regularly flick your bic. ''Ghost Story'' outright explains this one, though: [[spoiler:when Harry was training under Justin [=DuMorne=], he tried to cheat at a magical fire-lighting test with a lighter, causing Justin to remark "You won't always be able to flick your Bic." When Harry finally does light the candle with magic, he uses "Flickum Bicus" as the invocation as a nod to Justin's lecture.]]

* TalkingInYourSleep: An interesting version in ''Ghost Story'': [[spoiler: Harry the ghost doesn't need to sleep, but has to retreat to his grave lest the sun wash him away. While there, with nothing else to do, he ends up recalling past memories with picture perfect clarity (an explicit power of sentient ghosts), and is only jostled from them when in turns out Lea has been watching them along with him.]] It's never explicitly stated how this happens, and Harry naturally finds the constant interruption annoying.

* UnfinishedBusiness: ''Ghost Story''. Mort reveals nearly every shade still exists because of this issue. Some unfinished ordeal and Mort tries his best to help move on. Those who cannot [[spoiler:generally come under his command to keep them from being a danger should they go crazy]]. However, [[spoiler:Harry finding out who killed him is actually not that important. Saving his friends one last time might not have been that important either; the book's BigBad quite possibly would have been stopped without Harry's intervention. However, it ''was'' important to him that he make sure his loved ones were OK and say goodbye properly to Molly. And he had to go through the entire book to put Uriel's scale-balancing advice in the proper context.]]

* WhoDunnitToMe: The job that Captain Jack from "between" sends Ghost Harry to find out in ''Ghost Story.''

* FunWithAcronyms: In ''Ghost Story'' Harry's friends have formed the [[{{BFS}} Better Future Society]] it could have been a coincidence but then Butters mentions that he wanted to name it the [[{{BFG}} Better Future Group]] for the sake of the [[FunWithAcronyms Acronym]]

** Similar to ''Literature/Small Favor'', this book conspicuously lacks any mention of [[spoiler: Thomas Raith]] until the end, when Harry reasons he must have subconsciously blocked himself from thinking about [[spoiler: his brother]] to avoid the shame he would feel thinking about how much pain he must have caused [[spoiler: him with his suicide]].

** Similar to ''Small Favor'', this book conspicuously lacks any mention of [[spoiler: Thomas Raith]] until the end, when Harry reasons he must have subconsciously blocked himself from thinking about [[spoiler: his brother]] to avoid the shame he would feel thinking about how much pain he must have caused [[spoiler: him with his suicide]].

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: "Lemur" is pronounced with the original Latin pronunciation: "lay-MOOR."

[[TheOneWith The one where]] Harry is a ghost.

* NotSoDifferent: Harry tries to argue that [[spoiler: Molly and Thomas aren't that different from him. Molly is the Rag Lady because of a lie Harry was told by a Fallen Angel, while Thomas was tortured by a skinwalker]]. {{Averted|Trope}} because [[spoiler: Uriel says Molly wasn't the one lied to by the Fallen, so her free will was not influenced by one. And Thomas, though influenced by the torment, is still alive and has a choice. So they ''are'' different from Harry's predicament]].

* CrazyAwesome: [[InvokedTrope Literally.]] At the climax of the story, Mort explains to Harry that only insane ghosts can manifest in the physical world. Harry thinks back over all the things he's done over the past thirteen books, decides that he's more than crazy enough, and promptly manifests.

** Fitz cares about the runaways under his care. And they care about him. [[spoiler:It's;s this brotherly love which helps Fitz break them free of Aristedes' control. It is also for their sake Fitz returns to face the man when Harry tells him Aristedes would soon just kill the lot of them now that they have seen him injured]].

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Harry finally realizes that Molly's feelings for him go beyond a mere crush. He also feels sorry that, for his own reasons, he can't reciprocate them.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: In payment for all his years serving [[spoiler:as Mortimer's protector, Uriel recovers a damaged Sir Stuart and offers him a new job among his forces. Seeing how much his descendant has grown, Sir Stuart decides to take his leave and accepts the position of working for an Archangel]].

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: {{Averted|Trope}}. Fitz needs to dispose of several assault weapons, quickly. He decides to hide them in a huge snow mound -- but he still takes some precious seconds to remove the magazines. Dresden realizes he does it, so that if someone happens to find the guns, they won't get hurt by accident.

** [[spoiler:Corpsetaker seeks to do this and come back to the world of the living once more]].
** [[spoiler: More or less happens to Butters too, when Corpsetaker boots him out of his body and he's stuck in ghostly form until Mort restores him to his body again.]]
** [[spoiler:Thanks to Mab, Demonreach, Uriel, and the efforts of a certain "parasite", Harry is brought back at the end.]]

* ArmyOfTheAges: Harry leads an army of ghostly warriors through the Nevernever to fight a spirit enemy. One memorable scene shows the enemy having set up pillboxes and other defenses. An 18th century grenadier produces a number of black-powder grenades, and then asks a 1920's mobster to use his Zippo to light it.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Fitz needs to dispose of several assault weapons, quickly. He decides to hide them in a huge snow mound -- but he still takes some precious seconds to remove the magazines. Dresden realizes he does it, so that if someone happens to find the guns, they won't get hurt by accident.