The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

“Miss Lilian was the snake in the garden, the witch in the gingerbread house, someone to fear even though she was dead.”

This quote establishes Miss Lilian Willis as the antagonist of The Old Willis Place. It also introduces the supernatural nature of the story by hinting at Miss Lilian being a ghost, long before revealing that Diana and Georgie are ghosts as well.

“The vixen pricked up her ears as if she intended to take heed of our warning. The kits tumbled about her feet, yelping and nipping at each other, too young to listen. What was danger? What were rules? They had no idea.”

Like Diana and Georgie, who were young and innocent when they were locked in Oak Hill Manor’s cellar, the kits are unaware of the potential danger that lurks on the farm (new caretaker Mr. Morrison). This is one of many examples in which Mary Downing Hahn draws a parallel between her main characters and the woodland creatures (as prey to be hunted).

“If my mother was here, I know she wouldn’t laugh—but she died when I was so little I can hardly remember her.”

Lissa losing her mother at a young age is what made her so fascinated with the spiritual in the first place. Here, Lissa is frustrated with her father, Mr. Morrison, for not taking her curiosity seriously and expresses how much she misses (and wishes to “solve”) her mother.