Sacrifice

One of the main themes in “Halfway to the Grave” is sacrifice. There are many instances of sacrifice in the story from the literal to the metaphoric. Much blood is spilled, or sacrificed, throughout the story. Blood flows from the prey of vampires as the fiends sink their fangs into the throats of the innocents. They drink in their blood in order to sate their hunger and feed the thirst of the undead. Although this sacrifice is not voluntary, it is none the less the sacrifice from one being in order for another being to continue its existence.

Justina was just sixteen when she was raped by a vampire. Five months later she gave birth to Catherine, her child who was half-human and half-vampire. Justina devoted her life to her daughter and sacrificed her own happiness to tend to her unusual child. Always worried that Cat...