Belief

Throughout the book, the theme of belief comes into play. Belief protects certain characters. It leads others to their destruction. For the most part, the characters that believe most readily in the existence of the vampires and in the power of traditional remedies to ward them off are the ones who survive the longest.

Mark Petrie is the most obvious example. Mark has a set of horror monster models that he enjoys playing with. He knows quite a bit about monsters from watching horror movies. He knows about the most popular ways to ward off vampires. When Danny Glick and Susan Norton each separately come to Mark's bedroom window, he knows that the vampires can only come into his house if someone invites them in. Unlike the adults, when the vampire Danny Glick attempts to control his mind, Mark knows what is happening and he attempts to fight...