Death: The High Cost of Living

Neil Gaiman

Ever since I finished the Sandman series, I’ve been holding onto these little extra volumes for whenever I feel I need a fix of some Gaiman.  Well, I needed to spend some time with the Endless again.  This volume tells the short tale of what happens when Death become a human (something she does for one day every hundred years).  Like I said with other extras, this is best enjoyed after you finish the series.  There are a few characters in the story that made their first appearance in the series.  There’s new characters as well, but I feel like we might have met them at some point already as well.  My memory is full of holes.  Anyway, while I was sad the blind man bit wasn’t really explained well, I did enjoy the finale very very much.

I find comfort in the knowledge that Death likes to know what it feels to live and then to die.  She even has to comfort herself after it’s all over.  At the end of the volume, there are some pictures of Death (she always has to coolest outfits).  While very short and only mildly satisfying when it comes to my Gaiman thirst, I really enjoyed the story.  The ending did not disappoint.