Knowing how to adequately and properly prepare and plan, as well as knowing why such preparation is vital to success, is a skill that only one of the three Lockwood members possesses at the outset, for although George seems thoroughly aware of the need to perform research, double check supplies, and allow adequate time, both Lucy and Lockwood impatiently dive right into the thick of the action. This flaw becomes an obstacle that they both must overcome to make Lockwood & Co. a success and survive experiences that would otherwise surely kill them.

This interplay between preparation and recklessness is first introduced when the novel begins with Lucy and Lockwood entering a haunted house with the expectation of finding a docile Type One spirit of an elderly man. Instead, thanks to their lack of preparation, they find themselves blindsided by an angry Type Two spirit of a woman who was murdered by her lover. The spirit, Annabel, attacks Lockwood and Lucy multiple times, threatening their lives and forcing Lucy to make a decision that ripples out for weeks afterward: the throwing of the flare that sets the Hopes’ house aflame. Coupled with Lockwood’s lack of foresight in forgetting essential tools like