Of course I know what happens when you die, Sexton. I do. I'm Death. 
- — Death
Death: The High Cost of Living #1 is an issue of the series Death: The High Cost of Living (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1993.
Synopsis for "The Spirit of the Stairway"
A two hundred and fifty year old woman named Mad Hettie takes a sixteen year old boy hostage in order to force Death to find her heart for her.
Appearing in "The Spirit of the Stairway"
Featured Characters:
- Death/"Didi"
- Sexton Furnival (Full name revealed) (First full appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Amelia Robbins (First appearance)
- Mad Hettie
- Sylvia Furnival (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Joy Barlow (Single appearance)
- Prudence Mockford (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Billy Ling (First appearance)
- Mrs. Ling (Single appearance) (Unnamed)
- Slim and Wandsworth the Goldfishes (Real name revealed) (First full appearance)
- Steve Furnival (Single appearance) (In a photograph only)
- The Endless (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Jesus (Mentioned only)
- Marlon (Sylvia Furnival's colleague) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Vertigo Universe
- United States of America
- New York City
- Death's Apartment
- Sexton Furnival's Apartment (First appearance)
- New York City
- United States of America
Items:
- Death's Ankh
- Mad Hettie's Heart (Mentioned only)
Concepts:
Notes
- Death's story continues from Sandman (Volume 2) #72.
- This issue is reprinted in:
Trivia
- A preview of this issue was shown in Vertigo Preview #1.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Death: The High Cost of Living series
- Images from Death: The High Cost of Living Vol 1 1