Slay Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Anita Blake’s Latest Case
Quiz: Slay by Laurell K. Hamilton (20 Questions)
Answer each question based on the events of the novel. For multiple‑choice items, choose the best option; for short‑answer questions, write a brief response.
Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)
1. (Multiple Choice) Where does Anita Blake first meet her family after an eight‑year separation?
a) At the Circus of the Damned
b) At St. Louis Lambert International Airport
c) At a restaurant downtown
d) At her father’s hotel
2. (Multiple Choice) Who attacks Jean‑Claude with holy water outside the restaurant during the family dinner?
a) A member of the Brotherhood of Samson
b) A seemingly normal vampire wearing black gloves
c) Anita’s grandmother
d) The Harlequin agent Demolition Man
3. (Multiple Choice) What experimental treatment does Dr. Boden want to use on Wicked and Truth for their holy‑water burns?
a) A silver‑based ointment
b) A radiation therapy
c) A lab‑grown skin graft on vampire tissue
d) A magical healing ritual performed by brujas
4. (Multiple Choice) How does Anita escape from the motorcycle after being snatched by Trappolino?
a) She shoots the vampire and falls to the ground
b) She convinces him to let her go
c) She is carried high into the air and then rescued by Jean‑Claude
d) She jumps off while Nicky crashes
5. (Short Answer) What is the name of the dragon‑vampire who kidnaps Anita and plans to make her his human servant?
6. (Multiple Choice) Which weapon proves to be the dragon’s weak point?
a) Its heart, which must be cut out
b) Its eyes, which are vulnerable to sunlight
c) The inside of its mouth, which is not invulnerable
d) Its tail, which can be severed with silver ammunition
7. (Multiple Choice) How is Deimos finally killed?
a) Decapitated by a drone‑strike while flaming
b) Staked through the heart by Edward
c) Burned alive in a holy‑water explosion
d) Drowned in the Meramec River by the BearCat
8. (Short Answer) What does Anita’s grandmother do in Chapter 57 that leads to her arrest?
Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)
9. (Multiple Choice) Why does Grandma Blake come to St. Louis to meet Anita?
a) To apologize for past abuse
b) To save Anita’s immortal soul from damnation
c) To ask Anita to stop raising the dead
d) To learn about Anita’s engagement to Jean‑Claude
10. (Multiple Choice) Why does Nicky Murdock warn Fredrick Blake not to hurt Anita again?
a) Because he is Anita’s bodyguard and feels responsible
b) Because he plans to marry Anita himself
c) Because he knows Fredrick is a secret vampire
d) Because he is jealous of Anita’s family attention
11. (Multiple Choice) What is Deimos’s primary motivation for kidnapping Anita?
a) Revenge for killing the Mother of All Darkness
b) To use Anita’s necromancy to raise an army of dead dragons
c) To make her his human servant and later marry her
d) To force Jean‑Claude to surrender the Master of the City title
12. (Short Answer) Why does Kaazim offer his own life to stop Queenie’s magic attack on Jean‑Claude?
13. (Multiple Choice) Why does Anita refuse to let Dr. Boden treat Wicked and Truth with his experimental ointment?
a) The ointment is made from vampire blood and could be dangerous
b) The treatment has only been tested on cells in a petri dish, not on living vampires
c) She wants to use the ardeur to heal them instead
d) She believes Dr. Boden is working for Deimos
Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)
14. (Multiple Choice) Which item does Anita wear at the end of the novel to assert her own identity separate from her family’s expectations?
a) A silver U.S. Marshal badge
b) A king penguin necklace from Jean‑Claude
c) A black tactical vest
d) A lavender dress like Nathaniel’s dream tunic
15. (Short Answer) What does the holy water that burns Anita’s skin but also harms the attacking vampire symbolize in the story?
16. (Multiple Choice) In the novel, the dragon Deimos represents which theme most strongly?
a) The power of religious faith
b) The danger of ancient magic and the cost of progress
c) The struggle between Anita’s human family and her chosen family
d) The need to preserve mythical creatures for scientific study
17. (Multiple Choice) How does Jean‑Claude’s ability to walk in daylight at the story’s end function symbolically?
a) It shows that his love for Anita has made him more human
b) It represents the triumph of polyamory over traditional marriage
c) It demonstrates that the ardeur can grant physical as well as emotional freedom
d) It proves that vampires can be redeemed through self‑sacrifice
Synthesis (Questions 18–20)
18. (Short Answer) Compare Anita’s relationship with her blood family to her relationship with her chosen family (e.g., Jean‑Claude, Nicky, Nathaniel). What key difference does the novel highlight?
19. (Multiple Choice) Which earlier event in Anita’s life does the novel use to explain her fear of sleeping in cars and her vulnerability to Deimos’s dream‑manipulation?
a) The death of her mother in a car crash
b) The murder of her first vampire lover, Phillip
c) Her first visit to the Circus of the Damned under Nikolaos
d) The betrayal by her former partner, Dolph Storr
20. (Short Answer) What does the penguin necklace Anita chooses to wear in Chapter 56 reveal about her character arc in Slay?
Answer Key
1. b – Anita meets her family at Lambert International Airport (Chapter 1).
2. b – A vampire in normal clothes conceals a holy‑water vial in his sleeve and attacks outside the restaurant (Chapter 13).
3. c – Dr. Boden proposes surgically removing burned flesh and using a lab‑grown method to regrow vampire tissue, but it has only been tested on cells (Chapter 22).
4. c – Trappolino lifts Anita into the air; she is held high until later events. She does not escape by her own action here (Chapter 36).
5. Deimos – The dragon‑vampire who kidnaps her and claims he will marry her (Chapter 38).
6. c – Anita deduces that Deimos closes his mouth when shot, protecting the inside, which is the only vulnerable spot (Chapter 53).
7. a – Deimos is decapitated when drones release antitank grenades into his mouth as he flames (Chapter 55).
8. Attempted homicide – Grandma Blake opens the shutters in the master bedroom to drag Jean‑Claude into sunlight, trying to burn him alive (Chapter 57).
9. b – Grandma Blake announces she has come to save Anita’s immortal soul from damnation (Chapter 1).
10. a – Nicky is Anita’s bodyguard and lover; after Fredrick apologizes, Nicky warns him not to hurt her again (Chapter 17).
11. c – Deimos makes it clear he wants Anita as his human servant and later as his wife (Chapter 38).
**12. To stop Queenie – Kaazim offers his life to end the magical attack on Jean‑Claude, revealing his tragic backstory and willingness to sacrifice himself (Chapter 30).
13. b – The ointment has only succeeded on cells in a petri dish, not on living vampires; Anita refuses to let her lovers be test subjects (Chapter 22).
14. b – Anita wears the penguin necklace from Jean‑Claude, choosing clothes for herself and not for or against her family (Chapter 56).
**15. It symbolizes the double‑edged nature of Anita’s power – the holy water that should harm her instead becomes a weapon against the vampire, reflecting her transformation from victim to fighter (Chapter 14).
16. b – Deimos represents ancient magic and the dangers of power that predate modern vampire society, emphasizing the cost of dealing with such forces.
17. c – Jean‑Claude gains daylight freedom as a result of the ardeur healing the Wicked Truth, showing that metaphysical bonds can grant physical liberation (Chapter 58).
**18. The novel highlights that blood family often judges and conditions love, while chosen family accepts Anita fully, including her polyamory and supernatural life. Anita must set boundaries with her blood family to protect her chosen relationships.
19. a – Anita’s mother died in a car crash, which is why she fears sleeping in cars (Chapter 32).
**20. The necklace signifies Anita’s commitment to her own identity and her love for Jean‑Claude, independent of her family’s approval. It marks her choice to define herself by her own terms, not by her family’s expectations.
For more discussion of the novel, see the main Slay page, the questions and answers section, and the ending explained page.