Help! There's a Grim in this story.

That's what the main character should be shouting whenever a Grim rears its shadowy hood. The Grim foretells of something that is yet to happen, and usually in a story, it marks the passing of good times, and is the catalyst for some impending doom. It's no wonder that when one appears, the fated character may be liable to shout help, and run in the opposite direction!

Lately, I've been sifting through my characters, scrutinizing their potential for Grim behaviour. I say behaviour, because although these heralds of information and symbolism can be characters, they can also come in the form of events, of settings or of thoughts, and I've been looking for ways to incorporate more of this into the story I've been writing. Why? Because they add spice: they are the pepper to the ami, a speck of salt in a bowl of sugar, and a droplet of blood on OCD hands.

What type of Grims do you incorporate into your writing?