In Book II of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Death, along with Sin, holds the keys to the locked Gates of Hell. After God and his angels defeat Lucifer (now Satan) and banish him and his followers to Hell, God commands Sin and Death to never unlock the gates. Satan, upon hearing that God has created a new world and new beings, Adam and Eve, sets out to cause their downfall. Arriving at the Gates of Hell, Satan converses with Sin and Death and learns of Death's creation. Sin is the daughter of Satan and became pregnant with Satan's child. The birth was extremely painful for Sin; so painful that she cried out "Death!" as the unnamed entity was born.

The caves of Hell echoed back "Death" and her son became known as Death. Death then raped his mother who subsequently gave birth to monstrous dogs who bite and gnaw at her and travel to and fro her womb at will causing her immense pain. According to Sin, Death despises everything living and has the power to destroy anything except God. Sin warns that Death can destroy Satan and that the only reason she is spared (yet tortured) is that Death cannot exist without Sin. Satan nevertheless demands that the gates be opened. Death, unafraid of Satan, calls him a "false fugitive," (Book II, 700) commands him to retreat, and warns, "with one stroke of this Dart, strange horrors seize thee and pangs unfelt before." (Book II, 703-704) By promising Sin and Death a world where they, "shall dwell at ease," (Book II, 840-841) Satan persuades Sin and Death to open the gates to allow him passage through Chaos to Earth.

When word reaches Sin and Death that Satan succeeds, they begin to construct a road connecting Hell to Earth. Satan, on his return from Earth, notes of the road being built and instructs Sin and Death to be his ambassadors on Earth. Death is described as a, "shape had none distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, or substance...Black it stood as Night..and shook a dreadful Dart; what seemed his head the likeness of a Kingly Crown had on." (Book II, 667-673)

Other outstanding instances in English literature can be found with John Webster and Cyril Tourneur, Edgar Allen Poe and R. L. Stevenson.

Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series of fantasy novels features a modernised Grim Reaper, who is the central character of On a Pale Horse, the first book in the series. In this personification, Death is an office held by a mortal. The mortal holding the office of Death is protected from aging, fire, disease and other dangers by the cloak he wears. When not wearing the cloak, the office holder is subject to any and all dangers and consequences just as any other mortal. The person holds the office of Death until they themselves die, usually because they become careless over time, and are themselves killed by someone they have come to collect. This person then takes over the office, and the cycle begins anew.

The character of Death is also a major player in the humorous Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, where he is perhaps paradoxically seen as an ally of humanity, since he is a part of the natural order of things and often finds himself defending humanity against threats to that order. As a tongue-in-cheek allusion to The Seventh Seal, he doesn't like chess, because he cannot remember "HOW THE LITTLE HORSE-SHAPED ONES MOVE". He speaks in a hollow yet heavy voice, often expressed in small caps, and eschewing the use of quotation marks. Due to a rule of Death having to appear persoanlly to wizards who are going to die, particularly the failed wizard Rincewind, Death sometimes appears, having been snatched from some important business arrangement, most notable being appearing with a drink and hors'douevres claiming "I WAS AT PARTY". He can also be summoned directly via the Rite of Ash'Kente. Death's realm of influence is limited to the Discworld-in one book, a reference is made to Death's professional pride in his devotion to traditionalism in the use of a scythe, when the Deaths of other worlds have invested in combine harvesters. In the book Reaper Man, Death was temporarily deposed by the Auditors of Reality, who claim to Azrael, Death of Universes, that by gaining a personality he has become inefficient. During the time he spent as "Bill Door," a farmhand, numerous other Deaths emerged-one for trees, tortoises, etc. The Death of Humans, when he finally emerged, was a cloaked figure on a skeletal horse, with curling wisps of smoke instead of a face, wearing a crown. At the end of the book, Death takes up his old position and draws all the superfluous Deaths into him, save for the Death of Rats, who becomes a recurring character, and the Death of Fleas, who does not.

Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories' Death is seen as the ruler of a gloomy realm, who is, himself, always sad. In one story, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have to steal Death's mask, and in others, Death tries to take the famous pair, only to be thwarted by their sorcerous mentors and their own uncanny good luck. He has quotas to meet, designated by their roles in life, and when the quota includes "two heroes," Fafhrd and the Mouser are first on his list. Interestingly, Leiber's version of Death is aware that at some point in the future, he himself is fated to die.

In Death and Dr Hornbook by Robert Burns, death is portrayed as an emaciated, elderly, gruff, somewhat blue-collar man exactly 6'2" in height.

The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale part of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Good Omens a novel by Neil Gaiman And Terry Pratchett, in which his character is quite similar to that of the Discworld novels.

Death and Doctor hornbook, poem by Robert Burns

Penadinho (Bug-a-booo) of Monica's Gang