Possible Clues:

• (Of humour) black; unappealing, depressing
• Dispiriting
• Forbidding story teller to talk
• Harshly ironic
• The - Reaper is death
• In bad humor
• Depressing sound of a story-telling brother
• Formidably stern
• Forbidding fifth refugee to go over the border
• Very serious/gloomy