valley of the shadow of death

afraid of one's own shadow

Exceptionally timid.

article of death

The moment of death.

cast a shadow

To dampen future events.

catch one's death

To contract a serious illness, especially a nasty cold or other respiratory ailment and especially as a result of exposure to wet or chilly weather.

death and taxes

Something which is totally certain.

death by a thousand paper cuts

An ultimate negative outcome, such as the failure of a project, brought about by an excessive number of bureaucratic hurdles.

death by PowerPoint

The boredom or disengagement that an audience experiences from poorly designed or overly verbose presentations using any type of presentation software.

kiss of death

Something that may seem good and favorable but that actually brings ruin to hopes, plans, etc.