It’s spooky season, and alongside the hordes of scary movie marathons on various television stations and the decor that dares you to cross its path, ready to jump out at you with motion detect technology, there’s no way to escape the cold and creepy grasp of the moment in time that we anxiously anticipate all year long. Halloween isn’t just a date on the calendar; it’s a mood — a lifestyle if you will, and it’s something many embrace, be it January or July.
With slashers like Ghostface and Michael Myers, and storylines like cemeteries that bring your loved ones back to life and people who kill you simply because they were bored, there’s a lot about the horror genre that stays with you long after you’ve shut off your television and run to your bedroom so the ghosts or masked madmen hiding in your house don’t get you.
One thing that is sure to keep you up at night is the lasting impact of an iconic horror movie quote, and often — they’re pieces of dialogue that don’t initially hit you as overwhelmingly unnerving, that is until the film has drawn to a close and you can’t get it out of your head.
So, what are some of the most spine-tingling lines of dialogue in the horror realm, the ones that send chills up your spine each time you hear them? Let’s take a look.
“I’m at Jud’s, daddy. Will you come over and play with me?” – Pet Sematary
When Gage called his dad and told him that he was at Jud’s house and that he’d played with Jud, and then he got to play with mommy, and now he wanted to play with him, too — we had cold chills sprout all over our bodies. It was deeply unnerving to know that his version of playing was anything but; instead, he took their lives and invited his dad over to take his next. Gage wasn’t himself, of course, being brought back by being buried at the Pet Sematary and reincarnated by “magic,” which was not the bright and sparkling kind you initially think of.
Pet Sematary is altogether unsettling, but that line alone — hearing the tone of his voice and how young and innocent he sounded…it stays with you.
“Not many people have basements in California.” – Zodiac
Zodiac might not be the first film you think of when you think of the horror genre, but it’s based on the story of a serial killer, and it doesn’t get much creepier than that. Plus, when we think about movie quotes that send a chill up your spine every single time you hear them, this is one of them.
When Graysmith goes to Bob Vaughn’s home, the entire situation is uncomfortable, but it soon turns to downright terrifying as Vaughn tells Graysmith to follow him to his basement; yes, a basement in California. A rarity in and of itself, the Zodiac killer also had a basement and made sure to note it, and at the moment, Graysmith thought he was moments away from death as he tiptoed into the darkness. In this scene, audiences learn a few things — one, Graysmith was willing to risk anything to find the killer, and two, he could have met his untimely demise at that moment. Not many people have basements in California, after all.
“Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” – The VVitch
This one needs no introduction or explanation, and we won’t talk you through one. Instead, we urge you to listen to the clip above and tell us you’re not horrified; in fact, if this scene in VVitch didn’t make your skin crawl, we’d like to talk.
“Hello, do you want to play a game?” – Saw
Okay, this one might not be as unsettling as some prior ones, but it’s still one that keeps you up at night if you think about it enough. Jigsaw wanted to know if his subjects wanted to play a game, and we’ve been asked that countless times in our lives — and we’ve also been subjected to games unwillingly (thanks, past friends and beaus), but luckily, we’ve never been asked by a clown puppet — and if we ever were to be, we’d run…fast.
“He’s wearing her face.” — The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Another video without a need for much from us; this scene…the way she watches Leatherface as he…well…does what he does best — it’s so profoundly unsettling that we’ll just let you watch and realize for yourself why those four words make us cringe.
“It’s not the house that’s haunted. It’s your son.” – Insidious
Picture it: you’ve been living in a home you’re sure is haunted, causing creepy things to happen and your loved ones to change; you try to reach out to anyone who could help you, and you keep coming up short. That is until someone sits you down and offers their guidance, but what they have to say certainly isn’t what you were expecting, nor is it what you wanted to hear — the haunts don’t exist within the walls of your home; they exist beneath the eyes of your son.
No. Thank. You.
“Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?” – Silence of the Lambs
When Lecter calls Clarice and asks if the lambs have stopped screaming, there’s a lot to the question. Clarice told Lecter that she felt that finding a missing woman would help the “lambs stop screaming” in her head, so when he escapes and finds solace in hiding, a new life somewhere far away, he checks in and asks her if they’ve stopped screaming, signifying that despite his lifestyle, Clarice isn’t someone he’d ever invite over for dinner with ulterior motives.
“We’ve traced the call…it’s coming from inside the house” – When A Stranger Calls
In both the original and the remake, this film is so emotionally done that the stress in the officer’s voice is palpable; upon receiving creepy calls during a babysitting gig, it’s discovered that the calls aren’t from some stalker outside, the person haunting the sitter is inside the house. What a nightmare, oh — and a reason to never answer a call while babysitting unless it’s from the parent of the child in your care.
“I’m scared to close my eyes; I’m scared to open them… I’m going to die out here.” – The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is an icon in “found footage” horror and a movie that still makes us as uncomfortable today as the first time we watched it; this scene, this line of dialogue…it resonates with you in a significant way.
“Because you were home” – The Strangers
For me, horror doesn’t get much more…horrifying than this. I love scary movies. I watch them year-round, but from the months of July to November, they’re a staple in my home, The Strangers is a film I’ve only ever watched once, and you couldn’t pay me to watch it again because of four simple words in a final scene.
When Kristen asks the masked killers why they’re doing this to herself and her beau, they give her one hell of an answer, one that sends chills up, down, and around her spine — they say they’re doing all of this, that they’ve done all of this simply because they were home. How. Freakin. Terrifying.
Are we simply not supposed to be home? Should we spend every hour of every day at Starbucks, TJ Maxx, or Target to be safe? Should we relocate so frequently that no one could trace us back to one home, and should we just never answer another door in our lives? What kind of response is, “Because you were home?” Of course, they were home; it was their home. I’ll admit, for a while after I watched this one, I was a little spooked every time I opened the door — and still, to this day, when I think about it enough, I’m frightened.
Simply because they were home…they were tortured, and both killed (and nearly killed) because they didn’t have somewhere else to be. Ghostface himself said it best: movies don’t create psychos; movies make psychos more creative. It’s a no thank you for us.