Journal
Halloween quotes from classic gothic novels
Looking for a Halloween caption, a line for a card or something to write in a bookmark? These come straight from the classic gothic novels, word for word, with where to find them.
Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897)
- "Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!" The Count greets Jonathan Harker at the castle door, in Chapter 2.
- "We learn from failure, not from success!" Van Helsing, who would know.
- "There are darknesses in life, and there are lights; you are one of the lights." Van Helsing to Mina. It makes a lovely card.
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
- "It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils." The opening of Chapter 5, the night the creature wakes.
- "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend." The creature, to his maker.
- "Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful." The creature again.
- "Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
- "Man is not truly one, but truly two." From Jekyll's confession.
- "If he be Mr. Hyde," he had thought, "I shall be Mr. Seek." Mr Utterson, the lawyer, deciding to watch the door.
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë (1847)
- "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." Catherine, about Heathcliff.
- "I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas." Catherine again.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
- "Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" The end of Chapter 2, one of the best chapter endings ever written.
- "The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes." Holmes, naturally.
How to use them
Write one inside a bookmark for a boo basket, use one as a caption on a Halloween photo, or put one on a card with a gothic novel as the present. For more ideas, see boo basket ideas for book lovers.
All of these books are in the public domain, so the words are free for anyone to use. My prints of their scenes are made with AI image tools and art-directed by me.