Creepiest, Most Atmospheric and Intriguing Gothic Quotes to Send a Chill Down Your Spine
The definition of gothic has changed over the years, but in general it refers to anything that is of the macabre or eerie variety. In short, gothic references things that are unsettling and unnerving.
For this reason, it’s no surprise that many of the best gothic quotes involve dark subject matter like death, murder, ghosts, and witches.
The gothic genre has been around since the late 17th century, but it still hasn’t gotten old.
From Edgar Allan Poe to HP Lovecraft, authors have found new and innovative ways to scare their readers out of their wits using the backdrop of castles, eerie graveyards, mad scientists, and dark forests.
Here are eight of the most intriguing gothic quotes from various books, movies, and TV shows that will keep you up at night!
Most Intriguing Gothic Quotes
With ‘The Keep,’ I began with a theory about pitting the isolated disconnection of the gothic realm against present-day hyperconnectedness. I emerged feeling that the gothic genre is all about hyperconnectedness – the possibility of disembodied communication – and that we now live in a kind of permanently gothic state. —Jennifer Egan
My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the usual bound of reverie. —Mary Shelley
I went through a gothic phase at one point. All black: black lipstick, purple lipstick. It was very weird, and then I went through a phase where I wore shoes with no less than a three-inch platform. —Sabrina Claudio
I loved fairy tales when I was a kid. Grimm. The grimmer the better. I loved gruesome gothic tales and, in that respect, I liked Bible stories, because to me they were very gothic. —Amy Tan
Gothic architecture requires individual craftsmanship. The wish to create an enclosed world for the congregation gives rise in Gothic architecture to the need to create something wherein the activity of the congregation plays a part. —Rudolf Steiner
These old ballparks are like cathedrals in America. We don’t have big old Gothic cathedrals like they do in Europe. But we got baseball parks. —Jimmy Buffett
Perhaps because my town was so naturally gothic in its architecture and relative isolation – the roads often closed in winter – my stories tended toward the ghostly and the creepily suspenseful right from the get-go. —Andrew Pyper
But if you read Jane Austen, you know that she had a wicked sense of humor. Not only was she funny, but her early writing was very dark and had a gothic tone to it. —Seth Grahame-Smith
Before that, I wanted to be a magazine illustrator – I probably would have painted Gothic scenes. —Ira Levin
Since the Gothic, European sculpture has become overgrown with moss, weeds – all sorts of surface excrescences which completely concealed shape. It has been Brancusi’s special mission to get rid of this overgrowth and to make us once more shape-conscious. —Henry Moore
The murderous mark of the fiend’s grasp was on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her lips. —Frankenstein
Its classical unity is broken only by the author’s uncertainty as to where the fatal flaw lies – is it in Victor’s hubris or in his failure to take responsibility for his creation after endowing it with the life-spark. —Stephen King.
I don’t really begin with ideas about genre. I certainly wrote a gothic novel, ‘The Keep,’ that conformed to and, in some ways, played with every convention I knew of to work with in the gothic, but the way I came to it was very instinctive and visceral. —Jennifer Egan
Yet for my part, deeply as I am moved by the religious architecture of the Middle Ages, I cannot honestly say that I ever felt the slightest emotion in any modern Gothic church. —Goldwin Smith
There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand. —Frankenstein
Southern Gothic is alive and well. It’s not just a genre, it is a way of life. —Greg Iles
But now I know that it is very important that all buildings should be consistent, that this is the quality of the Gothic cathedral, for instance, that we like. —Minoru Yamasaki
Solitude was my only consolation – deep, dark, deathlike solitude. —Frankenstein
I hate the word gothic but I would like to try doing something like that. A gothic sound, not rock, but gothic. There’s a difference. —Kelly Osbourne
Many of the elements associated with storybook mythology and gothic aesthetics are actually not expressive. —Caroline Polachek
The 1890s was perhaps the most Gothic decade ever: ‘Dracula,’ ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Time Machine,’ not to mention ‘Heart of Darkness’ and ‘The Interpretation of Dreams,’ were all written between 1890 and 1899. —Mark Fisher
But I think we are seeing a resurgence of the graphic ghost story like The Others, Devil’s Backbone and The Sixth Sense. It is a return to more gothic atmospheric ghost storytelling. —Guillermo del Toro
My job on ‘Dark Shadows’ was to make it fun and funny, first and foremost. It can still be dark and it can still even be gory and gothic at times, but it also needed to be fun and it needed to be an experience that people would enjoy having. —Seth Grahame-Smith
I collected bones from charnel houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame. —Frankenstein
On my left forearm, I’ve got a gothic cross with a tombstone in the center with the initials ‘E’ and ‘G’ for my friend, the late Eddie Guerrero. —Rey Mysterio
I love gothic monsters, but I like to root them more firmly in the traditional folklore from which they sprang. Or at least, I like to evoke the feeling of those folk stories. —Ted Naifeh
One futuristic novel that had a huge impact on me was Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein,’ which is kind of science fiction plus Gothic. —Jennifer Egan
I love all that kind of gothic Bram Stoker kind of thing. I love to get lost in that kind of escapism. —Rob Halford
It’s true that my stories seem to deal with the end of the world. I’ve often been called the high priest of gothic miserablism, which is slightly unfair. —Alastair Reynolds
One of the most fun characters I played on a television series, which didn’t last long… was a show called ‘American Gothic’ that Shaun Cassidy created. I would have loved to have done that show forever. That character was so funny yet demonic. It was really good writing and a really good idea. I loved all the people on the show. —Gary Cole
I like the dark, mysterious, maybe even gothic type girls. They have to have a good personality too! I’m very picky. —Shia LaBeouf
Nick’s just from this very Norman Rockwell-ish family. They’re very ‘American Gothic,’ and his parents are so kind, and they’re not brash people; they’re very soft-spoken, salt of the earth. —Megan Mullally
Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful. —Frankenstein
‘Man,’ I cried, ‘how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.’ —Frankenstein
I am drawn to Americana, and I am drawn to gothic stories, and I love American gothic stories. —Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
I like to spoof the original Gothic classics, so there is also good dose of comedy in the ‘Parasol Protectorate’ – giggling readers are good. —Gail Carriger
Most buildings, whether they’re Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high-tech for their time. —Richard Rogers
For me, Gothic is something from my youth, when I had a heavy metal phase. —Ann Demeulemeester
I was halfway through writing a gothic, country house mystery when, out of the blue, I received an email inviting me to audition for the ITV show, ‘Popstar To Operastar.’ —Roland Orzabal
If you look at Gothic detailing right down to the bottom of a column or the capital of a column, it’s a small version of the whole building; that’s why, like dating the backbones of a dinosaur, a good historian can look at a detail of a Gothic building and tell you exactly what the rest of the building was, and infer the whole from the parts. —Charles Jencks
Go out and find a copy of ‘The Shrinking Of Treehorn’ and its sequel, ‘Treehorn’s Treasure.’ Written by Florence Parry Heide and illustrated by the great Edward Gorey, master of the gothic and the macabre, these books are small masterpieces. —Chris Riddell
I couldn’t go now to a brand that had a niche attitude like… gothic. I couldn’t do that. Well, I could do it, but I wouldn’t find it interesting, challenging. —Raf Simons
Regency buildings are often said to lack the serenity of their early Georgian predecessors, or the intense scholarship of the subsequent Gothic revival. —Lucy Worsley
Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up for a sense of power and prestige. That is a disservice. Magic is very colorful. Of this, I am sure. —Alan Moore
It’s a tradition in our family that the girls all be given crazy names, usually picked out of Gothic novels. —Conchata Ferrell
I’m not interested in gothic storytelling or the horrific for its own sake. I’m always interested in it as a way of getting at larger ideas or important meaning. And you don’t see that as much as you’d think in the history of horror cinema. A lot of times, it’s scariness for scariness’ own sake. —Scott Derrickson
Melrose is the finest remaining specimen of Gothic architecture in Scotland. Some of the sculptured flowers in the cloister arches are remarkably beautiful and delicate, and the two windows – the south and east oriels – are of a lightness and grace of execution really surprising. —Bayard Taylor
Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by by journalists – ‘goff’ with a double f – always seemed to me to be about tacky, harum-scarum horror, and I find that anything but scary. That wasn’t what we were about at all. —Siouxsie Sioux
I love puffins. They are small, round gothic birds, and their babies are called pufflings. —Caitlin Moran
Edinburgh is a sort of gothic fairytale city, and it can be a gothic horror city as well. —David MacKenzie
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. —Frankenstein
I would be concerned if one of my children were constantly watching nothing but horror films or indulging in gothic literature without the balance of other types of art and entertainment. I do think that’s a danger. —Scott Derrickson
Lita was the perfect blend of pretty and punk, Lucha with a gothic edge and a high-flyer who could take on anyone, anytime, anyplace. She truly was ahead of her time. —Natalya Neidhart
Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. —Frankenstein
I’m not really into gothic music, it’s not really my type of scene, but each to their own. I listen to pretty much anything. —Richard Fleeshman
Junior high is so much worse than high school because at least in high school different is more accepted, celebrated actually: all the girls with blue hair and gothic Hello Kitty backpacks. —Nikki Reed
Revived in this country the long forgotten beauties of Gothic architecture. —James Wyatt
Preacher is a book that somehow allows me time by its settling on it’s characters, that sort of modern gothic western feel. You’re not likely to see the boat veering too far from that. —Garth Ennis
Mention the gothic, and many readers will probably picture gloomy castles and an assortment of sinister Victoriana. However, the truth is that the gothic genre has continued to flourish and evolve since the days of Bram Stoker, producing some of its most interesting and accomplished examples in the 20th century – in literature, film and beyond. —Carlos Ruiz Zafon
No matter how daring or cautious you may choose to be, in the course of your life, you are bound to come into direct physical contact with what’s known as Evil. I mean here not a property of the gothic novel but, to say the least, a palpable social reality that you in no way can control. —Joseph Brodsky
Irish fiction is full of secrets, guilty pasts, divided identities. It is no wonder that there is such a rich tradition of Gothic writing in a nation so haunted by history. —Terry Eagleton
To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. —Frankenstein
I’ve never been able to write narrative as a character, really. Jenny Lewis, I love her stuff, I love that she can weave these American Gothic fairytales. I feel like I sound inauthentic when I do that, so I tend to write from a personal standpoint. —Lauren Mayberry
I came to London constantly, working with Ninja Theory on ‘DmC Devil May Cry,’ and I kind of fell in love with this amazing architecture, where you have these buildings that have clearly been around a long time, and they have this amazing gothic look, and then on the first floor, it’s a McDonald’s. —Hideaki Itsuno
True Dare Kiss’ is a gothic drama about a highly dysfunctional Mancunian family who, after 20 years, reconvene for the funeral of their father. I wanted to play Phil because I really liked the character, and there is an element of mystery about her – which I can’t reveal. —Dervla Kirwan
I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the bibles of the poor. —John McGahern
Walking at random through the streets, we came by chance upon the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I shall long remember my first impression of the scene within. The lofty gothic ceiling arched far above my head and through the stained windows the light came but dimly – it was all still, solemn and religious. —Bayard Taylor
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Frankenstein monster. No one could ever convince me that he was the bad guy. —Stan Lee
What I’ve absorbed of the gothic or paranormal has come mainly from films. —Glen Duncan
So I may not have had a gothic childhood, but childhood makes its own gothicity. —George Saunders
I decorated my house like a medieval gothic castle, European-style. Chandeliers and red velvet curtains. My bedroom is pink and black, my bathroom is totally Hello Kitty, I have a massive pink couch and a big antique gold cross. —Avril Lavigne
I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. —Frankenstein
I do enjoy Gothic fiction or books about zombies if they are well written, and I like vampires. —Roddy Doyle
He never wanted to hurt anyone; he merely groped his torturous way through a second life trying to defend himself, trying to come to terms with those who sought to destroy him. —Stan Lee
The cat is classic whilst the dog is Gothic – nowhere in the animal world can we discover such really Hellenic perfection of form, with anatomy adapted to function, as in the felidae. —H. P. Lovecraft
I found ‘The Face Of Another’ by Kobo Abe disappointing despite the excellent, gothic premise: a man who’s terrible facial scarring leads him to create a perfect mask. —Emma Healey
For a 12-year-old with a hyperactive imagination who liked to dream of dreary gothic castles, suburban Florida felt a little stifling. —Ransom Riggs
All the great works of art, the cathedrals – the Gothic cathedrals and the splendid Baroque churches – are a luminous sign of God, and thus are truly a manifestation, an epiphany of God. —Pope Benedict XVI
The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. —Frankenstein
I wouldn’t consider myself Goth, but I love Gothic pieces. —Tyson Chandler
Farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend; may heaven, in its bounty, bless and preserve you; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer. —Frankenstein
I have always believed that the material world is governed by nonmaterial sources, so that in that sense ‘English Music’ is an exercise in the spiritual as well as the material. I have always been attracted to the Gothic and spiritual imagination, and I’ve always been interested in visionaries. —Peter Ackroyd
Often in gothic novels there’s a large house, an estate, and it’s symbolic of that culture. Usually it’s sort of moldering or rotted or something, and sometimes it’s a whole community. —Joyce Carol Oates
I wanted to keep a Gothic cathedral alive in my heart. —Susan Vreeland
My wife and I battle over home decor. My style goes from Gothic to Baroque. Hers is minimalist. —Joe Bastianich
As a kid, I was obsessed with myths and legends and the haunting beauty of gothic stories. —Nathan Parsons
If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear. —Frankenstein
I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out; and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. —Mary Shelley.
Shirley Jackson’s writings are a must for aficionados of the gothic and of good literature. —Carlos Ruiz Zafon
We have to thank the members of the Romantic movement for the sober colours of suits. It was their love of the Gothic that put us in grey and black, but the suit stuck. —A. A. Gill
To me, steampunk and urban fantasy are naturally hinged together. And I think that’s because I love the early gothic Victorian literature, and both things spring from that movement. —Gail Carriger
Mike Mignola’s ‘Hellboy’ comics have a drizzly, musty gothic ambience – the same fetid air that H. P. Lovecraft circulated in his fiction. —Elvis Mitchell
I was a happy-go-lucky gothic girl who had an optimistic spirit cos I was suffering a lot at home. —Princess Nokia
I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. —Mat Kearney
I’m a collector of carvings. I love old, wooden, grotesque Gothic pieces, anything that has cherubs on it, satyrs and carved angels. —Zak Bagans
I was pretty partial to Kerouac and I also liked Flannery O’Connor and the Southern Gothic writing and local writers, like Jesse Stewart. They became an inspiration for how I wanted my writing voice to be. —Tyler Childers
‘Crimson’ is written in a very particular style, and it’s very precise in the way it graduates into a gothic romance. The souls that will connect with it will connect deeply. —Guillermo del Toro
I’m not a futurist, and my taste in science fiction was sort of in the gothic horror vein, not space movies and futuristic stuff. —Robert Picardo
Opera, next to Gothic architecture, is one of the strangest inventions of Western man. It could not have been foreseen by any logical process. —Kenneth Clark
Well, Italy had been overrun by the War, there had practically been civil war, north and south of the Gothic Line, heavy bombing, the northern industrial cities had been bombed heavily and we had political disorder before 1948. —Gianni Agnelli
I’ve always had a fondness for the Gothic. That’s what kind of stories attract me: Why do people do bad things. —Gillian Flynn
People are very surprised when they see me. Here is this crazy Gothic woman, but when they speak to me in person, they realize I’m a nice girl. I love to interact with my fans. —Paige
I had a gothic phase, and now I’m more edgy chic. —Ashley Benson
The principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable. —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread. —Frankenstein
The raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors, the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought; and if my incantations were always unsuccessful, I attributed the failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake than to a want of skill or fidelity in my instructors. —Frankenstein
I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light. —Frankenstein
The child still struggled and loaded me with epithets which carried despair to my heart; I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet. —Frankenstein
And I call on you, spirits of the dead, and on you, wandering ministers of vengeance, to aid and conduct me in my work. Let the cursed and hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now torments me. —Frankenstein
Gothic Quotes You’d Love to Tweet
I have been dead for centuries, and yet I live on. —Bram Stoker, Dracula Click To TweetI had a gothic phase, and now I'm more edgy chic. —Ashley Benson Click To TweetThe principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable. —Samuel Taylor Coleridge Click To TweetThe greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness… —Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment Click To TweetMy name is legion; for we are many… —Mark Click To TweetIt was a dark and stormy night. —Edward Bulwer-Lytton Click To TweetThe sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires fulfilled are a tree of life. —Proverbs Click To TweetAll that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. —Edgar Allan Poe Click To TweetI have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me. —Hermann Hesse Click To TweetThe oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. —H.P. Lovecraft Click To TweetWhat is human life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is a breath of a buffalo in wintertime. It is as big as an infant's tear. Click To TweetGothic Quotes with Images
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FAQs
What is gothic literature?
Gothic literature is a genre that emerged in the late 18th century and became increasingly popular in the 19th century. It is characterized by its focus on the supernatural, horror, and death. Gothic literature often explores themes of mental illness, addiction, and despair. Many gothic novels are set in dark, foreboding castles or mansions.
What are some common themes in gothic literature?
Gothic literature is known for its dark and often eerie themes. Common themes include death, decay, fear, and madness. Gothic literature often explores the dark side of human nature, and can be quite suspenseful. These quotes reflect some of the most spine-tingling aspects of gothic literature.
Who are some famous authors of gothic literature?
Famous authors of gothic literature include Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. These writers created some of the most iconic horror stories ever written. Their works are still widely read today and continue to inspire new generations of writers.
What are some famous gothic
quotes?
My favorite gothic quotes are:
*It was a dark and stormy night. —Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I have been dead for centuries, and yet I live on. —Bram Stoker
* The greatest happiness is to know the source of unhappiness. —Fyodor Dostoevsky
* My name is legion; for we are many. —Mark
* The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires fulfilled are a tree of life. —Proverbs
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading these spooky Gothic quotes!
What’s your favorite Gothic quote?
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