I wanted to do a bunch of Halloween quotes in honor of my favorite holiday, but as I searched around for a few good ones, I realized that it’s been done to death. Instead, I decided to pull a few of my favorite quotes from some of the best scary, creepy, eerie or just plain disturbing books instead.

It’s still the same basic concept, except a little more inspired (and in some cases, inspiring) than “hey, here are some great Halloween quotes like “trick or treat, smell my feet!” This is also great for Banned Books Week, as several of these books and/or authors have been banned or challenged over the years!

Halloween Quotes: Odd & Oddly Inspirational Quotes from Scary Stories

Not all of these are supposed to be inspirational. Some are creepy, some are odd, some are inspiring. I don’t want you to get down to, say, the It quote and think “wow, she’s crazy if she thinks that’s an inspirational quote!”

Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes  may not seem like one of the scariest books ever but it totally creeped me out as a kid. Still does! Something about the carnival and the way “Mr. Dark” uses a joyful, innocent event to lure people in to his malevolent plans for them. It’s not an outright terrifying book, but it’s quietly disturbing, like that feeling that something is crawling on you.

Stephen King is a master of horror, so it was difficult to choose which of his books to quote. I actually went with two. This one above is from The Stand, one of my favorite books (and movies) of all time. It’s inspirational, the quote. The book is, again, more disturbing than scary. Especially as we’ve been seeing more “super bugs” in the news in recent years. Honestly, I liked the first half better than the second half of the books.

The second King quote comes from a book that I didn’t read because the movie traumatized me for life. I was already scared of clowns, but this pushed my coulrophobia to whole new levels. If you haven’t guessed, it’s from It.

Peter Straub’s Ghost Story is hailed as one of the top scariest books of all time. I read it years ago and can’t really recall the exact details of the book. I do remember that I slept with the lights on for a while. Ghost stories tend to freak me out more than anything else, mostly because my family has experiences with ghosts. Different story for  different day!

Ah, The Exorcist. Where would pea soup be without William Blayty’s novel to inspire the film version (which was nothing like the book really, if I recall)? It’s one of the few scary movies my mom ever saw, and probably the reason she doesn’t watch ANY scary films anymore. The book is better! Better lines too, like the one above.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is an incredibly disturbing read because of the way Ellis wrote it from the point of view of Bateman, a metro-snob investment banker who leads a normal life most of the time, then likes to murder people on the side. The glance into the mind of a sociopath/psychopath is just a total mind-warp. Did you know some countries find it so disturbing, they sell it in shrink wrap?

We can’t talk scary stories and poems without mentioning good old Edgar Allen Poe, now can we? It’s impossible to pick just one story, although the The Cask of Amontillado freaked me out because the idea of being buried alive behind a wall is just, ick! I really like the quote above from Poe, I believe he just said it though, it’s not from any particular story that I can find.

Finally, one of the scariest books of all time- mostly because it’s coming true is so many ways- George Orwell’s classic, 1984. The entire book is filled with great quotes that really make you think. My favorite is above, because I argue that there is no single reality. Your reality is far from mine, and mine would probably make some people feel like they fell down a rabbit hole!

I think that about does it for my occasionally oddly inspirational not really Halloweeny Halloween quotes! I hope you enjoyed them!

Speaking of scary books, what is the creepiest book that you’ve ever read? Tell me in the comments!