The Haunting (1963) - Quotes

Silence and Fear in Hill House

Taglines: SCREAM...no one will hear you! RUN...and the silent foosteps will follow, for in Hill House the dead are restless!

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Exploring the Mystique of Hill House

Taglines: An evil old house, the kind some people call haunted, is like an undiscovered country waiting to be explored. Hill House had stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.

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Belief and Terror in the Unknown

Taglines: You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror.

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Consequences of Perception and Reality

Theodora: You've got foolishness and wickedness all mixed up.

Grace Markway: Didn't you see me?

Dr. John Markway: No, but Eleanor did and it nearly killed her.

Theodora: It DID kill her, seeing her's what made her crash the car.

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Discussion in the Haunting House

Dr. John Markway: Why aren't you upstairs?

Luke Sanderson: I needed a drink.

Dr. John Markway: Grace!

Luke Sanderson: Wait a minute! It's nowhere near the nursery... it's down here.

Theodora: Seems we've been on this kick before.

Eleanor Lance: Next vacation I must really go somewhere else!

Eleanor Lance: [thinking; voice-over] It knows my name, this time it knows my name!

Dr. John Markway: I have to go out there.

Eleanor Lance: [shouting] No, No! It hasn't hurt me. Why should it hurt her?

Dr. John Markway: She might try to do something about it!

Eleanor Lance: Is it over, Theo? Is it?

Theodora: No, I'm still cold. It's going to start everything all over again!

Eleanor Lance: [screaming] It can't get in! It can't get in! Don't let it get in!

Eleanor Lance: [whimpering] God, it knows I'm here!

Luke Sanderson: Doc... I'll let you have the house cheap!

Eleanor Lance: [thinking to herself; voice-over] Go on and on and come back again until it finds me! On and on and on until it finds me!

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Imagining a Family Portrait Together

Theodora: [noticing the large sculptures] You know, this could be a family portrait of us.

Eleanor Lance: Don't be ridiculous.

Theodora: You're the companion, I'm Abigail, uh, grown up, and Markway could be old Hugh.

Luke Sanderson: Where do I fit in?

Theodora: The dog.

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Deciding the Right Door to Enter

Dr. John Markway: Now. Which door?

Theodora: [pointing to her right] That one.

Dr. John Markway: Wrong. I've studied the map, it's this one.

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Humor Amidst Evolutionary Reflection

Dr. John Markway: It has taken 60 million years to develop the carnivorous biped you see before you, Luke Sanderson.

Theodora: Let's see what kind of martinis it makes.

Luke Sanderson: They should be pretty good. I majored in them at college.

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Mrs. Dudley's Strict Evening Routine

Mrs. Dudley: [Eleanor has just been shown her room after she arrives] I can't keep the rooms the way I'd like, but there's no one else they could get that would help me.

Eleanor Lance: How very nice.

Mrs. Dudley: I set dinner on the dining room sideboard at 6. I clear up in the morning. I have breakfast for you at 9. I don't wait on people. I don't stay after I set out the dinner, not after it begins to get dark. I leave before the dark.

Eleanor Lance: Your husband?

Mrs. Dudley: We live over in town, miles away.

Eleanor Lance: Yes.

Mrs. Dudley: So there won't be anyone around if you need help.

Eleanor Lance: I understand.

Mrs. Dudley: We couldn't hear you. In the night.

Eleanor Lance: Do you have any idea when Dr. Markway...

Mrs. Dudley: [cuts her off] No one could. No one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that.

Eleanor Lance: I know.

Mrs. Dudley: [Mrs. Dudley smiles and leaves] In the night. In the dark.

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Confronting the House's Unseen Presence

Dr. John Markway: You wait here, Grace. I'll go in and get your things, and then call the police.

Grace Markway: No, no, no! No one must go back into that house again. Whatever's there might...

Dr. John Markway: I'll be all right. The house has what it wants... for a while.

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Questioning Sanity and Perception of Reality

Theodora: Is this another one of your crazy hallucinations?

Eleanor Lance: I'm not crazy!

Theodora: Crazy as a loon! You really expect me to believe that you're sane and the rest of the world is mad?

Eleanor Lance: Well, why not? The world is full of inconsistencies. Unnatural things. Nature's mistakes they call you for instance!

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Offer to Sell the House Cheap

Luke Sanderson: Doc, I'll let you have the house cheap!

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Destruction and Erasure of a Haunted Place

Luke Sanderson: [referring to Hill House] It ought to be burned down... and the ground sowed with salt.

Advice on Arguing with Women

Luke Sanderson: Only one way to argue with a woman Doc... Don't.

Questioning the Nature of the Location

Theodora: What would you call this place? Fun-o-rama?

Theodora's Concern for Nell's Well-Being

Theodora: Poor Nell. You look like Death.

The Reality of the Supernatural

Dr. John Markway: Look, I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen.

The Nature of the House's Evil

Dr. John Markway: It was an evil house from the beginning - a house that was born bad.

The Dangers of a Closed Mind

Dr. John Markway: A closed mind is the worst defense against the supernatural... If it happens to you, your liable to have that shut door in your mind ripped right off it's hinges!

The Mystery of Hill House Awaits Exploration

Dr. John Markway: [voice-over] An evil old house, the kind some people call haunted, is like an undiscovered country waiting to be explored. Hill House had stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there... walked alone.

Reflections on Human Nature and Improvement

Eleanor Lance: Human nature could certainly stand some improvement.

Awareness of an unseen presence

Eleanor Lance: Can't you feel it? It's alive... watching.

A Moment of Uncertainty and Fear

Eleanor Lance: God! God! Whose hand was I holding?

Reflections on Hill House's Enduring Silence

Eleanor Lance: [voice-over] Hill House has stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut. Silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House. And we who walk here... walk alone.