A good quote can be more than just memorable. A quote done right can deliver any kind of emotion beautifully, allow the audience to feel how the characters on the screen feel, and even draw the viewers into that same world with lines that are tinged with sadness or filled of terror.
The latest installment in The Haunting anthology series (a Netflix series created by Mike Flanagan, with Hill House being the first installment), The Haunting Of Bly Manor pulls the perfect quotes off in the best way possible. Rather than simply having there be loads of horrific lines, the series, as it's predecessor did so well, delivers well layered and thought out quotes.
"Funerals Are For The Living. It's Up To The Living To Decide What They Can And Cannot Bear."
Of course, a horror show is going to make the audience scream in fear, but how many times has a horror series or film made the viewer feel something? This is part of the reason as to why The Haunting anthology is so well done, because while it has scare's aplenty, it can leave the audience in tears.
Leave it to a line about the living and the dead to leave audiences in tears from the emotional impact.
"You Know What Life Is Really About, Miles? Keys."
Set up can be critical in crafting a good line of dialog. Often times, the set up can ready the audience for the following monologue or a chunk of dialog that has a larger meaning behind it, all built up due to one line.
So when Peter Quint speaks to Miles about life and about how people are like locks and finding the right key can unlock anything, it really propels the monologue forward.
"One Day At A Time Is What We've Got. It's What Everybody's Got When You Get Down To It."
For one reason or another, some quotes end up sounding like motivational quotes, ones that cut deep into one's heart and maybe even pushes them forward.
"One day at a time is what we've got. It's what everybody's got when you get down to it" works as a darker form of encouragement, reminding audiences to make the most of each day, as one never knows when their time might come.
"Dead Doesn't Mean Gone."
Horror quotes are always going to send a shiver down someone's back. It's just how they work, with most of the lines of dialog causing any audience member to shiver involuntary and even glance over their shoulder to make sure that they are truly alone.
"Dead doesn't mean gone," said in Bly Manor is always enough to cause a bolt of fear to fill one's body. The quote has multiple hidden details, like a lot of things in the series, from talking about the past never dying to the ghosts haunting the old mansion.
“I was having the strangest dream.”
When audiences walked into The Haunting Of Hill House, they were expecting a by the numbers ghost story, full of great scares that could satiate their spooky needs. What no one was expecting in either Hill House or Bly Manor was the mind-bending twists.
The line that the housekeeper, Ms. Grose, repeatedly says "I was having the strangest dream" seems small and insignificant at first... at least until audiences reach the fifth episode, one of the best episodes of the season, and their minds just explode from the amazing twists and turns the show makes.
“You have to promise me that you’ll stay in your room. Don’t leave your room at night.”
There's always a warning that comes with every horror movie. Whether it be random like "they're here" or as on the nose as "abandon all hope, ye who enters", every piece of horror media is accompanied by a warning of the monsters lying in wait.
On the outside, Bly Manor appears to be just another mansion. Yet, the ghouls only roam the halls at night, as proven by in the warning spread by Flora and Miles, "Don't leave your room at night", which, of course, Dani doesn't take seriously.
“That man's a glue trap.”
Every show needs an antagonist. Whether they be the big bad, or just someone who serves as a holding place, or a back up baddie for the real villain, the antagonists are usually the ones no one wants to mess with.
Peter Quint happens to be one of the ghouls in Bly Manor, and serves in some sense as an antagonist who possesses Miles and wreaks havoc around the mansion. As Ms. Grose puts it, "That man's a glue trap", which sums up the evil side of Peter Quint perfectly.
“It’s just you and me then."
So often in films and tv series, ghosts are seen as a truly terrifying force, something that will always scare and strike fear into audiences' minds and hearts. However, one of the things that makes Bly Manor work is that the ghosts are more than just scary: they're reminders.
Throughout the course of the haunted series, Dani, the kid's nanny, struggles to overcome a ghost from her past that continually haunts her. In the end, Dani decides to stop hiding and confront her mistakes, with a simple yet powerful quote in a series where some lines and details don't make a lot of sense.
"I'm Sorry I Didn't Do Worse."
It's always intimidating when a character says a spooky quote and freaks the audience out. Typically, it ends up being some ghost or evil character who strikes fear into audiences' hearts, but sometimes it comes from the ones people least expect.
Miles, one of the two children residing in Bly Manor, ends up being one such character when he's possessed by one of the house's ghostly residents and begins committing a series of horrific acts, stating that he only wished he had done worse, creating a truly chilling moment.
"Shhhhhh."
Occasionally, certain quotes don't need to be in-depth or longer than a single line. In fact, sometimes, the line only needs to be one word or phrase that means a lot more than what many assume.
Bly Manor is full of many creepy characters, and a great deal of them are spooky children, including the adorable Flora, one of the series more likable characters. So when a ghost begins moaning during a game of hide and seek, only a little girl would be able to make an "Shhhh" sound creepy.