The two best openings in fiction here. First off, from
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Quote:
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No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone
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And, of course, the single greatest opening line ever, from
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I get a shiver up my back pretty much every time I read this, for some reason I think it's perfect.
Quote:
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Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
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Then there's the final stanza of
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.
Quote:
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!
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I was gonna put in a quote from
Cut by Sylvia Plath, but having just re-read it, I can't find a single quotation to take out, the entire piece is quotable.
*Hopes the copyright police aren't watching this thread*
