Another one is 'The eyes that stared back at me from the darkness were not human.' It immediately creates a sense of dread. Just the thought of non - human eyes watching from the dark is terrifying. It makes you wonder what kind of creature or entity is there, lurking and observing.
In many short stories, there are lines like 'The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.' This line is really thought - provoking as it makes you consider how different the past can be from our present, almost like a different world with its own rules and ways of living. It also implies that we may not fully understand the actions and motives of those in the past.
The opening line 'The man who bought my soul already owned my body.' is quite a great horror opening. It throws you right into a disturbing situation. It makes you question how someone could have their body and soul in such a compromised state. It's a line that grabs your attention and drags you into a world of horror and the unknown.
In 'The Great Gatsby', 'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.' This line beautifully captures the futility and the struggle of the characters in the novel, especially Gatsby's unwavering pursuit of a past love that seems just out of reach.
Another good one is 'The thing on the doorstep, it was no longer a dog.' This line is so effective because it makes you wonder what the 'thing' has become. It builds a lot of suspense and a feeling of the unknown. You start to imagine all kinds of grotesque transformations that could have occurred.
To develop a full horror story from the first line, you need to think about what kind of horror it implies. Say the first line is 'The abandoned asylum loomed in the distance, its broken windows like empty eyes.' Start by creating a character who has a reason to go there, like a journalist. As the journalist enters, describe the decaying interior. The smell of mildew and old blood. Slowly introduce supernatural elements, like doors slamming on their own. Keep building the fear until there's a final confrontation with some kind of malevolent spirit that haunts the asylum.
One of the best is from 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker: '3 May. Bistritz. - Left Munich at 8.35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6.46, but the train was an hour late.' It immediately sets a sense of travel and the start of an adventure into the unknown, which is a great build - up for the horror to come.
In Stephen King's 'It', the opening line 'The terror, which would not end for another twenty - eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.' It hooks the reader right away. The mention of a long - lasting terror and something as simple as a floating paper boat in a rain - swollen gutter creates a contrast that draws you in.
From 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, 'I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!' This line is inspiring because it shows the power and joy of reading. It makes one realize that books can be a never - ending source of entertainment, knowledge, and inspiration.