Nancy A. Collins > Quotes

“... you cannot shake hands with the Devil and not get sulphur on your sleeve.”
― Nancy A. Collins

“Sleep: the stepchild of Death.”
― Nancy A. Collins, In the Blood

“She knew that the only love her demon was capable of was self-destructive, cruel, vampiric, parasitic, and all the other words her best friends had used to describe Jerry, Alec, Christian, Matt, and the others whose names, faces, and genitalia had now blurred together in her memories. They were men incapable of love yet able to inspire suicide threats.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Demonlover

“It was colder than a politician's heart that winter.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Moon. Big white moon. White as milk moon. You’re all I can see from my window, here in the dark. Your light falls silver and white across the walls of my cell. The night-tide surges strong in me. So strong I can feel the grip of their drugs loosen. They fancy themselves high priests. Their gods have names like Thorazine and Lithium and Shock Therapy. But their gods are new and weak and cannot hope to contain me much longer. For I am the handiwork of far more powerful, far more ancient deities. Very soon my blood will learn the secret of the inhibiting factors the white-coated shamans pump into my veins. And then things will be very different, my beautiful moon. My white big moon. White as milk moon. Red as blood”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“She pulled herself through the narrow window into the darkness, midwife to her own rebirth.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“the South Brooklyn seaside neighborhood was now showing signs of finally succumbing to the real estate developers. As the taxi wound through funky little side streets, I spotted a billboard advertising the IKEA warehouse located just off the Gowanus Expressway. Wine bars and condos wouldn’t be far behind.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Left Hand Magic

“Maybe you heard of me. I used to be famous, in a roundabout fashion.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Twenty-four hours ago, this had been a place where people lived, worked and planned for the future. Now it was a scene of carnage.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Humans insist on defining reality by their standards. They are poorly equipped to do so, since they are selectively deaf and blind in one eye. They are beings with an insatiable need to categorize the universe that surrounds them, but demand that the facts reveal a universe suited for human cultivation and exploitation. Things must remain status quo.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“I carry with me a white man who is dead during the day and walks at night. He drinks the blood of the living - both animal and man. (Nancy A. Collins, Deadman's Hand)”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Every synapse in the punk’s brain overloads and goes ka-blooey.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“But I can tell you the reason for me being so youthful-looking for a man a century and a half old. I’m not exactly what you’d call human. Hell, I’m not human at all. The closest thing you might be able to relate me to is what’s known as a ‘werewolf’, but not the kind you see in picture shows that sprout hair and teeth every time there’s a full moon. The truth of my kind is a lot more complicated—and frightening—than that.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Walking Wolf: A Weird Western

“To see such a glorious mind as his overthrown—it is something you never forget.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Return To Hell House: A Prequel

“Within twelve hours of the Sunday Herald hitting the streets, Golgotham suddenly found itself besieged by the young, bored, and semi-affluent.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Left Hand Magic

“I said I don’t want it in the house, is that clear?’ She turned and left. Discussion closed. I knew better than to argue. I cast a guilty glance over my shoulder at Aphra. She was grinning at me. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, Reg.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Aphra

“The orderly is nearing the end of his rounds. I can hear his footsteps echoing in the hall and his ragged breathing. He’s a big man. I can smell his sweat. He’s checking on the inmate next door. It’ll be my turn next. He always saves me for last. I guess it’s because he’s scared of me. I don’t blame him. I’m scared of me, too.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“How pathetic. Minor-league monsters strutting and performing in their private Grand Guignols. How fucking lame. You want fear? You want terror? You want to see what it’s really like to be a monster? You used to know, before they caught you and threw you in this playpen. Now you have to dream about blood and pain instead of living it out. You’re no longer free to actualize the perfection of your private hells on the flesh of your victims. But that’s the way life is. Once you’re caught, assholes, you’re at the mercy of others. Welcome to your nightmares.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“Time snapped and Hagerty found himself speeding toward the woman in the straitjacket. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled her off the corpse and held her at arm's length. He caught a glimpse of Kalish's face and the shredded mess where his throat should have been.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“On the side of the canvas canopy was painted in bold, somewhat faded script: Dr Mirablis Wondrous Elixir Re-Vitae.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Its eyes locked onto Yoakum, shining with an unwholesome hunger.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Dead Man's Hand: Five Tales of the Weird West

“Things had gone badly at Hell House, although not quite as horribly as the '31 investigation. At least this time there were survivors, if you wanted to call being reduced to catatonia and raving lunacy 'surviving'.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Return to Hell House

“They were Siamese twins, joined at the groin by a traitorous piece of meat.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark

“That’s when his job got tough. Since that night, his shift had yet to go by without one of the inmates waking up with the night horrors. They all claimed the woman in Room 7 walked into their dreams. They couldn’t – or wouldn’t – elaborate on the details. Claude described the dreams to Dr. Morial, the ward’s on-call psychiatrist. Morial asked him if he liked his job. Claude let it drop. Life was complicated enough without trying to figure out why a bunch of loonies should fixate on a fellow inmate they had never seen. Or how they could describe her so well.”
― Nancy A. Collins, Sunglasses After Dark