we need ghost stories because we, in fact, are the ghosts.

The quickest way to learn about a new place is to know what it dreams of.

It hurts to imagine stuff. It can give you a headache. Probably doesn't hurt physically, but it hurts mentally. But the more that you can do it, the more you're able to get out of it. Everybody has that capacity, but I don't think everyone develops it.

Most people are optimists, although they may claim they are not. People who call themselves realists are often the biggest optimists of all.

As a teenager, I read a lot of H.P. Lovecraft, so I wrote like H.P. Lovecraft. And in my 20s, I read a lot of Ross Macdonald and Raymond Chandler, so I wrote like those guys. But, little by little, you develop your own style.

We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long.

I just didn't want her to get hurt. I thought she was going to be. But everyone gets their share, don't they? Sure. Pow, in the nose. Pow, in the eye. Pow, below the belt, down you go, and the ref just went out for a hot dog.