I saw something even more beautiful than a sense of humor: an appreciation for life’s essential absurdity.

If God rewards us on earth for good deeds—the Old Testament suggests it’s so, and the Puritans certainly believed it—then maybe Satan rewards us for evil ones.

The harder you had to work to open a package, the less you ended up caring about what was inside.

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

Fiction is the truth inside the lie.

Kids absolutely not reading. I think it's because they're so screen-oriented [TVs, computers, smartphones]. They do read - girls in particular read a lot. They have a tendency to go toward the paranormal, romances, Twilight and stuff like that. And then it starts to taper off because other things take precedence, like the Kardashian sisters.