The Shadows Quotes
"The old stone house, covered with encroaching scarves of ivy, was left full of its antique furniture and strange knickknacks."
"The gigantic jungle fern that hung from the porch ceiling keeled over for lack of water."
"Rumors soon began to fly regarding where and how Ms. McMartin had finally kicked it."
"And then, according to Mrs. Nivens, who saw it all through her kitchen window, just as they were about to be loaded into the animal shelter truck, the three kitty carriers popped open simultaneously."
"The rusty mailbox began to bulge with odd and exotic mail-order catalogs, which eventually overflowed the gaping aluminum door and spilled out into the street."
"It looked as though it might have been used yesterday."
"The words hovered in her mind like candle smoke. Before Olive could quite believe them, they had faded away."
"This house was crumbly and dark and weird. It was full of corners that the lights never reached."
"The house’s creaks and groans were almost covered by the thumps of her own heart. But not quite."
"The house made her feel so out of place, or so alone."
"The house doesn't belong to someone just because it has been paid for. Houses are much trickier than that."
"I'll be keeping an eye on you. Personally, I like seeing someone new in this place."
"It was the kind of giggle someone makes when she is playing hide-and-seek and none of the other kids can find her."
"She would have picked a nice tree and stayed there, wearing her favorite shade of green and never having to turn pink or yellow again."
"The house creaked. A twig of the ash tree tapped softly against her window, again and again, like a small, patient hand."
"Her heart was thundering. Her lungs ached. Her whole body knew that nothing mattered but getting away from the darkness."
"A normal person’s skin was full of tiny details: moles and freckles, fine wrinkles and fuzzy hairs. But Morton’s skin was perfectly smooth, and slightly shiny. It wasn’t skin at all. It was paint."
"I’ll come back and see you soon. If you want me to, I mean."
"Everything would already have been taken care of. Now get up and follow me."
"You’re not just going to leave me here, are you?"
"You must be wearing them to get in or to get out. In other words, don’t lose them while you’re inside, or you’ll be trapped."
"Sometimes I think I’ve been laying the same stone over and over. Seems this wall will never get finished."
"I didn’t know what would happen when I went into the painting! But when I did, I knew I couldn’t just leave Morton there."
"Imagine being trapped with Morton for eternity!"
"You can’t have a pulse if you don’t even have a heart."
"Morton—I hate to leave right now, but I’ve got to go. I’m sorry."
"Every time she tried to grasp an idea and turn it over for a closer look, she saw Morton, his round face turned toward that dark, unchanging sky."
"The only other person—or sort-of person—who would know the truth was Horatio."
"Olive was destined to break things in houses like Mrs. Nivens’s, where everything was spotless and carefully arranged."
"The paintings. The trapdoor in the basement. The necklace, which hung even now inside her shirt."
"By the time Olive made it to the bottom of the attic stairs, the whole house was in chaos."
"Olive was no closer to knowing how to help him, and she didn’t want to visit him only to abandon him again."
"Maybe I can help you," she finished, very softly.
"Curiosity can lead to danger if we take too many risks, but... it's curiosity that is the mother of invention."
"The only good thing Albert ever did, as far as Aldous was concerned, was have a daughter. Annabelle."
"None of us thought you would discover so much so quickly."
"I could hear Baltus even without the spectacles."
"Everything?" squeaked Olive, hugging her knees.
"He painted portraits that could come to life, and that would even have the personalities of the people he had painted, but with one big improvement: These people could live forever."
"It’s what he did to the neighbors on Linden Street who knew too much about Old Man McMartin, as they called him."
"We didn’t have much choice!" retorted Horatio. "If you had ever been an indentured servant for a family of witches, you might begin to understand."
"Annabelle was not as evil as her grandfather. After the murder of her mother and father, she began to realize that she did not want what her grandfather wanted."
"The painted version of Annabelle is wandering around, faithfully trying to bring her grandfather back. And you’ve got his picture hanging around your neck."
"Ye have met your match in King Arthur’s knights, sorceress! The righteous shall prevail against evil!"
"We’re going to visit your little friend," she said.
"Hold out your hand, boy," said Annabelle to Morton.
"This is still our house. It will always be ours, and no one will ever again chase our family away."
"I told you I was real," he whispered. "I have blood. You saw it."
"We did it," he said. "We did it! We did it!" he chanted, hopping up and down.
"I think these batteries are dying," said Olive.
"I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Aldous McMartin! And I don’t think you’re such a great painter, either!"
"To get rid of the shadows, you’ll need to bring the light."
"I'm not going to let the McMartins get rid of us," she said slowly. "I'm going to get rid of them."
"Do not think it, my lady!" Harvey dismissed Olive’s words with a grand wave of his paw.
"You can’t see anything but his shadow, you nitwit," snapped Horatio.
"It would be a privilege, my lady," said Harvey, bolting into the room and bumping Leopold aside.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said to the darkness.
"Very well. I will decide for you," the voice whispered in her ear.
"Go to sleep, Olive. You won’t need to feel a thing. No more fear. No more loneliness. Nothing at all."
"Then you will truly belong here, in this house, forever. And no one will ever make you feel out of place again."