64 Suspenseful Quotes

Suspense is a powerful literary tool that keeps readers on the edge of their seats, eagerly turning pages to uncover what happens next. Whether it's the quiet tension of a mystery or the pulse-pounding anxiety of a thriller, suspense captivates in a way few other elements can. In this collection, we've gathered 64 of the most suspenseful quotes from literature, film, and beyond. These lines are bound to give you that delicious feeling of anticipation and eager unease, as well as inspire your own writing or reading choices. So, get ready to delve into a world where every word counts and every second matters—prepare to be enthralled by the gripping essence of suspense!

1. “Brannagh Maloney had lived with disappearances all her life. They were as familiar to her as the changing of the Fundy tides. People who disappeared left cast-off shadows of themselves, murky tremblings that slunk out of corners on drizzly autumn afternoons. They lurked offstage, silent or sighing or reaching out to run a finger across her arm. They were the curtains fluttering in the window on a breezeless morning, the musty scent that arose when opening an abandoned cellar door. LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)” - Kathy-Diane Leveille

2. “I love you, Katherine James. I love you with everything I am. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. Remember that."Gabe Rossiter” - Pamela Clare

3. “I'm giving serious thought into eating yor wife” - Hannibal Lecter” - Thomas Harris

4. “That made love—not grace—the magic ingredient. Then anew thought hit her. Perhaps love was grace. A shiver wentup her spine. What did that make anger? The antithesis ofgrace?” - Penelope Marzec

5. “I’ve never needed a bodyguard, Evan.”His hands stilled on the glasses. “Maybe that isn’t such a bad idea now.”“It’s a terrible idea. I would never want anyone watching every move I make. It’s unnerving. There are fresh lemons in the bottom drawer.”Evan squatted and tugged open the vegetable crisper inside the refrigerator. “You know,” he waved a piece of the yellow fruit for emphasis, “you may want to think about it, though.”Morgan smacked the table so hard the salt and pepper shakers jumped.He grinned and stood. “Haven’t lost your temper, I see.”“My temper wasn’t burned.” - Rachel Carrington

6. “I kissed her, a long hard kiss. Because baby didn't know it, but baby was dead, and in a way I couldn't have loved her more.” - Jim Thompson

7. “Random line from BURNING DARKNESS: Fonda Raine stepped out of the back end of a month in hell a hardened warrior, ready to undertake the most important task of her life: kill Eric Aruda.” - Jaime_Rush

8. “From Chapter 1:The main rub was the lack of RnR and I burned out. Three years and three stripes later, I ejected from the MP Corps, vowing I'd never do police or criminal investigative work again. Instead, I returned home when I should've learned better.” - Ed Lynskey

9. “Shouldering the duffel bag with the Marine Corps bulldog, Old Man knocked Jan's photo off the bed table. He turned to stone staring down at the photo. His face then splintered into hurt. Tears seeped into his eyes. He grappled for the nearest bedpost and slumped forward on extended arms. His shoulders jerked and head sagged a little while his heart broke. Old Man cried the mute cry of men of his generation.” - Ed Lynskey

10. “Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart you feel as if you’ve met them before?” - JoAnne Kenrick

11. “Bringing Thoughts 2 Life” - Brooklen Borne

12. “I cadged a complimentary green matchbook with a gold bird icon from the Bell canning jar. Later we'd use the matches to light our spliffs. My fingertips tapped the stem to the gizmo that dinged a bell. Nobody came out. Wrong signal, so I did two bell rings. No response prompted me to tap out a series of bell rings.” - Ed Lynskey

13. “It’s not so much where I want you,Sophie, as it is how. Nothing tastes quite like a woman, and no woman tastes like you. - Marc Hunter” - Pamela Clare

14. “Her name was Mora ... and she was waiting.” - M.L LeGette

15. “Katherine stared intently at the cold, hard steel. She knew it would be loaded and that, if need be, there was extra ammunition in the back of the drawer. She would not be one of those girls, the ones who sit idly by and wait for the answers to come to them.” - Gwenn Wright

16. “Impertinent submissive,” Raoul snapped, and his dark brown eyes turned mean. “Nothing new for this one. You're doing a lousy job of bringing her to heel, Marcus.”“Bring me to heel? Like I'm a dog?” Without thinking, Gabi instinctively yanked away and snapped out, “Bite me.” - Cherise Sinclair

17. “I always assumed it owed more to the fact that he didn't like me.” - Rick Yancey

18. “Only God is the Giver and Master of Creativity and imagination because they are gifts that can only come from Him Alone!” - Miss Cheyenne Mitchell

19. “You life is a book; make it a bestseller.” - Shanon Grey

20. “Your life is a book; make it a bestseller.” - Shanon Grey

21. “The missing girl—there had been unceasing news reports, always flashing to that achingly ordinary school portrait of the vanished teen, you know the one, with the rainbow-swirl background, the girl's hair too straight, her smile too self-conscious, then a quick cut to the worried parents on the front lawn, microphones surrounding them, Mom silently tearful, Dad reading a statement with quivering lip—that girl, that missing girl had just walked past Edna Skylar.” - Harlan Coben

22. “Oil and Water, Daddy calls us. At four years younger than me, Katie is only fourteen and she already has half the boys in town eating from her pretty little hand. She tells me I am too tall and too wicked looking to capture the heart of any sensible young man.” - Gwenn Wright

23. “If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there".” - Brian Bianco

24. “Yes, she's bleeding to death upstairs, but I thought I'd avoid telling you right away, because I like to draw the suspense out.” - Cassandra Clare

25. “WEST SALEM ~ October 2011A sudden vision, fraught with malevolence and darkness, obscured her sight. The face of a menacing figure turned from the shadows of his grisly handiwork and stared at Sorcha.Her muscles tensed. By the Goddess, could he see her?Please! No!She wanted to scream, to run, but the vision ensnared her into the horrific moment like a fly in a spider's web.” - Chérie De Sues

26. “There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.” - C.S. Lewis

27. “Rene Caron takes my breath away!” - Teresa Lynn

28. “You may suppose that perhaps this Walter T. Wallace found his destiny in food and passed down to his progeny a legacy like that of the great Colonel Sanders. The folks here in Wallace County would love to be able to tell you this is so. But no, like their granddaddy, the Wallace men were thievin’ crooks, always with a scheme ready to separate the weak from their hard-earned money.” - Gwenn Wright

29. “Keep a spur handy.” - Meg Mims

30. “If you believe it, is it real, or is it real because you believe it?” - Virginia McKevitt

31. “Her body was spattered with tiny bits of the reverend’s flesh and blood, like someone had combined shrimp and tomato soup and then forgot to put the lid on the blender.” - Chelsea Cain

32. “Beware. Those with the least amount of authority exercise it the most often.” - Peggy Kopman-Owens

33. “For anyone who wanted to throw away his watch, along with his past, this was the place.” - Peggy Kopman-Owens

34. “The French know the intrinsic value of holding on to the past, its pleasures, its promises, and its tender mercies.” - Peggy Kopman-Owens

35. “This would become a lifelong pattern, sitting in my comfort zone high above the world in some sort of self-imposed exile.” - Peggy Kopman-Owens

36. “Feel it, deal with it, then throw it away” - Reyna Hawk

37. “Only I was capable of saving her now, and that, as far as anyone could argue, may have made me worse than all the devils and the demons, but it also, more accurately, made me better than all the angels and gods.” - Jared S. Anderson

38. “The Piper's playing again, and there's a full orchestra.' There was a long silence as Andrew deciphered the cryptic statement. 'A FULL orchestra?” - D.J. Stutley

39. “Silence hung around the corners, draped like spider webs across all surfaces and hanging like smog in the air.” - Jennifer Perry

40. “These were not the belongings of the past prisoner he had imagined. These were a lady’s things—hairpins and stockings and a glove. There were more clues waiting but William no longer felt certain he wanted to know the dark secrets of this cell.” - Gwenn Wright

41. “In the end, it doesn’t matter, but I wanted you to know; I needed you to know because I read your text to Sarah. You told her I was everything you never thought you could have, and I’m telling you, you’re everything I never knew I wanted, but I’m so glad you’re here.” - Cate Beauman

42. “Inevitably, his vision verged toward the fantastic; he published a scattering of stories - most included in this volume - which appeared to conform to that genre at least to the degree that the fuller part of his vision could be seen as "mysteries." For Woolrich it all was fantastic; the clock in the tower, hand in the glove, out of control vehicle, errant gunshot which destroyed; whether destructive coincidence was masked in the "naturalistic" or the "incredible" was all pretty much the same to him. RENDEZVOUS IN BLACK, THE BRIDE WORE BLACK, NIGHTMARE are all great swollen dreams, turgid constructions of the night, obsession and grotesque outcome; to turn from these to the "fantastic" was not to turn at all. The work, as is usually the case with a major writer was perfectly formed, perfectly consistent, the vision leached into every area and pulled the book together. "Jane Brown's Body" is a suspense story. THE BRIDE WORE BLACK is science fiction. PHANTOM LADY is a gothic. RENDEZVOUS IN BLACK was a bildungsroman. It does not matter.” - Barry N. Malzberg

43. “Leaning forward he placed his lips over hers. She told herself he was breathing life into her, but the truth was he'd always been sucking it out, slowly, one breath at a time. - From ENGRAVED” - Amber Garza

44. “A voice flat enough to fit under a door crack.” - Harlan Coben

45. “Jack gave her a fierce look. “Your mother gave up the best thing she had in her life. I know you miss her, I know you’re confused and have all sorts of questions for her. But you’re better than her, Lola, you’re better than all of this. “She wronged you, not the other way around. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t deserve what happened to you. She’s the one that needs to feel bad, not you. “Sometimes there are no answers. You have to accept that. Maybe you’ll never know what you think you need to know, but do you really need to know all the details, really? You know she wasn’t there when you needed her, she still isn’t here when you need her, but look around, Lola.” Jack opened his arms wide. “You got me. You got your aunt. Jared. Sebastian. Rachel. Even Isabelle. “You need to realize that and move on, as best you can. I had to realize that myself. When you let go of the pain and hurt and unanswered questions, Lola, then you’ll be okay. You’re safe now.” Jack pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re safe now. Remember that. Believe that.” - Lindy Zart

46. “What did you tell me, Jesse? Sure Jake, Stephanie will do exactly what you tell her. Sure Jake, protecting her will be a piece of cake. “Snorting in disbelief, he added, “Being at war is safer compared to this shit, and it’s a hell of a lot easier than looking after your girlfriend.” - Nina D'Angelo

47. “Depression is not dramatic, but it is total. It’s sneaky - you almost don’t notice it at first. Like a cat burglar, it comes in through an open window while you’re sleeping. It takes little things at first; your appetite, your desire to return phone calls. Then it comes back for the big stuff, like your will to live.Then next thing you know, your legs are filled with sand. The thought of brushing your teeth fills you with dread, it seems like such an impossible task. Suddenly you’re living your life in black and white – nothing is bright, nothing is pretty anymore. Music sounds tinny and distant. Things you found funny seem dull and off-key.” - Lisa Unger

48. “Eve: "Where's Mister Scary?"Roarke: "Summerset has the night off."Eve: "You mean the house is Summerset-free? Damn shame we have to waste it with work.” - J.D. Robb

49. “Eve: "She completely eye-fucked you." Roarke: "I know. I feel so cheap and used." Eve: "Shit. You got off on it. Men always do." Roarke: "True enough, which is why we're so often cheap and used.” - J.D. Robb

50. “Woolrich had a genius for creating types of story perfectly consonant with his world: the noir cop story, the clock race story, the waking nightmare, the oscillation thriller, the headlong through the night story, the annihilation story, the last hours story. These situations, and variations on them, and others like them, are paradigms of our position in the world as Woolrich sees it. His mastery of suspense, his genius (like that of his spiritual brother Alfred Hitchcock) for keeping us on the edge of our seats and gasping with fright, stems not only from the nightmarish situations he conjured up but from his prose, which is compulsively readable, cinematically vivid, high-strung almost to the point of hysteria, forcing us into the skins of the hunted and doomed where we live their agonies and die with them a thousand small deaths.” - Francis M. Nevins

51. “But suspense presupposes uncertainty. No matter how nightmarish the situation, real suspense is impossible when we know in advance that the protagonist will prevail (as we would if Woolrich had used series characters) or will be destroyed. This is why, despite his congenital pessimism, Woolrich manages any number of times to squeeze out an upbeat resolution. Precisely because we can never know whether a particular novel or story will be light or dark, allegre or noir, his work remains hauntingly suspenseful.("Introduction")” - Francis M. Nevins

52. “THERE WAS ALWAYS a boy in your life that common sense and the prayers of parents told you to stay away from: fast talker, fast car, and fast hands. He was the boy your father kept a loaded shotgun by the door for and met on the front porch if he ever thought about venturing onto his property…let alone the threshold. He was the tall, dark, mysteriously handsome, and uncharacter-istically quiet one that made you wonder what was going on in his head, and that little voice in your head said it wasn’t always so honorable. He was the boy you broke all of the rules over because bad-boys equaled excitement and the rebel in you liked the ride.” - A.J. Lape

53. “The old joke is that psychiatrists are doctors who can't stand the sight of blood. Maybe they can't stand it, but if they work where I work, they damn well better get used to it.At least surgeons and prizefighters get to wear gloves” - Mike Bartos

54. “Sensationalism dies quickly, fear is long-lived.” - Agatha Christie

55. “Jesus honey, your husband ain’t dead, he’s in hiding.” He growled, watching her visibly flinch. - Jase Devlin” - Nina D'Angelo

56. “He had the muscular definition of a man who had spent his life restraining elephants in heat.” - Taona Dumisani Chiveneko

57. “Your eyes betray a sadness that only a worthy man can conjure, but never solve” - Taona Dumisani Chiveneko

58. “Abel Muranda fought off furious red ants with mandibles that could cut through a miser's padlock.” - Taona Dumisani Chiveneko

59. “His kiss was like no other! His kiss was enchanted and fairy-tale like. He applied pressure, but just enough to feel his tenderness and warmth. I could feel his heart beating wildly as he pressed his chest against my chest all the while his loving lips brushed up against mine with a care-filled affection. His tongue lightly licked the outer edges of my mouth, and then searched for my tongue. The pursuit allowed a marriage of both tongues to meet - inspiring a mingling tango of hot and heavy French kissing to manifest profusely. We kissed like two hot and horny teenagers, our mouths moving and craving each others lips, in animalistic desires!” - Keira D. Skye

60. “Every single time it was grand. I loved the moment when you announce the stickup and everything suddenly goes brighter and sharper and the world seems to spin faster. You show them the gun and say hand it over and there's no telling what's going to happen in the next tick of the clock.” - James Carlos Blake

61. “We are going to hell together. But we're coming back alive. Don't forget that.” - Atsuko Asano

62. “He had always liked a good mess—God knows he had sure made a few. In typical form, he squared his shoulders, furrowed his brows and muttered, “bring it on.” - Shelley K. Wall

63. “You make velocity look good.” - Melissa Cutler

64. “Reacher was the kind of guy who solved all problems as permanently as possible.” - Diane Capri