Quotes

Dialogue

Eleanor: Have you ever kept something for yourself because you were afraid? Theo: All the time.

Dialogue

Mrs. Dudley: I set dinner on the dining room sideboard at 6:00. Breakfast is ready at 9:00. I don't stay after dinner. Not after it begins to get dark. We live in town, nine miles.. So there won't be anyone around if you need help... Eleanor: We couldn't even hear you. Mrs. Dudley: No one could. No one lives any nearer than town... Eleanor: No one will come any nearer than that. Mrs. Dudley: In the night... Eleanor: In the dark.

Dialogue

Jane: Come live with us, Nell; you have no idea how hard it is out there. Eleanor: No, Jane. You have no idea how hard it was in here.

Dialogue

Theo: Hi. Don't worry, I'm not an obsessive packer. It's just a cheap and exploitative way of making new friends. I'm Theo. Eleanor: Eleanor. But everybody calls me Nell. Theo: Well, "Everybody Calls Me Nell". Don't you love it here? It's like Charles Foster Kane meets the Munsters.

Dialogue

Dr. Marrow: Let me explain what's happening here. You're participating in a study on group fear and hysteria. Luke: What? That's it, that's what this was all about? Theo: You brought us here to scare us, is that it? Dr. Marrow: Yes. Luke: And you were just waiting for her to have a total nervous breakdown before you said it. I mean, what is your problem?

Dialogue

Theo: Isn't it based on the Gates of Hell, by Rodin? Eleanor: Well, it's not just hell. You see the children, they're reaching up for heaven. But their souls are trapped in Purgatory. And these are the demons... who can hold onto your soul for as long as they want. Theo: Did you study art? Eleanor: No, I studied Purgatory. I was there once for 11 years. It's when your soul is caught between the living and the dead.

Dialogue

Eleanor: Why do you need so many chains? Mr. Dudley: That's a good question. What is it about fences? Sometimes the people on either side of the fence see a lock chain, they feel a little more comforted. Why do you suppose that is?

Dialogue

Theo: Is this one of your sick jokes, Luke? Luke: What? You really think I wrote that? Theo: You found it; you could have. Luke: How, with the 20-foot ladder I keep in my back pocket?

Dialogue

Children: Help us... help us... Eleanor Vance: I'm here... I'm here... I'm coming to you, I'm coming to you...