“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear…”
H.P. Lovecraft
Why this quote resonates
This quote resonates because it names something every person has felt. We chose it for Halloween because the holiday is all about fear, and this line explains why we feel it. We also like that it comes from one of the best known writers of horror.
Meaning of the quote
This is the opening sentence of Supernatural Horror in Literature, an essay from 1927. It goes on to say that the oldest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown. The core idea is that we are most afraid of what we cannot see or understand, like a dark room or a strange sound. The nuance is that Lovecraft is explaining why horror stories have always worked.
When people share this quote
We think this is great for horror fans who like to talk about why scary stories work. It also works as an opening line for a Halloween talk, a blog post or a school project. Readers of our Fear and Wisdom collections will find it interesting too.
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