"The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone, like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book"
About this Quote
The phrasing does a lot of work. “Utterly alone” followed by the clarifying “like no one else in the world alone” shows a writer policing his own language, refusing the softened, everyday version of the fear. It’s also a tell: he’s describing an anxiety that’s easier to narrativize than to resolve. Horror often functions as an argument with itself, and Kane’s is about scale. Ordinary solitude becomes terrifying when it’s cosmic, when it implies not just isolation but abandonment by society, by meaning, even by the idea that help exists.
Calling it the “nucleus” of the first story is craft talk with a confession embedded in it. He’s pointing to a generative core: a single primal image that can sprout plot, tone, and theme. The title’s origin matters because it signals intent. The book isn’t merely a collection of scares; it’s organized around a central dread, using fiction to circle, test, and re-stage the same existential nightmare from different angles.
Quote Details
| Topic | Loneliness |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Interview 1 (Paul Kane, 2000)
Evidence:
The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone, like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book.. Primary source located: the quote appears in an interview with Paul Kane conducted by Sue Phillips, explicitly labeled on the page as 'first published August 2000.' The quote is part of Kane's answer to the question about his collection Alone (In the Dark) and fear of night-time. |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kane, Paul. (2026, February 24). The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone, like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-most-terrifying-thing-i-can-think-of-is-being-75837/
Chicago Style
Kane, Paul. "The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone, like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book." FixQuotes. February 24, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-most-terrifying-thing-i-can-think-of-is-being-75837/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The most terrifying thing I can think of is being alone - and I mean utterly alone, like no one else in the world alone - at night. That's the nucleus of the first story in my collection and it's also where the title came from for the book." FixQuotes, 24 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-most-terrifying-thing-i-can-think-of-is-being-75837/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
