I remembered this thread when reading a section of a story recently. The character was looking through a library of werewolf lore and remarked that there were two volumes that had opening lines that grabbed them:

I write at the behest of monsters.

and

If you are reading this, it's already too late.

 

Good old Narnia. I would count them as favourites forever.

 

I just made a list for a presentation on fanfiction that I'm giving at the Pittsburgh Book Fest next Saturday, so I'll post it here. (They aren't from fanfics; they're just illustrative.)

• The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
  – William Gibson, Neuromancer
  
  
• Mama died today. Or maybe it was yesterday.
  – Albert Camus, The Stranger
  
  
• There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
  – C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  
  
• True!–nervous–very, very nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?
  – Ed Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart
  
  
• Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.
  – Ha Jin, Waiting
  
  
• The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth the effort.
  – Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic