To have chills go down one’s spine is to feel extremely worrisome or excitable. It can be when one hears something particularly beautiful or particularly fearsome. One may literally feel a shiver or goosebumps down one’s back, but not necessarily.
The idiom has many different forms. It can be chill, chills, shiver, or shivers that either go up or down one’s back or spine. Something can send this feeling or the feeling can run or crawl.
Examples
The thought of the government executing someone who was so young when they were mistakenly convicted sends chills down my spine. [The Independent]
The thought of that sight still makes chills run up and down my spine. [Huffington Post]
Two years on, as I write this in the comfort of my home, the mere thought of that afternoon spent a stone’s throw from the snowy Nathu La sends shivers down my spine. [Hindustan Times]
The Alamo should always be taken care of by native Texans and the thought of a group of people from another state running the Alamo runs chills up my back. [Houston Chronicle]
I have to say a shiver went up my back. [The Herald News]
Some parents even wish that their child would get the illness, so that it is “out of the way” but now even the mention of chicken pox sends a shiver down my spine. [Daily Mail]
Bugs set me off on a screaming frenzy and shivers crawl up my spine at the mere thought of them. [Taranaki Daily News]