Whether you love horror films or not, there's something infinitely fascinating about them. That being said, is there anything scarier than real life? From the town that has inspired Stephen King to classic Alfred Hitchcock locations, we take a look at some of the scariest and spookiest filming spots you can actually visit (if you're brave enough).
Click through this gallery to see the world's most blood-chilling horror movie and TV locations...
The Gothic vampire movie Nosferatu is one of the most important films of the 20th century as it firmly established the horror genre, significantly influencing later productions. In the film, the Salzspeicher (salt storehouses) in Lubeck, Germany is where Nosferatu lived. A UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the town's tightly-woven streets lined with medieval buildings are the perfect backdrop for any horror movie.
Strangers on a Train, one of several Alfred Hitchcock classics, tells the story of psychopathic socialite Bruno who attempts to force tennis star Guy to commit murder to prove his theory that two strangers can get away with murder. Much of the film features scenes in Washington DC, with one of the most memorable and chilling scenes taking place at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Here, Guy sees the ominous outline of Bruno on the steps.
Known as the Witches House due to its peculiar design, it was originally built in Culver City in 1920 for a silent film studio but was later moved to its current location in Beverly Hills. It appears in the 1957 film The Undead, starring Pamela Duncan as a woman who undergoes hypnosis and relives her former life as a woman accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages.
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The peculiar-looking Ennis House in Los Angeles has appeared in several films and TV shows, most notably as the home of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner (1982). Horror fans will recognise this as the place where Frederick Loren invites five strangers to stay the night, promising $10,000 (£7,811) to anyone who can survive until dawn in House on Haunted Hill. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the house is privately owned and has been recently restored.
A prominent feature of the studio tour, the Bates Mansion has stood on the Universal Studios backlot since 1959 (when Psycho was filmed here). Over the years, the house has been renovated, expanded and almost completely rebuilt (as it has only ever been a facade). It has also featured in films a lot less scarier than Alfred Hitchcock's classic, see Big Momma's House.
If Bates Mansion isn't enough to get your adrenaline going, Bates Motel used in the film Psycho also features on the Universal Studios tour complete with a Norman Bates impersonator. The motel set is incorporated into the theme park's annual Halloween Horror Nights.
In Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds, it's Bodega Bay where Melanie Daniels is terrorised by a massive flock of aggressive birds. Bodega Bay is a real town in California and between here and nearby Bodega, you'll be able to find the restaurant, the schoolhouse and many other locations featured in the film.
Known for decades as one of the most iconic residences in New York, The Dakota served as the exterior of the fictional Bramford building where several of the film's characters, including Rosemary and her husband Guy, resided. In reality, the building has an equally chilling vibe – stories of ghost sightings have loomed for years and it's where Beatle John Lennon was murdered.
Although George A. Romero’s horror flick Night of the Living Dead came out 50 years ago, the film's fans still flock to Evans City Cemetery where the film begins. The old chapel looks almost identical to how it appeared in the film and many fans seek out the tombstone of Nicolas Kramer to recreate the film scene where Barbara clings to it in panic.
Shot in a variety of locations in mainland Scotland to double up as the fictional Summerisle, the 1973 classic follows a Christian policeman investigating a mysterious disappearance of a girl in a remote pagan community. Lord Summerisle's mansion in reality is the Culzean Castle near Ayr. Owned by the National Trust for Scotland and open to the public, the opulent castle also has a swan pond and formal gardens to explore.
One of the most important and recognisable locations from the iconic 1973 horror film The Exorcist are the M Street Stairs in Georgetown, Washington DC. In the film, this is where Regan's demon throws Father Karras to his death. The stairs are marked with a commemorative plaque and many visitors of the site often encounter the Georgetown University track team who use these stairs for practice.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a seminal horror film and one of the most influential slasher movies ever made. Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic tells the story of some teenagers road-tripping through rural Texas, and their happening upon a secluded old house inhabited by the world’s worst family. This gas station (pictured) plays a major role in the youngsters' hellish journey. Embracing its infamy, the spot is now a weekend destination for horror movie fans – complete with rustic cabins, campsite and barbecue restaurant. Just look out for Leatherface.
Although the famous Steven Spielberg film Jaws is set on the fictional Amity Island, it was Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts that served as the backdrop for the film. The beach scenes were filmed at Sylvia State Beach. In the years after the release of the film, tourism to the area tripled.
Michael Myers from John Carpenter's Halloween is certainly one of the most recognisable and feared horror film characters. His house from the original 1978 release was moved, albeit just across the street and is now an office building. Although it doesn't quite look like it did in the film, fans still come to South Pasadena to photograph it.
The Monroeville Mall is a functioning shopping centre that looks like any other mall in America. However, it's also the setting for George Romero's 1978 horror classic Dawn of the Dead. It's here that a group of human survivors attempt to barricade themselves away from the zombies that have taken over the planet. Fittingly, visitors can play zombie laser tag there now.
The famous home at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York is the real-life location of horrific events. It's the place where Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his family and then himself during the 1970s. A property in Toms River, New Jersey, where the film was set, was altered to replicate the famous address. It was inspired by the Lutz family, who moved into the house 13 months after the killings and were terrorised by paranormal phenomena to the point where they had to move out. In January 2023, the five-bedroomed house was sold for £1.14 million ($1.46m).
The 1979 version of Dracula, portrayed by Frank Langella, played out in Whitby, Yorkshire. In reality though, it was filmed in the dramatic landscapes of the far southwest in Cornwall. The asylum is now the Camelot Castle Hotel, the village, where Dracula tries to board ship, is Mevagissey and St Michael's Mount played the part of Count Dracula's castle.
Located on the outskirts of the Rocky Mountain National Park, this 142-room colonial revival hotel in Colorado served as the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's novel The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's subsequent 1980 film adaptation. King began to form the plot when he spent a night here with his wife in the Seventies and they were the only guests, eating alone in an empty dining room and wandering through empty corridors. The hotel featured in the 1997 US TV series The Shining but never made it to the big screen.
In the film version of The Shining, the exterior shots of the Overlook were of Timberline Lodge in northern Oregon. The hotel, a popular ski resort, had to persuade Kubrick to change the haunted room number from 217 (as it is in the book) to 237, which doesn't exist in the hotel, fearing that guests would never want to stay in it.
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Although Ghostbusters is set in New York, it was the downtown Los Angeles hotel The Biltmore that played the part of the Sedgewick Hotel. It was here where the Ghostbusters captured the ectoplasm blob Slimer. You'll be glad to know this designer hotel is still taking bookings – with all rooms 100% free from green slime.
Based on a Stephen King novel, Stand by Me follows a group of boys as they set out to find the body of a missing boy in the woods. In one scene, the boys try to cross a train bridge that sits over a river when a train comes barrelling along. Though the 1986 film is set in a small town in Oregon, this scene features Lake Britton Bridge in Burney, California.
A horror fan's pilgrimage of sorts, the town of Bangor in Maine is the home of writer Stephen King. It has also served as the inspiration for many of his books and as a filming location for the on-screen adaptations. Start by visiting King's house (pictured), then snap a picture of the Thomas Hill Standpipe that inspired the water tower in the evil clown flick It, before visiting the Mount Hope Cemetery featured in Pet Sematary.
Back in 1990, children of all ages were scared by Angelica Houston in the film version of Roald Dahl's classic The Witches. The film tells the story of a convention of witches staying in a seaside hotel, planning to kill all children by turning them into mice. The Hotel Excelsior, no doubt haunting many children's dreams since, is actually The Headland in Cornwall – a 4-star luxury spa hotel by the sea in Newquay.
Oak Alley Plantation's real-life role in slavery is in many ways more disturbing than any of the horror films that were shot here. Today, it's a hotel and a restaurant. In the 1994 film Interview with the Vampire, it was the home of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac played by Brad Pitt.
A popular location for day trips from Tokyo, Mount Mihara is a stunning volcano that plays a part in the story of Japan's most famous horror film Ringu (The Ring). In the film, psychic Shizuko Yamamura predicts a volcanic eruption and eventually throws herself into the crater. In real life, there's no need for such dramatic gestures. With its summit 2,487 feet (758m) above sea level, the gentle hike up it and the views you'll be rewarded with are bound to put a smile on your face.
Produced for just £46,737 ($60,000) and going on to rake in over £193 million ($248m) at the box office, The Blair Witch Project – with its found footage cinematic technique – is widely agreed to be one of the most influential horror films ever made. Much of it was shot in Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery, Maryland, with a few scenes also filmed just under an hour’s drive away in the historic village of Burkittsville. When the sun goes down here, you'll almost certainly find your mind wandering to some of the film’s scariest moments.
As a lover of the arts and a man of refined tastes, cannibal Hannibal Lecter has a very strong connection to Florence (the capital of Italy's Tuscany region). The city forms a key setting in both the book and the film series. One of the most prominent locations in the 2001 film is Palazzo Vecchio, the City Hall built in the 1490s. It's here where Lecter works as Dr Fell and also where he hangs Rinaldo Pazzi.
Originally built for the 1990 film Eye of the Storm, this dilapidated motel film set in the Californian desert city of Lancaster appeared in the 2005 movie The Devil's Rejects. In the film the antagonists from a previous zombie film, House of 1000 Corpses (2003), flee to the motel after the brother of a police officer they killed storms their home seeking revenge.
An eerie ghost town itself, Belchite in the Spanish province of Zaragoza is a stark reminder of the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. The remains of the town were used in the Oscar-winning 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth, which ties fantasy with the brutal reality of General Franco's rule. The town isn't free to explore anymore and can now only be visited with a guide from the local tourist board.
Out in the Californian desert, the town of Victorville and the edge of the Mojave Desert skirting the town has served as a backdrop for a long list of films that revolve around ordinary people being stuck in an unforgiving place. One such film is the 2006 hit The Hills Have Eyes where a road accident traps a family of six in the desert, near a nuclear test site where mutant monsters have developed a taste for human flesh.
Although not widely known outside of horror circles, Lake Mungo is thought to be one of the scariest films ever made. Released in 2008, this Australian production tells the story of a girl called Alice, who drowned in a tragic accident, and a series of spooky events that occur in her home. After hiring a parapsychologist, an investigation leads Alice's family to Lake Mungo and some blood-chilling footage on a buried mobile phone. In real life, this lake is where Australia’s oldest human remains were found in 1974. They belonged to an Aboriginal man who died roughly 42,000 years ago.
Sam Raimi's 2009 horror film Drag Me to Hell opens with panicked parents who bring their ailing son to a beautiful mansion for help only to learn that he's seriously cursed. This house is the Doheny Mansion – once a family home and now a popular filming location – in Los Angeles built in 1899. Today you can tour the property on selected days throughout the year.
In the 2012 remake of 1980's Maniac, Elijah Wood plays a serial killer who attacks and scalps young women. In a particularly terrifying scene, Wood's character Frank Zito chases a dancer through an empty train station full of neon artwork. In real life, it's Pershing Square; a Metro stop on Los Angeles' Red Line, located in downtown LA.
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Under The Skin is a science fiction horror movie starring Scarlett Johansson. Its plot centres on an alien, played by Johannson, abducting men in Scotland. Despite failing at the box office, taking just under £5.5 million ($7m) against a budget of £10.1 million ($13m), the film is loved by critics for its lead performance, direction and musical score. The crying baby scene, filmed at Auchmithie Beach (pictured) near Arbroath, will haunt your nightmares forever.
Thanks to the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, Hawkins in Indiana is now one of the most famous fictional locations in America. The show's creators found many places in and around Atlanta, Georgia that reminded them of their childhood and they served as the inspiration for the town of Hawkins. This includes the Georgia Mental Health Institute that stands in as The Hawkins National Laboratory.
Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattison as lighthouse keepers in the 19th century, marooned at a remote New England outpost, Robert Eggers’ atmospheric 2019 film The Lighthouse rapidly descends into a world of paranoia and strange visions during its running time (one hour and 50 minutes). Despite already being home to the iconic Cape Forchu Lighthouse (pictured), the makers of the film built a 70-foot high (20m) tower on this small island to better suit their production needs. When the weather closes in here, the feeling of isolation is sure to send a chill down your spine.
The bright lights, beautiful beach and fun amusement park of Santa Cruz, California, might seem like an unusual choice for a horror location. However, as anyone who’s watched Jordan Peele’s 2019 film will attest, horror and violence can lay just beneath even the most picturesque of surfaces. Once you’ve seen Us, a movie about doppelgangers going on a murderous rampage, you’ll never look at scenic American seaside towns in the same way.