horror movies tourist attractions

11 Classic Horror Movie Locations You Can Visit

By ellen gutoskey | oct 11, 2021.

For every movie filmed on a Hollywood studio lot, there are others that shot on location (and plenty more that used some combination of the two). Oftentimes, what was once a dilapidated residence or little-known restaurant becomes a favorite roadside attraction for film enthusiasts. From California caves to Maryland state parks , here are 11 filming sites from classic horror movies that you can visit.

1. Bronson Canyon from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) // Los Angeles, California

If you’re headed to Los Angeles’s Griffith Park to hike to the Hollywood sign , you might as well add nearby Bronson Canyon (or Bronson Caves , as it’s often called) to your itinerary. The mouth of the cave was used as the Bat Cave in the Adam West Batman TV series, and different parts of the quarry have been featured in dozens of other programs dating back to John Wayne’s heyday in the 1930s. Its most notable claim to fame in the horror genre comes from 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers : Miles and Becky (Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter) use it as a hiding place (and Miles suffers an unwelcome surprise).

2. The Potter Schoolhouse from The Birds (1963) // Bodega, California

The school from which students tried (and failed ) to outrun the eponymous creatures in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) still stands today. It’s in Bodega, California, a tiny one-time fishing village that served as the filming site for much of the movie. Since its construction in 1873, the schoolhouse—originally called Potter Schoolhouse—has lived many lives; it’s also been a community center, a restaurant, and an inn. Now, it’s a private home, so you’ll have to gawk from a respectful distance.

3. The Dakota from Rosemary’s Baby (1968) // New York City, New York

When Ira Levin was jotting down notes for his 1967 novel Rosemary’s Baby , he mentioned that Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse would “move into a rambling shambling apartment house like the Dakota or that one on 57th Street” (the latter being a reference to Manhattan’s Alwyn Court). Then, when it came time to adapt the story for the screen, filmmakers actually used the Dakota—a Gothic behemoth of a building on the corner of West 72nd Street and Central Park West—for exterior shots of the Woodhouses' building, the fictional Bramford. The luxurious Dakota isn’t only famous for its appearance in the film: It has been home to a long list of celebrity residents, from Judy Garland and Lauren Bacall to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. ( Lennon’s 1980 murder occurred right beyond the front gates.)

4. Evans City Cemetery from Night of the Living Dead (1968) // Evans City, Pennsylvania

As Barbara watches Johnny tussle with a zombie in the opening scene of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead , she’s hanging onto the tombstone of one Nicholas Kramer, who lived from 1842 to 1917. Kramer was a real person, and his grave still sits in the Evans City Cemetery, where the scene was filmed. Now, it’s a popular roadside attraction for zombie-heads passing through Butler County , Pennsylvania.

5. The “Exorcist Steps” from The Exorcist (1973) // Washington, D.C.

Father Damien Karras’s (Jason Miller) fatal fall from possessed tween Regan MacNeil's (Linda Blair) window in The Exorcist birthed a chilling new landmark on Washington, D.C.’s M Street: the “Exorcist steps.” They became part of nearby Georgetown University’s culture before the scene was even finished filming—students purportedly charged people $5 apiece to watch the shoot from their rooftops. These days, upperclassmen are quick to point out the infamous staircase to new or prospective students, and the sports teams have also been known to run the 75 stone steps as a training exercise.

6. The Gas Station from The Texas ChainSaw Massacre (1974) // Bastrop, Texas

The gas station that spells hope—and then horror—for young Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is located in Bastrop, Texas, and called simply “ The Gas Station .” Still eerie from the outside, the interior is now chock-full of horror movie merchandise and boasts a pretty enticing barbecue menu (to order by phone, the number is 512-321-SAWS). Hardcore fans can even book an overnight stay in one of the nearby rustic cabins, complete with A/C, free Wi-Fi, and a TV—all luxuries Leatherface managed to do without.

7. Oakley Court from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) // Windsor, UK

Long before Oakley Court —which is just a few miles from Windsor Castle —became a luxury hotel, it was a rundown Victorian mansion deemed perfect to serve as Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s “Frankenstein place” in 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show . It’s not the only time the building has appeared on the silver screen, in part because it was right by Bray Studios, where Hammer Film Productions operated for years. You can spot Oakley’s Gothic facade in many older horror films, including The Man in Black (1949), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), and The Plague of the Zombies (1966).

8. The Myers House from Halloween (1978) // South Pasadena, California

Michael Myers’s childhood home in John Carpenter’s Halloween needs no introduction—it’s practically its own character in the film. It’s also a California historical landmark, though not exactly because it helped usher in a new era of slasher flicks: The house was built in the late 1880s, making it South Pasadena’s oldest known residential building. Originally located on Meridian Avenue, the abode was relocated to its current address, 1000 Mission Street, to avoid demolition in 1987. If you can’t get to California, there’s also a full-scale replica in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

9. Blairstown Diner from Friday the 13th (1980) // Blairstown, New Jersey

Friday the 13th ’s Crystal Lake Diner is actually Blairstown Diner in Blairstown, New Jersey. Built in 1949, the small-town spot is still going strong today, offering an expansive menu of typical diner fare. You can go for a normal meal—breakfast, lunch, or dinner—on a normal day, or you can time your trip to coincide with any Friday the 13th . On those days, the diner customarily celebrates its cinematic fame with visits from original cast members and a tour of local filming sites.

10. Oak Alley Plantation from Interview With the Vampire (1994) // Vacherie, Louisiana

In the 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel Interview With the Vampire , the oak-flanked mansion which Brad Pitt’s Louis de Pointe du Lac calls home is really Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. It can also be seen in Beyoncé’s 2006 music video for “Déjà Vu,” a 1984 episode of Days of Our Lives , and the 1998 dramedy Primary Colors , among other programs.

The plantation, built in the late 1830s, housed an average of more than 110 enslaved people, many of whom worked in the nearby sugar cane fields. In recent years, the estate has tried to bring this part of its history to the fore by constructing accurate replicas of enslaved people’s cabins on the grounds, discussing the experiences of those people during tours, and establishing an online database with records of Oak Alley’s enslaved population.

11. Seneca Creek State Park from The Blair Witch Project (1999) // Gaithersburg, Maryland

The Blair Witch Project —a found-footage movie so scary even Stephen King had trouble finishing it —is set in Black Hills Forest, a made-up location meant to be in Burkittsville, Maryland. The forest’s real-life filming site was Seneca Creek State Park in nearby Gaithersburg. The park sometimes hosts guided hikes that highlight key spots from the film, but you’re always welcome to explore the woods on your own. (Just make sure you trust whoever is holding the map.)

10 of the best scary movie and TV destinations in the US

Oct 22, 2020 • 5 min read

When thinking of classic spooky spots, there’s nowhere more iconic than Salem ©Getty Images (Inset: United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo)

With the leaves turning and the temperatures dropping, it really is beginning to feel a lot like Halloween. Although your typical seasonal scares, like haunted houses and costume parades, might be on hold this year, you can generate your own frights with the play of any classic horror film. 

Music, such as John Carpenter's iconic soundtracks, and creepy forms, like  Scream ’s Ghostface costume, are key to generating long-lasting frights, but horror movies would be nothing without their spooky destinations. This Halloween, turn off the TV and head to one of the USA's  top scary movie filming destinations. 

Editor's note: check local COVID-19 restrictions before travel, and always follow government health advice.

Salem, Massachusetts 

When thinking of classic spooky spots, there’s nowhere more iconic than Salem. Home to the historic Salem Witch Trials and many movies such as Hocus Pocus  (1993) and, more recently, Hubie Halloween (2020), have set and filmed portions of their stories in this historic town. 

The real Salem, Massachusetts , offers tours year-round about the sites involved in the Salem Witch Trials , but film fans want to pay close attention to Salem’s Pioneer Village , America’s first living history museum, where Hocus Pocus ’ opening scenes featuring Binx as a human were filmed.

The Dakota – Upper West Side, NYC 

Steps away from Central Park , the Upper West Side’s The Dakota is known as the site of John Lennon’s death in 1980, but its horror history started 12 years earlier when it was home to the evil cult featured in the movie  Rosemary’s Baby (1968). 

Because it’s known for its exclusivity, it’s unlikely you’ll get to explore the apartment building’s interior yourself, but it's the gothic exterior that captures film’s creepy ambiance.

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Blairstown Diner (@blairstowndiner) on Mar 29, 2019 at 4:24am PDT

The Blairstown Diner – Blairstown, New Jersey 

The Blairstown Diner was featured in the original Friday the 13th  (1980) movie. Although the look of the diner has changed from when the movie was filmed, it's still fully operational today and is even offering to-go orders during COVID-19 restrictions so you can still safely get your horror fix the next time you’re in New Jersey .  

Every Friday the 13th is a Blairstown National Holiday where locals and fans gather to celebrate the horror franchise. 

Seneca Creek State Park – Burkittsville, Maryland 

Set in the fictional Black Hills Forest, The Blair Witch Project  (1999) was filmed in Maryland’s Seneca Creek State Park . The found-footage film centers around a group of friends who investigate the legend of a witch who kills those who visit the forest, but real visitors have nothing to fear – the legend was made up for the movie. 

There are multiple hiking trails you can explore while visiting the park so strap up your boots and grab your cameras to create your own version of Blair Witch (we just don’t suggest camping there overnight.)

The steps from The Exorcist  –  Washington, DC

This towering staircase in Washington, DC  may seem daunting, but any horror fan will likely recognize these steps from the climax of 1973's  The Exorcist ,   where the priest falls after being possessed by the very demon he tried to exorcise. 

For those visiting, the stairs offer a shortcut between Canal Road and Prospect Street NW above where the home from the movie was also filmed. 

Devil’s Kettle – Grand Marais, Minnesota

Satanic sacrifices aside, the lore behind Devil’s Kettle – the mysterious waterfall and namesake to Grand Marais, the Minnesota town in Jennifer’s Body (2009) – is very real. For years, those who stumbled upon the Devil’s Kettle waterfall along Minnesota’s North Shore watched the falls plunge into solid rock – but no one knew where the water disappeared to. 

In the movie, the weapon behind Jennifer’s untimely death – and what turned her into a boy-thirsty demon – washes up down stream. But if you tossed a stick in the real Devil’s Kettle hoping to see it magically appear somewhere far away, you’ll be out of luck. The mystery was debunked a few years ago when a hydrologist discovered the Kettle empties out right below where it flows in. 

The falls themselves can be accessed by a 2-mile out-and-back hike along the Superior Hiking Trail. 

The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, Colorado 

After author Stephen King stayed in room 217 at the Stanley Hotel, this popular Colorado accommodation served as the main inspiration for Overlook Hotel in the novel of  The Shining (1977). Although the ghost twins and rivers of blood are totally fictional, legends say that The Stanley is actually haunted.

But Stanley Kubrick's iconic 1980 movie adaptation wasn’t actually filmed here; the exterior of the film’s Overlook Hotel was shot at The Timberline Lodge in Mt Hood, Oregon , and interior shots were filmed at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite , California. However, after King was not happy with Kubrick’s film, he took the story right back to The Stanley to film his 1997 miniseries. 

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Grand Central Café (@kingslandgcc) on Nov 15, 2018 at 11:19am PST

The home in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  – Kingsland, Texas

You can now dine in the original Victorian home from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The white home was originally located and filmed in Round Rock, Texas , but was moved to Kingsland in 1998. 

Now called Grand Central Café, you can enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very place that brought Leatherface into this world. After your eerie experience, look at memorabilia from the film or head to the bar for themed cocktails. If that’s not enough, you can also eat and drink at the original gas station from the film in Bastrop, Texas. 

Laurie Strode and Michael Myers’ homes – South Pasadena, California 

The actual Halloween franchise is set in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois – but the real street Michael Myers terrorized for decades is in a South Pasadena suburb. His childhood home has been moved from its original location, but is now a chiropractic office and a California landmark. You can also walk in Michael’s footsteps to Laurie Strode’s house down the street.

Rosenheim Mansion – Los Angeles, California

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to American Horror Story: Murder House , this iconic California mansion is featured in numerous spooky TV series.

Designed by architect Alfred Rosenheim in 1902, the home was built in the Country Club Park Los Angeles neighborhood that soon became known as Billionaire Row. Although there’s nothing particularly scary about the home’s history, a large addition was later built to help film inside the mansion. 

Note: This is a private residence that doesn’t offer tours. 

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21 Horror Movie Locations Across America

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Nightmare Scenarios

If Halloween gets you in the mood to rewatch your favorite horror classics, perhaps you'd also like to visit where they were filmed. While many movies are shot on secluded sound stages, these 21 spots are real movie locations  that brave souls can seek out on their own. Some are public businesses — hotels, diners, and even a very tongue-in-cheek barbecue restaurant — while others are historic locations open for tours. Just be sure to be respectful when visiting residences and parks, and watch out for monsters!

Related: The 20 Most Haunted Hotels in America

The Overlook Hotel From 'The Shining'

Mount Hood, Oregon The Timberline Lodge was built on the side of Oregon's Mount Hood in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, which put Americans to work during the Great Depression. It is now a National Historic Landmark — and serves as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, "The Shining" tells the story of a family who signs on to care for the hotel during its winter off-season. After the staff departs, the family is left alone with the hotel, falling prey to the malevolent spirits that lurk within. King was inspired to write the novel after staying at another hotel with his wife, Tabby: The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. But it's the Timberline that  hosts "Shining" screenings  and was  painstakingly reconstructed  for the sequel, "Doctor Sleep."

Related:   Haunted Destinations That You Can Rent for a Spooky Night

The House From 'Psycho'

Universal City, California Guests to Universal Studios Hollywood can still visit the house where "Psycho" serial killer Norman Bates and his mother — or Norman pretending to be his mother — lived while operating the adjacent Bates Motel. The motel set gets incorporated into theme park  Halloween Horror Nights events  and optional photo ops, but it's always visible via backlot tram tours.

Related:   This Was the Scariest Movie the Year You Were Born

The Woods From 'The Blair Witch Project'

Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg, Maryland Seneca Creek State Park is perfect for a scenic outing. Its 6,300 acres contain numerous trails, a creek for kayaking, and a lake where guests can fish and boat. It's also where much of the "The Blair Witch Project" was filmed. The 1999 film follows three film students as they seek a creature that supposedly haunts the woods of Maryland for a documentary. It was certainly not the first "found footage" horror film, but it spawned numerous copycats in the years to come.

The Cemetery Gates From 'Phantasm'

Altadena, California In 1918, lumber mogul Charles Cobb built himself an estate in Altadena. The house was bought by the Marx Brothers and later demolished, though the gates remain and are visible in the 1979 film "Phantasm" as the gates to a cemetery. The film follows two orphaned brothers, Jody and Mike Pearson, who are terrorized by the The Tall Man. He's not only the town mortician, but the brothers suspect he's been picking off fellow citizens. Present-day hikers like to claim that the area around the gates is haunted.

Related:   33 Cult Films We Can’t Stop Watching

The Bridge From 'Stand By Me'

Burney, California Based on Stephen King's "The Body," "Stand by Me" trails 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 stream, which goes well until a train come barreling along. Though the 1986 film is set in a small town in Oregon, this scene really uses the Lake Britton Bridge in Burney, California.

The Gas Station From 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'

Bastrop, Texas The gas station where a group of friends make a fatal stop is now a barbecue restaurant. If you think it's weird that a meat-centric restaurant has sprung up at a location featured in a movie about a killer cannibal who wears flesh masks, it's definitely intentional. Guests can buy horror merchandise, order up some delicious brisket, or even stay in one of the property's four cabins. You'll know you've found the right place when you see the "We Slaughter Barbecue" sign .

Related:   The 25 Most Terrifying Places in America

The Apartment From 'Rosemary's Baby'

New York The Dakota is a beautiful apartment building in Manhattan, known to attract the rich and famous. John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived here, and it's outside this building where Lennon was fatally shot in 1980. The building also played a role in the 1968 horror film, "Rosemary's Baby." The Dakota serves as the exteriors of The Bramford, an apartment building with a dark past where bad things seem to happen. Despite the rumors, Rosemary Woodhouse agreed to move there with her husband, only to accidentally conceive the son of Satan.

The Mall From 'Dawn of the Dead'

Monroeville, Pennsylvania The Monroeville Mall is a functioning shopping center with shopping and a food court like any other mall in America — and where George Romero shot his 1978 horror classic "Dawn of the Dead." Here, a group of human survivors attempt to barricade themselves away from the zombies that have ravaged the planet. Famously, the mall came to offer games of  zombie laser tag  and  annual "Living Dead Weekends."

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The Train Station From 'Maniac'

Los Angeles In the 2012 remake of 1980's "Maniac," Elijah Wood plays Frank Zito, a serial killer who attacks and scalps young women. Notably, the entire film is shot from the killer's perspective, meaning viewers rarely see Wood aside from shots that involve a reflective surface. In a particularly harrowing scene, Zito chases a dancer through an empty train station full of neon artwork. That station is Pershing Square, a Metro stop on Los Angeles' Red Line in downtown L.A.

The Diner From 'Friday the 13th'

Blairstown, New Jersey In the first of the "Friday the 13th" movies, a group of camp counselors is terrorized by a mysterious killer at Camp Crystal Lake. It starts with one counselor, Annie Phillips, stopping by the Crystal Lake Diner to ask for directions to the camp. She's cautioned against going there, but like every horror movie victim, chooses not to heed the warning. In real life, this diner is the Blairstown Diner. The camp itself is a Boy Scout camp, also in New Jersey, called Camp No-Bo-Be-Sco.

The Steps From 'The Exorcist'

Washington, D.C. In "The Exorcist," the demon Pazuzu possesses the body of a little girl named Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair). Despite the best efforts of two priests, Father Karras (Jason Miller) and the elder Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), the demon refuses to let go of her until Karras screams at the demon to enter him instead. He then sacrifices himself, killing the demon, by flinging himself through a window and down a flight of stairs. The steps where Karras meets his fate can be found in Washington, D.C. and, since 2015, have been  marked with a plaque .

Related:   The Scariest Horror Films — If Your Heart Can Take It

The Parking Garage From 'It Follows'

Detroit In "It Follows" (2014), protagonist Jay (Maika Monroe) is a teenage girl who has sex with her new boyfriend for the first time only to wake up taped to a wheelchair in an empty parking garage. He explains that he's being stalked by an entity that follows him at all times, and that by sleeping with him, she's become the monster's new target. The interior of this chilling scene was filmed in the former Packard Plant in Detroit. At the time of the shoot, it was a sprawling, abandoned auto factory popular with urban explorers. It soon underwent renovation to become a place where visitors can get coffee, a craft brew, or a meal. As the tale is set in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs, locals may recognize many shots of the city.

Louis' House From 'Interview With the Vampire'

Vacherie, Louisiana This plantation's real-life history with slavery is more disturbing than any of the horror films shot here. Oak Alley Plantation functions today as a hotel, event space, and restaurant with the occasional tour. In the 1994 film "Interview with the Vampire," it was the home of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) who, before becoming a vampire, had been a plantation owner in the late 1700s.

Related:   50 Spooky Graveyards Across the Country

The Witch's House From 'The Undead'

Beverly Hills, California Though it's technically called The Spadena House, this strange Los Angeles residence is more commonly known as the Witch's House due to its dark fairytale design. It was built in Culver City in 1920 for a silent film studio, then moved to its current location in Beverly Hills. Alicia Silverstone walks by the house in "Clueless," but it also appeared in the 1957 horror flick "The Undead." The film stars Pamela Duncan as Diana, a woman who undergoes hypnosis and relives her former life as a woman accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages.

The Motel From 'The Devil's Rejects'

Lancaster, California This dilapidated film set in the California desert was initially built for the 1990 film "Eye of the Storm." It consists of a diner, a motel, and a gas station, and has since appeared in numerous other films, including Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects." The antagonists from a previous Zombie film, "House of 1000 Corpses," flee to the motel after the brother of a police officer they killed storms their home seeking revenge.

The Cave From 'Cabin Fever' and 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'

Los Angeles Located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, the Bronson Cave been used in numerous films and TV shows, perhaps most notably as the Batcave in the campy 1960s TV version of “Batman.” It also appears in the sci-fi horror movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) as a hiding place from pod people, and where a protagonist makes the gruesome discovery in Eli Roth's zombie horror film "Cabin Fever" (2002).

Laurie Strode and Michael Myers' Homes From 'Halloween'

South Pasadena, California Known for his expressionless white mask and big knife, Michael Myers terrorizes the teens of Haddonfield, Illinois, in the "Halloween" horror franchise. Myers' childhood home and the residence where teen Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) live are actually in South Pasadena, California. You can walk Laurie's route home from school, or creep around the hedge where Laurie first spots Myers stalking her. Visitors often report that the owner of Laurie's house keeps a plastic pumpkin on the porch for photo ops.

The Mansion From 'Drag Me to Hell'

Los Angeles Sam Raimi's 2009 horror film "Drag Me to Hell" opens with a panicked mother and father 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, a popular filming location in Los Angeles built in 1899. Tours are available for curious visitors, and the house hosts the occasional classical music concert.

The House From 'House on Haunted Hill'

Los Angeles The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House in Los Angeles has appeared in several films and TV shows. In "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), it's where Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) invites five strangers to stay the night, promising a reward of $10,000 to anyone who can survive until dawn. You might also recognize it as the abandoned home where vampires Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla hole up while terrorizing the town of Sunnydale in the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and perhaps most famously as the home of Rick Deckard in "Blade Runner"(1982) — although only the exterior was used, while the interior was created on a soundstage.

The Hotel From 'Ghostbusters'

Los Angeles This downtown Los Angeles hotel opened in the 1920s, and has appeared frequently on screen. Though "Ghostbusters" (1984) is set in New York, the Biltmore played the Sedgewick Hotel. This is where the Ghostbusters capture the ectoplasm blob known as Slimer.

The Town From 'The Birds'

Bodega Bay, California In Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963), Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is terrorized by a massive flock of birds that descend on the seaside town of Bodega Bay. Bodega Bay is a real town, and between Bodega Bay and nearby Bodega, visitors will find the restaurant, schoolhouse, and other locations in the film.

Related:   19 Spooky Ghost Towns Across America

10 Real-Life Horror Movie Locations You Can Visit Right Now

Want to do some spooky sightseeing? You can visit these real-life horror movie locations right now. If you're brave enough.

Horror fanatics have an unexplainable craving to experience terrifying things year-round. Some do this by watching classic horror films on Netflix, while others venture off and actually visit the sets from these movies. Most of these places are real-life locations that can be visited throughout the year, and they typically don't hold any eerie auras. However, a few of these places do have a history for being haunted and only the bravest of souls dare to venture there.

Whether it's October and you're looking for a little spooky sight-seeing or its springtime and you're just having horror withdrawals, you can visit these 10 real-life horror movie locations right now.

10 10. The Stanley Hotel - The Shining

Location: Colorado

The Stanley Hotel was renamed the Overlook Hotel for Stephen King's 1977 novel film adaptation of  The Shining. This hotel has been around since 1909, though there were never ghostly sightings here. That is, until after the filming of the famous horror story was filmed there. Now, people speak of paranormal sighting on a regular basis. The hotel has been visited be expert paranormal investigators and appears on shows like Ghost Hunters.  The hotel hosts a glorious hedge, a concert hall, and 142-rooms that you can actually stay at.

9 9. The Exorcist Stairs

Location: Washington D.C. 

In the 1973 frightening film, The Exorcist , these steps play a prominent feature. They highlight the scene in which Father Damien Karras falls to his death. Back when stuntmen filmed the scenes, college students charged $5 a head to watch from the neighboring rooftops.

This location is now declared an official landmark and acts a busy tourist attraction. Travelers can now see a laminated plaque at the base of the stairs noting its cinematic relevance in history.

8 8. Myers Family House -  Halloween

Location: South Pasadena, California

Although Halloween is set in Illinois, the house of Michael Myers is formally located in California. At the time of filming (1978), the quaint little house had been left abandoned and so became a key setting in John Carpenter's cult classic. The house remained barren for a while, but it has since been moved. It now resides on the east side of Meridian by the railroad tracks, and it's now used as a chiropractor's office (The Algeria Chiropractic Center).

7 7. Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco - Friday the 13th

Location: New Jersey

Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco is a Boy Scout Camp that opened in 1927 in northwestern New Jersey. It served as the primary backdrop in the slasher film,  Friday the 13th. In the film, a group of teenage camp counselors is murdered one-by-one throughout the grounds. Today, it still serves as a thriving Boy Scout Camp, but also offer guided tours for the film fanatics who want to get a deeper look into the intricate setting. 

6 6.  The Amityville Horror House

Location: Long Island, New York

Because this story is based on the real-life events of a murderous rampage in 1974, it is the most notorious spot for hauntings. Shortly after Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered six members of his own family, the Lutz family moved in. The Amityville Horror  is a summary of the events that took place according to the Lutz family. People can visit the unoccupied home in its current state, but many people say that they feel spooked before they even reach the front lawn.

5 5. Evans City Cemetery - Night of the Living Dead

Location: Pennsylvania

The opening scene for Night of the Living Dead was filmed in Evans City, Pennsylvania in a real graveyard. The film needed a base for the premise of the movie which involves graveyard inhabitants coming back to life.

Evans City Cemetary can be found just off the road. Passerbys who chose to stop in will recognize some of its tombstones. There is also a small  Night of the Living Dead  museum nearby where travelers can learn about zombies in cinema and pop culture. There are also some interactive experiences and a gift shop where you can buy a souvenir or two.

4 4. Black Rock Mill -  The Blair Witch Project

Location: Maryland

The Blair Witch Project is a mockumentary that almost fooled everyone in 1999. The film gives the illusion of "lost" video footage of teens who have wandered out to explore Black Rock. The film-makers hope to learn about the Maryland town's infamous Blair Witch and are unexpectedly caught in the midst of paranormal activity.

The legend of the Blair Witch, as well as the film itself, is a fictional story, though Black Rock is very real. Black Rock Mill is located in Montgomery County, Maryland. This is the structure where the remaining student film-makers meet their end in the film. Anyone can hike up the old mill on the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail.

3 3. Buffalo Bill’s House -  Silence of the Lambs

Location: Pensylvania

The tale of the notorious serial killer, "Buffalo Bill", made even the bravest viewers cover their eyes.  The Silence of the Lambs is another cult classic that horror fans have been rewatching since 1991. Jame Gumb lived in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania home where he kept FBI trainee Clarice Starling locked in a well.

The home really exists in Pennsylvania. It actually had a hard time selling for years because of its use in the creepy film. A buyer finally offered half of its $300,000 asking price in 2016. The house is actually more charming on the inside. The filmmakers made it look like a shack from the outside for a more menacing facade.

2 2. The House from Poltergeist

Location: Simi Valley, California

The house where the Freeling family had a run-in with a technological poltergeist is located in Simi Valley California. It's a typical suburban home; the only difference between it and its neighbors is that this house frequently has visitors posing in front of it.

There's not much you can do at the actual home besides take a selfie and gaze into its darkened windows. The site of this cookie-cutter neighborhood was actually discovered to be built on top of a Native American graveyard. It's is strikingly similar to the story that plays out in the film; the reality gives the place a spooky sense of realism.

1 1. Ettington Park Hotel - The Haunting of Hill House (1963)

Location: Warwickshire, England

Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel,  The Haunting of Hill House, is the inspiration behind numerous popular media projects. Last year, Netflix released the most current iteration which chilled audiences to the bone. The novel had previously been made into a film in 1963 in The Haunting . In this version, the exterior of the home is the  Ettington Park Hotel in England. The English manor reportedly had cast members of the 1963 movie feeling uncomfortable. They reported feeling a strange and somber atmosphere surrounding the striking abode. 

The home is now used frequently for events and weddings. It's labeled a luxury hotel and travelers can make their own reservations in time for Netflix's second season of  The Haunting of Hill House.

10 Spooky Destinations for Horror Fans Around the World

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Horror books and films have a bewitching pull on fans worldwide. These spine-tingling tales let us feel the thrill of wandering in a macabre location, such as a haunted house or midnight graveyard. Our pulse quickens as we vicariously enter the sinister setting—aware that at any moment, the undead might pop out to scare us stiff! The most famous horror stories are inextricably linked to ghoulish places, such as the vampire Lestat’s spiked mausoleum in New Orleans, or the fiery volcanic crater of Japan’s “Ringu.” In some works, like “The Shining,” the setting (a haunted hotel) is arguably the main character as well as the most frightful element.

If you revel in all things spooky, you’ll be thrilled to the bones by these worldwide destinations associated with horror novels and movies—including “Alien,” “Sleepy Hollow,” and “Dracula.” Drop by for a visit, if you dare to come face-to-face with the supernatural.

HR Giger Museum and Bar

Surrealist artist HR Giger is the mastermind behind the terrifying face-huggers and xenomorphs of the “Alien” movie series. At the HR Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland, you’ll be mesmerized by his eerie concept art for “Species,” “Poltergeist 2,” and the never-made 1970s “Dune” film. Marvel at his early biomechanical works, and cower in front of an extraterrestrial with an elongated skull and double-row of teeth. Then, sip on absinthe at the Giger Bar, which is decorated with his signature skeletal arches and backbone chairs.

Bran Castle

Get a bite of Dracula’s bloody history at Bran Castle in Transylvania. The 14th-century fortress is associated with Vlad the Impaler, the vicious Romanian ruler who inspired Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking Dracula. The medieval castle seems particularly fit for a vampire, with pointed spires and gloomy views of the Carpathian Mountains. Inside, you’ll find secret stone tunnels and a collection of torture equipment—including Vlad’s favorite, a long pointed wooden stake.

Mount Mihara

Japan’s steaming Mount Mihara is an active volcano that erupts about once every century. The island’s lava-scorched landscapes have inspired several works of horror, including “The Ring” series. In Koji Suzuki’s “Ringu” novel, the mother of long-haired Sadako loses her sanity and throws herself into the fiery crater. Mount Mihara was also featured in several Godzilla movies: the monster was imprisoned here in 1984’s “The Return of Godzilla,” but escaped in the sequel. Fans can hike or ride a horse up to the 2,487-foot (758-meter) peak, and admire dark and otherworldly views from the top. 

Stanley Hotel

Stephen King stayed for a single night at The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, and it was enough to inspire the nightmarish setting of “The Shining.” Established in 1909, this old-world manor has the same ominous feel as the Overlook Hotel of his novel. Likewise, guests of The Stanley have claimed to see ghosts from past eras haunting the halls. Dare to spend a night in the supposedly cursed Room 217, or get lost in the hedge maze.

Salzspeicher

The silent horror film “Nosferatu” shocked audiences when it was released in 1922. Director F. W. Murnau’s expressionist imagery remains bone-chilling today, particularly his black-and-white shots of Salzspeicher. These six brick salt storehouses were built in the 16-18th century, and they look like crumbling gingerbread homes in front of Trave River. When you see the red ruins under a cloudy sky, it’s easy to imagine that the “vampyre” Count Orlok still lurks inside.

“Lestat's Tomb” at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

New Orleans’ Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is a spectral setting for many of Anne Rice’s tales. Don’t be alarmed to see Goths posing for photos in front of a white cast-iron mausoleum marked with the name “Karstendiek.” Fans call this “Lestat’s Tomb,” as it inspired the spike-roofed version in the film “Interview with the Vampire.” The crowded, dilapidated Lafayette Graveyard is also the final resting place of some witches, according to Rice’s “Mayfair” trilogy.

Catacombe dei Cappuccini

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Only brave souls dare descend into southern Italy’s Capuchin Catacomb. You’ll find yourself surrounded by desiccated bodies clothed in tattered robes, hanging from the walls or crammed in shelves. The monastery’s dim passages contain 8,000 corpses and over 1,200 mummies preserved between the 16th and early 20th centuries. Some appear to be grinning and stretching their bony arms out towards you, as if they had come back to life. Look for the uncannily preserved body of “Sleeping Beauty,” a 2-year-old girl whose eyes reportedly open and close. Director Francesco Rosi featured the catacomb in his 1976 film “Cadaveri Eccellenti,” but the experience of walking among the dead is even more chilling in person.

Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground

Beware the Headless Horseman, who terrorizes Sleepy Hollow as he hunts for his decapitated head. Washington Irving set his influential short story in real-life locations, including the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground (also called the Old Dutch Reformed Church). Much of the terror takes place at this 17th-century stone church, which sits next to a cemetery filled with ornate mausoleums. Take a stroll past the winged skull tombstones—and as the sky darkens, look out for the legendary ghost-rider.

Sedlec Ossuary

Also known as the Bone Church, Sedlec Ossuary is a chapel adorned with the remains of over 40,000 human skeletons. Look up, and be awed by a chandelier made from strings of bones. The altar is stacked with skulls, with some holding leg bones in their jaws. Sedlec Ossuary was established in the 13th century, and became filled with bodies during the Black Plague and Hussite Wars. In 1870, a Czech woodcarver named František Rint crafted the bones into the Gothic arrangements seen today. Since then, Sedlec has inspired numerous works of horror, including Dr. Satan’s Lair in Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses.”

Whitby Abbey

Bram Stoker wrote “Dracula” in 1897 while living in the English seaside town of Whitby. In the novel’s opening, the shipwrecked Count transforms into a black dog and runs up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey. These Benedictine ruins date back to the 7th century and suffered severe damage over the years. Now, only the skeleton of stone arches and moldings remain. When you see Whitby Abbey’s sinister silhouette perched on the cliff, you’ll understand why Stoker was moved to bring the undead back to life.

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In the novel IT , Stephen King describes Derry, Maine as a haunt. In Derry: The First Interlude , Mike Hanlon begins the chapter with all the definitions of the word haunt. The last definition reads: “A feeding place for animals.” It is a relation that applies to seemingly all horror locations. A place that is haunted – a place that is territory to the beast.

There are places, the places between our daydreams and our nightmares, where we know we should not go – places like Midian of Nightbreed , places that invite us, and if you go to them, you become meat for the beast. In many horror movies , it is the going that is the common root system the tales share. They are about people from the city, going somewhere rural, somewhere isolated, somewhere wild; somewhere haunted.

Filming locations can define a film visually, and they can bring something amorphous that heightens the experience and immerses the audience – atmosphere. The landscape is as much a monster in a horror movie as the beast itself. Some of the locations on this list provide the imagery for iconic scenes in the films they appear in, some are used for establishing geography in a movie shot in another state, and one of these is not even real – it is a set on a Hollywood lot.

The land or set design is its own character. It says things—like the camera says things with its slow zooms, Dutch angles, and super close-ups. The land tells you the temperature, latitude, ecosystem, fauna, lighting, and the weather.

Horror is a genre of feeling. Horror deals in psychology. Your brain reads the atmosphere and climate, even if you are not reading it consciously. Horror is the only genre that has to scout for locations or build sets that evoke a sense of gloom – some darkness lurking beneath the surface, something in the lake or the sewer or buried in the soil. It is covered. It is hidden. It is watching. The windows of the house are eyes.

10 Psycho (1960): The Bates House

The location of the Bates house from Psycho in both the 1960 and 1998 remake were filmed on Universal Studios Hollywood’s lot, but the 1998 production built a new house at a different location on the lot. Despite the criticism of the remake being a slavish reshoot of the original film, the house’s exterior was extensively redesigned for the remake, with a pitched roof.

This is an odd divergence from the 1960 movie whose house, with a mansard Victorian roof, is a design aspect of the original which is iconic to the imagery of the film. One sees the original house and knows immediately what movie it is. The 1960 house is a character design itself, as iconic as Freddy Krueger’s combo of a Christmas sweater and a fedora.

Related: Psycho: Gus Van Sant's Experimental Remake, Explained

9 The Amityville Horror (1979): The Houses

There are two houses for The Amityville Horror – there is the one the 1979 movie was shot at in Toms River, New Jersey; and there is the real house where the reported haunting occurred in Amityville , New York. The film house was modified to make it resemble the real house.

It has since received a remodeled to remove the aesthetic of the Amityville home in an attempt to stop tourists from visiting the location and disturbing both the existing residents and neighboring homes with traffic.

8 The Evil Dead (1981): The Woods

In The Evil Dead , the location is alive. From the beginning of the movie, before the characters ever arrive at the cabin and find the Necronomicon , there is a force in the woods, and we are given the eye of the forest as it zooms through the trees. After the gang of college students play a recording of the translation of the Book of the Dead , the woods attack one of the characters and sexually assault her.

The movie was filmed in Morristown, Tennessee. Morristown sits east of Knoxville in the Tennessee River Valley, between the Smoky Mountains to the south and the Cumberland Mountains to the north.

7 Night of the Living Dead (1968): The Cemetery

If you are an avid zombie fan looking to get photos of yourself, or more ambitiously, film your own reshoot of the opening of Night of the Living Dead with the composition and backgrounds from the film, your destination is the Evans City Cemetery in Evans City, Pennsylvania.

This is where the movie begins, with sister and brother, Barbara and Johnny, arriving to place a wreath at a grave before the first zombie attacks them only minutes into the movie. This is the most iconic setting and most iconic scene of the movie, with the most memorable line as well: “They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”

6 Friday the 13th (1980): Camp Crystal Lake

It is the first, it is still the best, and it is the only camp in the series in New Jersey where the franchise is set. Camp NoBeBoSco in Hardwick, New Jersey is the home of Camp Crystal Lake in the original Friday the 13th . Crystal Lake has been cast all over the map —Georgia, Connecticut, California, Texas, Alabama, and British Columbia.

The original camp location in New Jersey captures what a Friday the 13th should feel like. It is North East Coast. The only other entry whose lake scenes were filmed in the region was Part 2 in Connecticut. The sequel’s filming location, Spectacle Lake, is a more epic body of water compared to Sand Pond at Camp NoBeBoSco, but the camp’s rustic architectural style remains superior.

5 The Exorcist (1973): The Steps in Georgetown

The steps from The Exorcist are an iconic horror site that has perhaps become more iconic because of their real-world location and gravitational pull upon cinema lovers. The Exorcist is undoubtedly the most powerful horror movie ever filmed, and fans are able to experience a piece of it at the bottom of the steps where Father Damien Karras tumbled to his death at the end of the movie.

Earlier in the film, the motif of the exterior stairs is echoed in the house when the possessed Regan MacNeil performs the spider-walk down the steps immediately after Chris MacNeil, Regan’s mother, learns that Burke Dennings has fallen down the steps outside and died. This scene was cut from the original, theatrical and VHS versions of the movie.

4 Fear Street Part 2/Friday the 13th Part 6: Camp Nightwing/Camp Crystal Lake

Both Fear Street 2: 1978 and Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives were filmed in the same park at two different camps. Fear Street 2 was filmed at Camp Rutledge, and Jason Lives was filmed at Camp Daniel Morgan. The uninvitingly named Hard Labor Creek State Park is located east of Atlanta in North-central Georgia.

Netflix originally mistakenly tweeted that Fear Street 2 was filmed at the same camp as Friday the 13th Part 6 . Technically, it may be true as Fear Street 2 may contain one or two shots from Camp Rutledge, but the majority of the movie was shot about 20 minutes away at Camp Daniel Morgan. The movies are not location-siblings, but rather cousins. Fear Street 2 is in love with Friday the 13th , and filming in the same forests as one of the entries is the most subtle and clever homage among many in Fear Street 2 to the home of Jason Voorhees.

Related: Horror Movie Film Locations That Are Supposedly Haunted

3 IT (1990): Derry, Maine

Derry, Maine is the home of Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King's novel IT . King-based Derry on Bangor, Maine , located in the southern half of the state. For the 1990 television movie adaptation of IT , Derry moved to the West Coast to Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver’s latitude is about 304 miles further north than Bangor. British Columbia defined Maine for a generation of kids who saw the television miniseries.

The location provided lush green exteriors for the Barrens and an overcast, rain-soaked atmosphere to the movie that helped to bring a gloomy quality that Derry needed. The waterway seen in the Barrens, the most haunting location in the movie, was shot at Beaver Lake in Stanley Park in Vancouver.

2 The Blair Witch Project (1999): The Black Hills Forest and Burkittsville

The Blair Witch Project was the movie that made us afraid to go into the woods. The forest scenes, which compose most of the movie, were filmed in Seneca State Park in Montgomery, Maryland. The park is about a 40-minute drive from the real-world town of Burkittsville, where the cast filmed some scenes in the first act and is credited as the location of the original town of Blair, from which the titular witch gets her name.

After The Blair Witch Project was released and gripped the world, the tiny town of Burkittsville was invaded by fans exploring the filming locations of the movie. The second movie took the path of a film with traditional camerawork and told a story about the story of the phenomenon of the first film and the tourists who traveled to Burkittsville to set out into the fictional Black Hills Forest.

1 The Shining (1980): The Overlook Hotel

Stephen King’s inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in his novel The Shining came from the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. For Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation, the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon served as the exterior filming location and the exterior design of the set for the Overlook. The director filmed the real-world hotel for exterior, aerial shots at the beginning of the movie, but Kubrick had a copy built on a set in England that combined the Timberline’s exterior with interior design elements from the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.

The interior was designed to be maze-like and illogical, and it was intended to disorient the audience, making it difficult to create a mental map of the interior. The maze-like layout echoes the hedge maze that was also built for the movie. The hedge maze does not exist at the Timberline Lodge. It is unclear why Kubrick exposed the missing maze in his aerial shots. Perhaps his intent was to further warp the reality of the film with this inconsistency, drawing into question if the hotel is changing or if the characters are already dead and experiencing time-jumps and renovations occurring at the hotel.

The introduction of the Overlook is preceded by scenes of Jack Torrance’s Beetle driving through the mountains. The opening aerial sequence, featuring a foreboding bass performance of Dies Irae, was shot at Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana.

• Movie Lists

25 vacations every horror buff should take in their lifetime

• These scary, morbid, and haunted places around the world make perfect vacation destinations for lovers of all things horror.
• People who love haunted houses and paranormal activity should visit the Winchester Mystery House or the Stanley Hotel.
• People who are obsessed with the macabre would enjoy visiting the Capela dos Ossos or the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave.

Not all vacations necessarily involve lounging by the beach or exploring art museums . For lovers of all things scary and unsettling, it would be infinitely more interesting to spend a night in a house full of ghosts or take a walk through a haunted forest .

Whether you're more fascinated by the mysterious and the supernatural or real-life horrors and atrocities that actually took place, you can find inspiration for your next spooky trip on this list.

From an old fortress in London that is teeming with paranormal activity to a museum in Hollywood that displays serial killer artwork, there's something to thrill and delight every horror buff.

The Island of Dolls in Xochimilco, Mexico, is filled with hundreds of abandoned dolls — as well as the spirit of a dead girl.

Located along the canals of Xochimico outside of Mexico City, there's a small island  that is home to hundreds of dolls: Isla de las Muñecas, or the Island of Dolls. Legend has it that a resident named Don Julian found a drowned girl there and was haunted by her spirit, compelling him to hang hundreds of dolls from the trees on the island in her honor.  

Fifty years  after hanging the first doll, he reportedly drowned in the same spot the girl did .

Today,   the island has become a popular tourist destination . Visitors claim that the dolls move their eyes, heads, and limbs, and that they're possessed by spirits.

The Winchester Mystery House is known as one of the most haunted houses in the United States.

Located in San Jose, California, the Winchester House has over 160 rooms, 40 bedrooms, and hundreds of doors and staircases, many of which lead to dead ends.

It is said that heiress Sarah Winchester was haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle, so she designed the house with winding staircases in order to confuse her paranormal tormentors, and slept in a different bedroom every night.

The Winchester House is regularly cited as one of the most haunted places in America. In the corridors of the third floor, tour guides claim to hear footsteps and disembodied voices whispering their names.

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small chapel located in the Czech Republic that is decorated with human bones.

Although it may look like an ordinary Gothic church on the outside, the Sedlec Ossuary, located in the Czech Republic, is decorated with 40,000 human skeletons , including a spectacular bone chandelier composed of almost every bone in the human body.

The story behind this church is that a local abbot in the 13th century spread sacred soil from Jerusalem across the church cemetery, making the Sedlec Ossuary one of the most popular places to be buried. Over the years, the church amassed such a vast collection of human bones that in 1870 a local woodcarver named Francis Rint bleached and carved them to use them as decoration.

Bran Castle in Transylvania is referred to as Dracula's castle.

Located in the center of Romania is a medieval castle called Bran Castle that is rumored to have once served as the prison for Vlad the Impaler, the infamous Romanian despot who served as the inspiration for Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula."

Locals in the surrounding villages believe in the existence of people that lead regular lives during the day, but haunt others at night . It is from these local myths that the character of Dracula arose. As a result, Bran Castle is commonly known as "Dracula's Castle."

The Stanley Hotel is said to be haunted, and was the muse for Stephen King's "The Shining."

Stephen King's stay at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado was what inspired him to write his 1977 best-selling horror novel, "The Shining."

Following a night at the Stanley, King called it the "perfect setting for a ghost story." And he wasn't the only one to feel creeped out by the hotel. Many guests have reported sensing the spiritual energy of past guests, and some have even captured photos that seem to show ghosts walking around the hotel.

The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Italy, are home to more than 8,000 mummified bodies.

Beneath the Capuchin Monastery in Sicily lie the Capuchin Catacombs , where nearly 8,000 mummified corpses are stored in open coffins. The dry atmosphere of the catacombs allowed for the natural mummification of the bodies. One of the most recent additions to the collection is two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo , who was embalmed so expertly that she has been dubbed the world's most beautiful mummy. Visitors claim that they have seen her blink.

The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana is haunted with the ghost of a slave girl.

Considered one of the most haunted houses in America, the Myrtles Plantation  in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is said to be haunted by  nine ghosts , one of whom is a slave girl who was hung on the property in 1823 after serving poisoned food to the lady of the house. 

In 1992, a photograph captured what appears to be the girl standing between two of the buildings of the plantation. Guests at the Myrtles Plantation have also reported seeing beds float around and being chased down stairs with a broom.

Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan is also known as the "Door to Hell."

Located in the middle of a desert in central Turkmenistan is the Darvaza gas crater , which has been nicknamed "the Door to Hell." The Darvaza gas crater was created in 1971 when Soviet geologists went searching for oil fields. They accidentally stumbled upon an underground pocket of natural gas that collapsed when they started drilling, forming an enormous crater in the middle of the desert. The scientists set the crater on fire in an attempt to burn away the natural gas, but the ensuing fire — which was only supposed to last a few weeks — ended up turning into a 40-year-long inferno that continues to rage on today.

The Tower of London is said to be haunted with the ghosts of the many people that were executed there, including Anne Boleyn.

Built by William the Conqueror in the 1070s, the Tower of London is a mighty fortress with a dark and gruesome history of torture and execution. There have been multiple reports of paranormal activity, for example, Anne Boleyn is said to haunt the site of her execution on Tower Green, and the Grey Lady, a servant to the royal family, has been seen on numerous occasions. In 2003, the palace CCTV captured the image of a ghostly figure flinging open a fire door.

The Museum of Death in Hollywood contains the world's largest collection of serial killer artwork and photos.

Founded in 1995, the Museum of Death in Hollywood, California, houses the world's largest collection of serial murderer artwork, as well as photos of the Charles Manson crime scenes, the guillotined severed head of the Blue Beard of Paris, original crime scene and morgue photos from the Black Dahlia murder, and other death-related exhibits. 

Even more disturbingly, the Museum of Death displays videos of autopsies and serial killers, the Heaven's Gate Cult recruiting video, and the Traces of Death video, among other things. According to the founders, the Museum's contents are so disturbing that people have  passed out .

Hoia Baciu Forest is known as Romania's Bermuda Triangle for its high number of disappearances and paranormal activity.

The Hoia Baciu Forest in Romania is referred to as the world's most haunted forest, as it has a reputation for intense paranormal activity and unexplained events. Named after a shepherd who went missing in the forest with a flock of 200 sheep,  the forest is well-known for UFO sightings and mysterious orbs of light. It is also referred to as the "Bermuda Triangle of Romania" because of the number of unexplained disappearances. 

Today, visitors to the forest often report strange symptoms like nausea, anxiety, unexplained rashes, scratches, and the constant feeling of being watched. 

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia pays homage to the thousands of prisoners who were tortured and exterminated during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.

On the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, sits the former Security Prison 21 . In 1976, the Khmer Rouge took over the Tuol Svay Pray High School and turned it into the largest center for torture, interrogation, and extermination. Out of the 14,000 people known to have entered the facility, only seven survived .

Today, the Security Prison has been turned into the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide , displaying photographs of the inmates as well as transcripts of their confessions.

The Akodessewa Fetish Market in Togo sells talismans related to voodoo magic.

Located in Togo's capital city of Lomé, The Akodessewa Fetish Market is the world's largest voodoo market. At the market, people can purchase a variety of macabre objects such as leopard heads, human skulls, dead monkeys, warthog skulls, armadillo skin, and parrot beaks — which all serve as voodoo talismans and charms. 

Fetish priests at the market often consult the voodoo gods directly, using small statues to act as channels for communication. As a result, the Akodessewa Fetish Market gives visitors a glimpse into the mysterious voodoo religion.

The Lizzie Borden House is the place where the Bordens were brutally murdered.

The Lizzie Borden House is the setting of one of the most gruesome and unsolved murder cases in American history: the murders of Andrew Borden and Abby Borden.

The Borden murders — the two were killed inside their home by axe — are officially unsolved , although many suspected daughter Lizzie Borden, even though she was cleared.

Further, the violent nature of the murders have led some to speculate that the house contains paranormal activity, and some of the tour guides say that they have heard children giggling in the attic, or that they have been touched by an unseen hand. And a woman who stayed in the murder room (it's a bed & breakfast/museum now) woke up in the middle of the night and took a photo of what appears to be a ghost.

The Torture Museum in Amsterdam gives visitors a look into the gruesome history of medieval torture.

Located in Amsterdam, the Torture Museum provides visitors with an in-depth look into the history of torture. The museum contains over 40 different instruments of punishment that were used across Europe in the Middle Ages and during the French Revolution. The collection ranges from more well-known devices like the guillotine and the garrote, to more obscure apparatuses like the inquisition chair and the sling. 

The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, is the site of many ghost sightings.

Built in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company, the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was the site of many gruesome punishments, tortures, and executions, and is rumored to be haunted. 

There have been many stories of paranormal activity: Guards and staff at the Castle of Good Hope have reported hearing footsteps and screams coming from the dungeon and torture chamber, and seeing ghostly figures wandering around. A black dog is also said to haunt the property, and has been known to approach visitors before disappearing.

The city of Pripyat in Ukraine became a ghost town after the Chernobyl explosion.

This city in northern Ukraine is probably the most famous ghost town in the world. It was home to almost 50,000 people before everyone was evacuated in April 1986, when part of a nearby power plant — the Chernobyl Nuclear Station — exploded.

The Chernobyl disaster caused such high levels of radiation that people were forced to evacuate immediately and leave non-essentials behind. It's those items, which include dolls, gas masks, clothes, and furniture, that draw in photographers and thrill-seekers year after year, and radiation levels have finally dropped enough for scientists to mark the area as safe to visit.

Museo de las Momias, a mummy museum in Mexico, contains over 100 remarkably preserved mummies.

The  Museo de las Momias  in Guanajuato, Mexico, was once a cemetery, but nowadays it displays hundreds of bodies that mummified by accident.

Thanks to the extremely dry condition of the soil, the corpses that were buried in the cemetery often turned into well-preserved mummies. By 1894, the cemetery had amassed a significant collection of mummified bodies, and re-branded itself as a museum. Some of the most shocking mummies in the museum include a pregnant mummy as well as the "world's smallest mummy," a child mummy that is no bigger than a loaf of bread.

The Beelitz-Heilstätten hospital in Germany is an abandoned hospital complex that once treated Adolf Hitler.

Built in 1898, the Beelitz-Heilstätten hospital is a complex of 60 buildings located in Beelitz Heilstätten, Germany. During the first world war, the hospital treated people who had been wounded by machine guns and mustard gas — including a young soldier named Adolf Hitler. 

Nowadays, it is a derelict military hospital with a creepy, abandoned aura that attracts curious tourists. Filled with rusting operating tables, graffiti-covered walls, and peeling paint, this hospital is a haunting reminder of a grim past.

The Mutter Museum in Pennsylvania contains all kinds of medical oddities.

Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Mutter Museum is a medical museum that contains an eclectic collection of medical oddities, anatomical specimens, wax models, and medical equipment — the Museum's goal is to help visitors understand the mysteries of the human body and appreciate the history of diagnosing and treating disease.

Some of the most unique specimens at the Mutter Museum include the tallest skeleton on display in North America, a specimen from John Wilkes Booth's vertebra, a malignant tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland's jaw, and slivers of Albert Einstein's brain.

The Monte Cristo Homestead is known as Australia's most haunted house.

The Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales, is largely regarded as the most haunted place in Australia. Ever since it was built in 1885, a number of tragic events allegedly took place in the house, including the death of a young child who was thrown down the stairs, the death of a pregnant maid who was pushed from the balcony, and the demise of a stable boy who burned to death in his sleep.

The Ryan family that lives in the homestead today claims that the house is haunted , and there have been a number of photographs that appear to show shadowy figures and ghosts wandering around the Monte Cristo Homestead. 

The family offers  ghost tours , as well as the chance for particularly brave visitors to spend the night.

The Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave in Belize is a Mayan burial site that contains skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware.

The  Actun Tunichil Muknal cave in Belize is a site where the ancient Maya made ritual human sacrifices. The cave contains pottery and sacrificial tools including sharp rock blades and ancient bowls with "kill holes" that would allow the blood of victims to drain — as well as the skeletal remains of the sacrificial victims. 

The best-known skeleton is "The Crystal Maiden," an adolescent girl whose bones have calcified, resulting in a sparkling, crystal-like appearance. Tourists who wish to explore this site must swim to the opening of the cave.

The Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania is a former convict settlement that is said to be haunted by the prisoners who died there.

Located in Tasmania, the Port Arthur Historic Site is a former penal settlement that was once home to thousands of violent convicts. Known as the "inescapable prison," the settlement is famous for its terrible conditions, vicious floggings, and isolation in damp cells that led to as many as 2,000 deaths .

Nowadays, Port Arthur is said to be haunted by the spirits who died there . There have been a number of documented ghost stories associated with Port Arthur, and several eerie photos have been taken that seem to show ghosts.

The Pine Barrens in New Jersey are said to be the home of the Jersey Devil.

An enormous tract of open space that covers nearly 22% of New Jersey, the Pine Barrens are a popular spot for outdoor activity. However, the Pine Barrens are also said to be the home of the infamous   Jersey Devil , a beast that the Pinelands Preservation Alliance describes as "a kangaroo-like creature with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, bat-like wings, horns and a tail."

According to folklore, it was the 13th child of a woman named Deborah Leeds, who offered it to the devil while pregnant with it in 1735. Upon its birth, the newborn sprouted talons, hooves, and wings, and killed its mother, siblings, and the midwife before disappearing. Sightings persist today, as it continues to terrorize livestock (and humans).

Capela dos Ossos in Portugal is decorated entirely with human skulls and bones.

Located in Évora, Portugal, the Capela dos Ossos is a small chapel with an unassuming exterior and an eerie interior that is entirely covered and decorated with human skulls and bones.

Built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who wished to transmit the message of "memento mori" — a Latin phrase that means "remember you will die" — the Capela dos Ossos contains nearly 5,000 human skeletons that came from nearby cemeteries. The chapel also includes two desiccated corpses hanging from the walls by chains, one of which belongs to a child.

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• Main content

Travel horror movies

1. Aftershock

3. Hostel: Part II

4. Turistas

5. A Lonely Place to Die

6. Altitude

7. Dying Breed

8. Evidence

10. Open Water 2: Adrift

11. The Breed

12. The Descent

13. The Descent: Part 2

14. No Vacancy

15. The Last Winter

16. Wrong Turn

17. The Reef

18. The Underneath

19. Wilderness

20. Eden Lake

21. The Hills Have Eyes

22. The Hills Have Eyes

23. Poseidon

24. House of Wax

25. Wolf Creek

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The Best Vacation Horror Movies, Ranked By Fans

A road trip can be a blast - that is, until a chainsaw wielding maniac enters the picture. Then, the vacation's over. The best horror movies about travel gone wrong feature characters as tourists that are out of their element and fighting for their lives. This is a list of the top scary vacation horror movies including everything from The Cabin in the Woods to Wolf Creek to Joy Ride . Hopefully none of these horror vacation scenarios happen to you on your next family road trip.

What films will you find on this list of the best horror movies about traveling ? In The Evil Dead, a trip that should have been a fun getaway turns into a living nightmare when a group of friends accidentally resurrect a demon. Sam Raimi wrote and directed this classic horror film starring Bruce Campbell. The Shallows is another frightening film about a horrific vacation, this time involving the real-world threat of a hungry shark. Eli Roth's 2005 film Hostel sent a chill down the spine of anyone who has taken backpacking vacations through Europe. Other good horror films about travelling combine the anxieties of going someplace new with some real dangers.

Which horror movies about travelers deserve the top spots on the list? Vote your favorites towards the top. Be sure to check back for new movies will killer vacation plots based on groups of friends or families travelling as they are released.

While Wrong Turn may seem incredibly cliche for horror audiences today, back in 2003, this folk horror slow burn of cannibals and vacations gone wrong was the blueprint on how to tell a terrifying tale that will make audiences terrified to ever go on a road trip again. Set in the backwoods of West Virginia, after a group of friends has car trouble and panic about being stranded, they realize they are not alone in these woods, and that something terrifying lurks just beyond what they can see. Being hunted in and of itself is scary, but throw in being utterly stranded with mutated cannibal freaks into the mix, and nightmare fuel for every audience is born. 

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The Hills Have Eyes

Bloodthirsty mutant cannibals, government atomic zones, and being hunted down to feast on your flesh may not seem like the perfect vacation, but in The Hills Have Eyes , it is a horrifying and vile reality that a poor family must endure. Arguably one of the most graphic, disturbing, and disgusting horror films ever created, The Hills Have Eyes shows what happens when every single thing that could go wrong on a road trip goes wrong. Showcasing some of the most horrifying and vile creatures of the 2000s, the film will leave audiences in a paranoid stance anytime they hear the slightest thing wrong in their cars.

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The Descent

Widely regarded as one of the best horror films to ever come out of the UK, The Descent is a wonderfully crafted jump scare bonanza that will ensure audiences never want to go spelunking in their lives. An uber claustrophobic experience that will leave audiences holding their breath whether they realize it or not, this terrifying adventure of cave diving just gets more tense and terrifying as the film goes on. When the group of incredibly strong and powerful female protagonists realizes they aren't in the caves alone, then a second act of utter blood-curdling terror kicks into gear that will unlock an entire new phobia in the minds and hearts of viewers.

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Possibly the greatest fear for people on a road trip is being stalked and hunted by a crazed lunatic in a car. Now replace car with massive semi-truck, and a terror unlike any other is realized to perfection in Joy Ride . Most people who have ever been behind the wheel of a car have experienced road rage in one form or another, but it just takes saying one wrong thing to the wrong person to create a living breathing nightmare from which there is no waking. Joy Ride may be a bit campy at times, but the underlying fear of being hunted by a psychopath behind the wheel is something audiences won't ever be able to shake.

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Every couple's worst nightmare comes to life in brutal and spine-chilling light in 2007's cult classic, Vacancy . When a couple gets stranded while traveling, they decide to spend the night at a local motel, only to realize they aren't alone, and if they don't act fast, they will be the stars and victims of a crazed killer's next snuff film. The film takes great pride in making every aspect of this stalking feel incredibly realistic and plausible, which just makes the film all the more terrifying. 

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The quintessential movie about vacations gone wrong, Hostel makes sure anyone and everyone who watches it will never want to stay in these lovely little hotels ever again. While a group of college graduates travel to Europe for vacation, they soon realize that their home for the summer is not what it seems, and sex, drugs, violence, and pain lay in wait for them. This paranoia-inducing thriller and gore fest is one of the most shocking and vile films ever created, and gave way to the “torture-porn” moniker akin to Saw . Showcasing the gnarly underbelly of Hostels in Europe and how wrong things can go for tourists, this magnificent horror film will leave audiences utterly shaken.

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The Cabin in the Woods

On the surface, The Cabin in the Woods seems like every generic would-be slasher film ever created. A group of college kids go to a creepy cabin for a mini-vacation and suddenly bad things begin to happen. However, the film has so many twists and turns it would make a roller coaster jealous. Being stranded isn't nearly as scary as being hunted by forces outside of your control, and the film showcases this fear beautifully. Nothing is as it seems, and the only way to survive is to fight.

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A film that will crawl under your skin in more ways than one, The Ruins shows the repercussions of going against the rules, the ignorance of man, and the danger of vacationing in Mexico. A masterclass in body horror and making audiences squirm, The Ruins has managed to become a massive cult classic thanks to incredible acting, realistic depictions of tourists in terror, and a shocking and surprisingly well-crafted story. Sometimes people aren't the most dangerous of creatures, and The Ruins shows that even the smallest beings can be a deadly threat.

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As most films on this list prove, Wolf Creek instills the idea that car troubles will indeed be the downfall of all tourists on vacation. When a couple's car breaks down and they are stranded in the Australian outback, a dangerous and deadly hunter decides they are his next prey, and they must fight to survive at any cost. A gritty, dirty, and low-budget film that feels almost too real for comfort that was “based on true events,” Wolf Creek shows the disgusting and vile nature of man, and the struggle to survive in a world you're unfamiliar with. Not for the faint of heart or weak-willed, the film takes great pleasure in making viewers squirm.

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Train to Busan

A film that helped revolutionize the dying zombie subgenre in horror, Train to Busan was a stomach-churning, pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that pulls no punches in drama, gore, and violence, and will have your palms nice and sweaty by the time the credits roll. As a zombie apocalypse outbreaks in the world, a young man must protect his daughter at any cost as their trip to Busan, South Korea became a living nightmare. Taking place nearly entirely on a train and in a train station, the film feels incredibly claustrophobic as zombies unlike anything mainstream audiences have ever seen rush in to chop on some human flesh.

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A Perfect Getaway

Heading to the tropical island of Hawaii on their honeymoon, A Perfect Getaway shows that even the most wonderful and gorgeous of areas can be home to some of the most dangerous and vile monsters in the world. An utterly terrifying battle for survival, the film showcases that just because someone seems nice, that doesn't mean they don't have a hideous monster on the inside ready to pounce. A Perfect Getaway will undoubtedly have any and all vacationers looking sideways at their guides from here on out.

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Chair lifts are a scary enough contraption in and of themselves, two tiny wires holding up dozens of people as they propel hundreds of feet in the air, but in the 2010 hit film Frozen , every skier's worst nightmare comes to life as a group of friends become stranded on the lift for weeks. A film rich in paranoia and dread, Frozen forces audiences into the shoes of the most poor unfortunate souls in the world as they slowly begin to turn on one another. Surivial is key, and when stranded with friends with freezing cold temperatures coming in for the kill, unspeakable acts unfold to make it to the next day.

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The Evil Dead

The quintessential cabin in the woods horror film, The Evil Dead helped revolutionize the horror genre by showcasing a brutal, bloody, and utterly terrifying adventure of a group of college kids who are hunted down by a supernatural presence in the middle of the woods. Widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made, the film at its core is indeed a film about a group of tourists who venture to a cabin, and everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Director Sam Rami exploded onto the scene with one of the most important and genre-defining films of all time with The Evil Dead .

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The Shallows

One of the surprise hit horror films of the 2010s, The Shallows is a perfectly paced and executed venture into terror, paranoia, and sharks! When a woman finds herself stranded in the middle of the ocean with a great white shark looking to take a bite out of her, she must navigate the waters of this strange land and do whatever it takes to survive. Isolation, desperation, an paranoia creep in every crevasse of this spine-chilling movie, and much like Jaws before it, after watching The Shallows , audiences will never want to go in the water again. 

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During a romantic getaway in the remote woods, a lovely young couple finds themselves the prey for a vicious and malicious attack of modern youth gone wild. Showcasing the dangers of group gang mentality and the lengths individuals will go to get what they want, Eden Lake is an utterly terrifying and vicious film that shows the world that nothing is scarier than a group of deranged and bitter teenagers.

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A breakup film wrapped in a cult film wrapped in a tourist horror movie, Midsommar has quite a few layers to unpack throughout its nearly three-hour runtime, but an epic the likes of which horror rarely receives presents itself beautifully. When traveling to Sweden with her boyfriend and his group of college friends, Dani audiences quickly realize that something far more sinister is afoot here and that no one can be trusted. Nothing is scarier than seemingly everyone out to get you, and in this brilliant paranoid thriller, everyone is. 

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I Spit on Your Grave

Sometimes, isolation doesn't truly mean you are alone, and I Spit on Your Grave showcased this in spine-chilling effect as one of the vilest, most disturbing, and shocking horror films of all time. A hybrid of revenge and tourist horror films, I Spit on Your Grave is not an easy watch, but one that will leave a resounding impact on audiences. The hunted becomes the hunter in this chilling and ultra-violent film of violating the wrong woman.

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

A remake of arguably the greatest film the world has ever seen, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is arguably the perfect tourist horror movie. A group of young travelers venture to rural Texas but while driving through, they come across a corrupt police officer who has made it his mission to make their life a living hell. Throw in cannibalism, and everyone's favorite skin-wearing killer Leatherface, and one of the scariest films of all time is born. 

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The stereotypical tourist horror movie has dumb characters that do dumb things that the audience can relish in seeing them get just desserts, and there is no finer example of this than Turristas . A film that relishes in swiftly and vengefully dishing out justice to those who continuously break the rules, Turistas showcases that just because you are guests in a far away land, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want and is the ultimate warning for those who think they can.

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Cabin Fever

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Akin to the massive horror hit The Descent, The Cave also follows a group of individuals who travel into a remote undisturbed underground ecosystem, but instead of seeking thrills, this group is seeking science. On the hunt for a new species that is rumored to be dwelling deep under the world,  this may not be a vacation, but the group of biologists is undoubtedly tourists in this strange new world, and the deeper they explore, the most they realize exactly how far out of there element they are.

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The Descent Part 2

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Black Water

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A Lonely Place to Die

Endangered Species

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He's Out There

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Fear Island

Long Weekend

Race with the Devil

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And Soon the Darkness

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Snakes on a Plane

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Infinity Pool

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Timber Falls

Kill Theory

Rattlesnake

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The Last Voyage of the Demeter

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Berlin Syndrome

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The best horror movies in every subgenre of horror. Whether it's evil dolls, terrible vacations, or anything in between, we've got a list for it.

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10 horror movies about haunted attractions, ranked.

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9 Popular '80s & '90s Kids Books That Have Aged Poorly

Alien: romulus is revisiting 1 unexplained detail from the very first xenomorph scene, does bad boys: ride or die have a post-credits scene.

Aside from dressing up and going trick-or-treating, one of the most popular activities on Halloween night is visiting haunted attractions. This includes haunted houses and hayrides as well as amusement parks and ghost trains. Ghosts and ghouls, unfortunately, do not exist in real life so we have to bring ourselves to the situations we love to see in horror films.

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Things get particularly meta when horror movies include haunted houses and rides. And quite often, those are some of the scariest films to watch. So, in time for Halloween, let's review and rank ten horror movies set at haunted attractions.

Blood Fest (2018)

An enthusiastic teenager and his friends attend a festival that celebrates all things horror. But when they get there, they and the other guests are attacked by the employees. There appears to be no escape either as everyone fights to survive this real-life horror movie.

Much to its own detriment, Blood Fest is a self-aware stab at the horror genre . The film is just so ambitious and, perhaps, smug that any semblance of its greater point fails to shine through. That being said, there are some amusing moments and the cast is personable enough.

The Hollow (2004)

In the small town of Sleepy Hollow, the presence of Ichabod Crane's living descendants triggers a local curse. The Headless Horseman now rides again and seeks revenge on those who wronged him.

The Hollow — which features a haunted hayride — is definitely aimed at children and teenagers, but there are things to like here anyway. First off, this TV-movie premiered on ABC Family long before it turned into Freeform. It stars Kevin Zegers ( Wrong Turn ), Kaley Cuoco ( The Big Bang Theory ), and Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys. So, yes, this one is meant to appeal to the younger set. On the other hand, the decent special effects are fun for anyone, regardless of age.

The Park (2003)

An amusement park reopens after a terrible accident took place there fourteen years ago. The park is still unsafe, though, as a young boy has now gone missing there. As people search for him, they, too, become victims of this haunted park.

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Andrew Lau's The Park is considered unique among East Asian horror movies. It does not shirk the tropes innate to its contemporaries, but  The Park makes good use of its setting. Nevertheless, the film's barely-there story is incoherent. The saving grace in this film is without a doubt the park itself.

Dark Ride (2006)

Ten years have passed since two teens were murdered inside an amusement park by an unhinged man named Jonah. Today, a group of college kids pass through the now-abandoned attraction, unaware that the killer has found his way back to the Dark Ride.

Low expectations will help if you're seeing  Dark Ride  for the first time. Is it a thrilling movie? Not so much. Are there moments where it breaks away from being a standard slasher? Sometimes. It's fairly average, and the occasions where it's not are rare.

The Houses October Built (2014)

A group of friends hits the road in search of the scariest underground haunted attractions. Though they have yet to find one that meets their high standards, they catch wind of the infamous Blue Skeleton. It is there that they find a haunted house worthy of their praise. Unfortunately for them, the scares at Blue Skeleton are legit.

The Houses October Built has such an agreeable core concept that it is disheartening to see how disappointing the overall film is. It often succeeds in spite of itself, but there are so many missteps along the way. Not to mention, the pacing leaves much to be desired. An even more frustrating sequel was released in 2017.

Hell House LLC (2015)

A documentary crew investigates a tragedy that befell a haunted attraction outside New York City. Hell House LLC was built inside an abandoned hotel, and on opening night, disaster struck. At least fifteen people died in the haunted house, but the reasons why are not clear.

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Found footage is absolutely the perfect choice for this theme. The divisive style makes audiences feel like they are part of the show too, and the real-time effect elevates the scariness.  Hell House LLC  was lightning in a bottle. Alas, the filmmakers have not been able to replicate what made the first movie so successful in the two sequels.

Haunt (2019)

On Halloween night, Harper agrees to go out with her friends. They and two guys then drive out of their way to a haunted house. Once inside, however, they quickly learn nothing before them is fake. Everything is real, and their lives are in danger.

Haunt is kind of like an off-brand Halloween treat that tastes like the good stuff, but you can still tell if it's not authentic. That's not to say it is bad either. In the moment,  Haunt more than sates your need for retro, brutal splatter flicks with a keen eye for design.

Hell Fest (2018)

A college student named Natalie joins her friends for a night out at Hell Fest, a horror-themed amusement park. When there, they initially have trouble distinguishing between what is staged and what is not. To make matters more disconcerting, Natalie feels as if one of the park's masked employees is following them. Truth be told ⁠— she's not wrong.

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Hell Fest is mimetic of other slasher movies, but the production values, a mostly affable cast of characters, and some unadulterated violence makes this one park worth visiting for some old school terror.

Waxwork (1988)

A mysterious wax museum sets up in a small town. College student Mark, his girlfriend, and their friends all visit out of curiosity. As soon as they are inside, though, they are literally absorbed into the morbid displays.

Waxwork acts like an anthology where each character deals with a different and unique situation within the wax displays. The rest of the film acts as a large framing device. In the end, Waxwork is a likable comedy with some gruesome gore achieved through practical effects. There is also a sequel called  Waxwork II: Lost in Time that was released in 1992.

The Funhouse (1981)

A teen girl defies her parents by sneaking out to a traveling carnival with her friends. They then somehow end up witnessing a deformed carny murder someone. With them now trapped inside a funhouse with the assailant, the teens hide and pray until daylight or help arrives.

Tobe Hooper's 1981 slasher  The Funhouse is one of the director's best. It possesses atmosphere, and it has a fairly plausible scenario. Dean Koontz handled a novelization, but he wrote it under the pseudonym of Owen West. Due to the movie taking longer to make, the novelization was released first.

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The 200 Best Horror Movies of All Time

New year, new boo! We’ve re-vamped, fangs and all, our guide to the 200 best horror movies of all time, with critics and audiences now coming together in hellacious harmony to pick the freakiest, frightiest, and Freshest from horror movie history!

To assist in scheduling your film fright night, we guide you through German expressionism ( Nosferatu , The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ) and Universal monsters ( Dracula , The Wolf Man ). Creature features ( King Kong , The Fly ) nestle with Best Picture nominees ( The Exorcist , Get Out ). Slashers ( Scream ), zombies ( Dawn of the Dead ), vampires ( Let the Right One In ) abound with terror of the more psychological persuasion ( Don’t Look Now , The Innocents ). Plus, we honor the recent stabs and strides made by female horror directors ( A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night , The Babadook , The Invitation ) and directors abroad ( Under the Shadow , The Wailing ).

To sort the list, we’re using our recommendation formula, which calculates a movie’s Tomatometer rating AND its Audience Score , along with the film’s number of reviews and year of release. And how did we pick what to initially throw into our bubbling recommendation cauldrong? We hand-picked only Certified Fresh movies with a positive Audience Score, with recent movies needing at least 100 critics reviews. What’s recent? Anything after 2016, which is when we expanded our critics pool and criteria.

Ready to settle in for dark nights of Fresh fear? Then flip the switch on the 200 best horror movies of all time. It’s alive! It’s alive!!

Alien (1979) 93%

Let the Right One In (2008) 98%

Aliens (1986) 98%

Jaws (1975) 97%

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 95%

Get Out (2017) 98%

Psycho (1960) 97%

One Cut of the Dead (2017) 100%

King Kong (1933) 97%

A Quiet Place (2018) 96%

Halloween (1978) 96%

Shaun of the Dead (2004) 92%

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) 96%

Diabolique (1955) 95%

The Invisible Man (2020) 92%

Nosferatu (1922) 97%

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 98%

Rosemary's Baby (1968) 96%

The Wailing (2016) 99%

Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 98%

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) 96%

The Devil's Backbone (2001) 93%

Eyes Without a Face (1960) 97%

A Quiet Place Part II (2021) 91%

The Babadook (2014) 98%

Train to Busan (2016) 95%

The Ring (1998) 98%

His House (2020) 100%

Night of the Living Dead (1968) 95%

Talk to Me (2023) 95%

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) 97%

Repulsion (1965) 96%

Frankenstein (1931) 94%

Vampyr (1932) 98%

Freaks (1932) 95%

The Night of the Hunter (1955) 93%

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) 95%

The Innocents (1961) 95%

Prey (2022) 94%

Under the Shadow (2016) 99%

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) 95%

Border (2018) 97%

M3GAN (2022) 93%

Dawn of the Dead (1978) 91%

Godzilla (1954) 93%

Peeping Tom (1960) 95%

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) 96%

Re-Animator (1985) 94%

The Fly (1986) 93%

Suspiria (1977) 94%

Pearl (2022) 92%

Zombieland (2009) 89%

The Birds (1963) 94%

The Innocents (2021) 97%

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) 91%

X (2022) 94%

Misery (1990) 91%

The Cabin in the Woods (2011) 92%

The Amusement Park (1973) 96%

It Follows (2014) 95%

Raw (2016) 93%

Dead of Night (1945) 93%

Dracula (1931) 94%

Carrie (1976) 93%

The Host (2006) 93%

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) 90%

Kwaidan (1964) 91%

28 Days Later (2002) 87%

Don't Look Now (1973) 93%

Thelma (2017) 92%

Attack the Block (2011) 91%

The Orphanage (2007) 87%

Barbarian (2022) 93%

Werewolf by Night (2022) 89%

Us (2019) 93%

Upgrade (2018) 88%

Evil Dead 2 (1987) 88%

An American Werewolf in London (1981) 89%

Ready or Not (2019) 89%

The Lighthouse (2019) 90%

It (2017) 85%

Eraserhead (1977) 89%

Green Room (2015) 90%

Beast (2017) 92%

Hereditary (2018) 90%

Drag Me to Hell (2009) 92%

The Return of the Living Dead (1985) 91%

The Wicker Man (1973) 91%

Dead Alive (1992) 89%

You Won't Be Alone (2022) 93%

The Fly (1958) 95%

Let Me In (2010) 88%

Village of the Damned (1960) 93%

Don't Breathe (2016) 88%

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) 89%

The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 90%

The Conjuring (2013) 86%

Cat People (1942) 92%

Horror of Dracula (1958) 91%

The Blackening (2022) 87%

Grindhouse (2007) 84%

The Thing (1982) 84%

House of Wax (1953) 93%

The Shining (1980) 83%

The Love Witch (2016) 95%

Bone Tomahawk (2015) 91%

The Descent (2005) 87%

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) 91%

Mandy (2018) 90%

Duel (1971) 89%

The Cat and the Canary (1927) 93%

The Wolf Man (1941) 91%

Saint Maud (2019) 92%

Poltergeist (1982) 88%

House (1977) 91%

The Endless (2017) 92%

The Evil Dead (1981) 86%

Violation (2020) 88%

Martin (1978) 90%

Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010) 85%

Nanny (2022) 90%

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) 86%

The Witch (2015) 90%

Annihilation (2018) 88%

The Dead Zone (1983) 89%

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021) 87%

Island of Lost Souls (1933) 88%

The Others (2001) 84%

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) 89%

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) 86%

Hatching (2022) 93%

Santa Sangre (1989) 86%

Theater of Blood (1973) 88%

Gremlins (1984) 86%

The Haunting (1963) 87%

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) 88%

The Night House (2020) 88%

Sputnik (2020) 88%

The Black Phone (2021) 82%

Cronos (1993) 90%

The Dark and the Wicked (2020) 91%

The Invitation (2015) 90%

Freaky (2020) 83%

Tremors (1990) 88%

The Exorcist (1973) 78%

Evil Dead Rise (2023) 84%

The Mummy (1932) 89%

Carnival of Souls (1962) 87%

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) 88%

Candyman (2021) 84%

Hounds of Love (2016) 88%

Audition (1999) 83%

Piggy (2022) 91%

Dead Ringers (1988) 85%

Nope (2022) 83%

Slither (2006) 87%

Crawl (2019) 84%

Doctor Sleep (2019) 78%

Day of the Dead (1985) 87%

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970) 85%

The Omen (1976) 85%

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) 86%

Scream VI (2023) 76%

Fresh (2022) 81%

Color Out of Space (2019) 86%

The Conjuring 2 (2016) 80%

Better Watch Out (2016) 89%

Scream (1996) 81%

Saw X (2023) 80%

The Girl With All the Gifts (2016) 85%

Predator (1987) 80%

Goodnight Mommy (2014) 85%

Fright Night (1985) 83%

Midsommar (2019) 83%

Warm Bodies (2013) 81%

Sisters (1973) 85%

Shadow of the Vampire (2000) 82%

I Walked With a Zombie (1943) 85%

Near Dark (1987) 83%

House of Usher (1960) 84%

Thirst (2009) 81%

Split (2016) 78%

The House of the Devil (2009) 85%

Smile (2022) 79%

Werewolves Within (2021) 86%

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) 79%

Halloween (2018) 79%

Videodrome (1983) 83%

Overlord (2018) 81%

Scream (2022) 76%

Come to Daddy (2019) 88%

Bones and All (2022) 82%

The Lost Boys (1987) 77%

Dawn of the Dead (2004) 76%

Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021) 84%

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 74%

Frailty (2002) 75%

1408 (2007) 80%

Little Monsters (2019) 79%

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) 77%

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Best Texas-Set Horror Movies - They're Not All Served With a Chainsaw

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Meet Viola Davis' Villainous Chameleon in New 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Sneak Peek [Exclusive]

The coen brothers turned down 1989’s ‘batman’ to make these two films, martin scorsese’s ‘shutter island’ makes a huge change to the book’s ending.

How important is the Lone Star State to a horror movie? There’s the Texas-born talent behind and in front of the camera, from performers like Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey , to directors Bryan Bertino and Robert Rodriguez . There are popular, persistent elements: religion gone sour, daylight scares, and the mix of urban and rural areas. There’s even the inclusion of popular dishes, chili and BBQ, into the story. The following nine entries are ranked on what it pulls from using the state as a setting.

9. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

Mandy ( Amber Heard ) catches everyone’s attention when she returns to high school after summer break. This causes her to grow closer to the popular kids, leaving behind her old friend Emmet ( Michael Welch ). The cool kids decide to go on a weekend trip, heading out into the seclusion only a ranch house could offer. Everyone seems to be the best of the best in the high school hierarchy, but it’s all fake. Insecurities run rampant. If only that’s all they had to deal with. When a killer invades the ranch, their weekend won’t end with many survivors.

This is a mean-spirited slasher with a stylish flair. Cover songs (“Sister Golden Hair”) create a melancholy tone. A massive water tower looms over the group of high schoolers as they take a break from their trip. The high school to the ranch are all locations found in Texas; the filming taking place in Austin and Bastrop . There’s a loving influence from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), particularly in the finale. Daylight exposes dried blood on those left standing, until one more savage act.

8. X (2022)

An entourage of porn actors and crew take to the road to head to an out-of-the-way cabin to be used as a set. It has all that they need: a bedroom and a farm. What they and actress Maxine ( Mia Goth ) don’t realize is the elderly couple renting it out to them, have an agenda of their own. A van’s headlights turn red from spilled blood. Pretty soon there isn’t a spotless area on the land.

What is also a crucial aspect to the story is the constant stream of extreme Christianity. It’s revealed to be part of Maxine’s background, no doubt a component to the sexual repression of Pearl, and is left on the TV of the central farmhouse. Filming took place in New Zealand , a stand-in for rural Texas, but it makes sense. Away from the city, the actors find themselves in an isolated area full of sexual repression and the extreme sermons of a televangelist. This won’t be the last time the morals of faith are questioned.

7. Manos: Hands of Fate (1966)

A family on a road trip takes a wrong turn, ending up in the wrong place. A search for the Valley Lodge gets them lost in the desert. Deciding to take a break for the night, the family of three stop at a house in the middle of nowhere. The drunk and staggering Torgo ( John Reynolds ) warns them they can’t stay. The family do anyway. Inside, is a painting of the foreboding Master ( Tom Neyman ). Not long after, they encounter a sex-crazed cult. The family really should have listened to Torgo.

Cheers to director Hal P. Warren , playing the family’s father, who made a very weird, flawed movie. Of other strange movies on this list, this might just be the strangest. The filming around El Paso does make the setting authentically Texan. If only the landscape got a focus. The Master and his cult of wives steals the show when they finally get introduced.

6. The Dark and the Wicked (2020)

A brother and sister return to their family’s farm as their father weakens due to an illness. Their mother isn’t in any better shape. She wants them all to leave, frightened of a presence in the home. Vivid nightmares cause more worry to the siblings, Louise ( Marin Ireland ) and Michael ( Michael Abbott Jr. ). They don’t agree on what is happening, despite a supernatural entity slowly revealing itself. The movie is all about grief and how suffocating it can be.

Director Bryan Bertino uses his own family’s farm in Texas for the main location. The one-floor home doesn’t leave much room to escape. A rustic windmill looms over the property. At night, the deep shadows in the farm on the land could be where the malevolent presence hides. Bertino taints the safety of the setting.

5. Frailty (2001)

Two young brothers, Fenton ( Matt O’Leary ) and Adam ( Jeremy Sumpter ), live with their father in a warm household. Their father, known only as Dad (Bill Paxton), makes sure they have dinner together every night and helps with homework. One summer night changes the whole dynamic. He tells the boys he saw an angel and is to be one of God’s warriors. He will be given weapons and a list to track down everyday citizens who are demons. Or so Dad says. Fenton’s concerns for his young brother are realized when his father brings home the first “demon.”

In this twisty movie, religious fanaticism rears its ugly head. The unsettling tone to the God’s Hand killings come from the uncertainty in Paxton’s character. Others that preach with such severe devotion are made to appear as untrustworthy, such as Maxine’s father in X . But can this loving father be one of them? Even when the killings begin, Fenton is just as confused. Alongside Paxton, its cast includes other Texas-born actors Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe . Unlike other movies of faith turned violent, this one questions who is right and wrong even beyond its ending.

RELATED: Netflix's 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Wastes the Return of Sally Hardesty

4. The Devil’s Rejects (2005)

“All right, let’s get this freak show on the road!” Welcome to Ruggsville, the fictitious Texas town home to the sadistic Firefly family. After the grisly events of the first movie, House of 1,000 Corpses , Baby ( Sheri Moon Zombie ), Captain Spalding ( Sid Haig ), and Otis ( Bill Moseley ) are on the run from Sheriff Wydell ( William Forsythe ). The law man is looking for his own justice. On his hunt for the remaining Firefly family members, the sheriff plans to be just as brutal as they were to their victims. Leaving the neon-glow carnival lair of the first movie, this sequel turns into a road movie from hell.

Being a Rob Zombie movie, there shouldn’t be much surprise in how violent scenes get. Going back into the world of the Firefly clan, he doesn’t stick to the same old. Wydell is an imposing figure all by himself. This is a horror western. “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd plays in the end, as the murderous outlaws drive full speed into a shoot ‘em up finale. Like other movies to come on this list, the sunny desert location hides nothing. When a victim escapes, wearing the skinned face of another, it’s all shown in daylight.

3. Grindhouse (2007)

In this outrageous double feature , two different kinds of monsters are unleashed. In Death Proof , Stuntman Mike ( Kurt Russell ) drives around, searching for women to lure into his specialized car. Once you get into the passenger seat, it’s a certified death trap. In Planet Terror , a bioweapon leaks, turning the infected into grotesque zombies. Part of the survivors who try to make it out include go-go dancer Cherry ( Rose McGowan ) who gets a machine gun prosthetic for an amputated leg, and Dr. Dakota ( Marley Shelton ), armed with a syringe launcher.

The Quentin Tarantino directed Death Proof is full of love for Austin. The city’s own Texas Chili Parlor works as a major set piece. A dialogue-heavy scene between a group of friends happens at the popular spot. All the while Stuntman Mike sits nearby, lurking, preparing for his lethal night drive. With Planet Terror , director Robert Rodriguez lovingly includes his own element of Texan food with The Bone Shack, an in-movie spot with a wonderful BBQ recipe.

2. The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) & (2014)

These two films loosely base their plots on the Moonlight Murders that went unsolved in Texarkana. In the original, the Phantom Killer picks off victims, starting off with a pair at lover’s lane. Captain Morales ( Ben Johnson ) and Deputy Ramsey ( Andrew Prine ) lead an investigation, getting so close to catching the culprit but not close enough. In the 2014 meta-sequel, a drive-in screening of the ‘70s movie brings the comeback of the Phantom Killer. Jami ( Addison Timlin ) gets away, but just barely. Her boyfriend is not so lucky. More chilling is the question: has the killer returned or is this a copycat?

Filmed in true locations in Texarkana, both films have a distinct element, compared to many of the other movies on this list. It turns the town’s unsolved crimes into its own mythology. Set in a town on the border of Texas and Arkansas, it’s also one of those rare “based on a true story” horror movies that inches closer to reality. But still not everything is correct. Among the more accurate elements is that the mysterious killer really was never caught, fueling the town’s urban legend.

1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Sally ( Marilyn Burns ) and her friends do nothing wrong when they drive to take a look at her grandfather’s vandalized grave. The trip hits a bizarre note when they pick up a violent hitchhiker ( Edwin Neal ), hinting at something worse to come. When the friends discover a house, they’re attacked by its inhabitants. One by one, they face the cannibal Sawyer family, consisting of the silent but fast Leatherface ( Gunnar Hansen ). Director Tobe Hooper didn’t need much help to create the atmosphere in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre . It made for a miserable shoot but works to keep a grittiness in the footage.

Filmed around sunny Austin, the setting looks sweltering and desolate. And that’s because it was. It gives the need to shower and clean off any gunk. It’s a backwoods tale of terror, one of the most well-known movies dealing with the Lone Star State. Influencing X , Mandy , and Devil’s Rejects , Hooper’s movie is a horror classic. Daylight makes everything more dangerous. What’s not so scary, are the major filming locations turned into eateries . The gas station Sally finds no help at, is now We Slaughter Barbeque and the Sawyer family home is now the Grand Central Cafe.

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Home » Roadside Attractions Blog » Uncategorized » The Best Road Trip Horror Movies

The Best Road Trip Horror Movies

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Road trips are conducive to a scary storyline. You’re often driving at night, driving in unfamiliar territories, or driving in the middle of nowhere. And so much can go wrong in any of those situations. You could make a wrong turn, run out of gas, get a flat tire. And your whole trip can derail from there, in more ways than one. It is no wonder that road trips serve as the basis for many horror films. There are a lot of road trip movies out there. But what are the best road trip horror movies?

What all of these movies have in common is that they start out with a simple vacation. Friends, family, or couples are taking a road trip. What could go wrong? The answer is plenty. Often more than you could ever imagine.

If you love a good road trip and a good scare, check out these road trip horror movies. But maybe wait until you return from your next trip.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977, 2006)

The houses october built (2014), joy ride (2001), southbound (2015), no vacancy (2014), dead end (2003), vacancy (2007), husk (2011), spree (2020), wrong turn (2003), house of 1,000 corpses (2003), kalifornia (1993), uncle peckerhead (2020), breakdown (1997).

• Penny Dreadful (2006)

Final Destination 2

• Midnight Ride (1990)

#Followme (2019)

House of wax (2005), the toybox (2018), death proof (2007).

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Highway to Hell (1991)

The hitcher (2007), duel (1971), pin this list of the the best road trip horror movies to save for later.

A family on their way to California ends up breaking down and stranded. Little do they know, they’ve parked themselves in a closed-off former nuclear-testing area where the only inhabitants are cannibalistic mutant monsters with a taste for human flesh.

This popular Wes Craven movie spawned a sequel in 1984 and a 2006 remake.

This found footage horror movie showing extreme Haunt road trip. A group of five friends hit the road in search of the best haunted houses in America. But they end up finding more scares than they hoped for.

College freshman Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) buys a car to pick up his friend and crush Venna (Leelee Sobieski) on their way home for summer break. But plans go awry when his brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn), convinces him to pull a prank over a car’s CB radio with deadly consequences.

In this anthology of interconnecting tales, different travelers journeys intertwine on the road with each other and demons: both the inner kind and external forces.

Seven friends on a road trip to Las Vegas get two flat tires in the middle of nowhere. On a search for help they come across a lone motel/bar/gas station where the owner and workers offer to help fix the car and put them up for the night. This helpful gesture turns sinister when, in the morning, the stranded road trippers are subjected to a gory game.

I family takes a shortcut on their way to Christmas Eve dinner at their relatives. They come across a strange woman on the side of the road, and thinking she is lost and hurt try to help her. From there they seem stuck in the woods and encounter horror after horror. But is everything really as it seems?

David and Amy Fox, a married couple on the verge of divorce, get lost while taking a shortcut on a drive home. An unexpected swerve to avoid a raccoon causes damage to their car and they end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. They happen upon a beat up old motel and have no choice but to stay the night. They find some videotapes in the room of gory amateur snuff films and quickly realize, these horrors were filmed in the very room they are staying in and, if they don’t act fast, they will be the next victims.

A group of friends on a road trip get stranded in Nebraska farmland after a flock of crows attacks their SUV, causing them to run off the road. The wade through the mysterious cornfields in search of help but instead find something more supernatural and sinister.

So Spree isn’t as much a road trip horror movie as it is a ride share horror movie. But most of the movie takes place in a car (which really you can’t even say about most road trip horror) so I’ll let it slide. Spree takes us on the murderous killing spree of a ride share driver sho is desparate to go viral online.

Jessie (Eliza Dushku) and a group of friends are road tripping through West Virginia. Car a flat tire stalls them on the side of a remote mountain road and they are stalled even more when motorist Chris (Desmond Harrington) crashes into them. On a quest to find help they run into a weird cabin in the middle of nowhere, and a horde of backwoods cannibals who begin to stalk and hunt the friends.

A couple of young couples are traveling the country in search of weird destinations to write about in a guidebook about offbeat roadside attractions. After a stop at Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen they set out to find more about the the local legend of a deranged serial-killer doctor. After getting a flat tire they run into hitchhiker Baby and a torturous night ensues.

Brian Kessler (David Duchovny) and his girlfriend Carrie Laughlin (Michelle Forbes) are working on a book about serial killers. To cut costs on their road trip to explore murder sites, they set up a ride share with strangers, Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) and his girlfriend, Adele Corners (Juliette Lewis). But they soon learn that they didn’t have to travel far to find a killer.

A punk band goes on their first tour, but they need a van to get them around. They meet a strange man names Peckerhead who offers up his vehicle to drive them around. With no other options they accect the ride, but things get even stranger when they find out that the man is actually a man-eating demon

A married couple, Jeff (Kurt Russell) and Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan, run into car trouble on a cross-country road trip. A passing truck driver offers to drive Amy to a nearby cafe to get help. After she leaves, Jeff fixes the car and drives to retrieve Amy, only for her to be nowhere to be found. He begins a frenzied search for Amy and finds lies, a coverup, and a strange hunt ahead.

Penny Dreadful  (2006)

Penny (Rachel Miner)’s therapist (Mimi Rogers) takes her on a road trip to confront her fears that stemmed from a childhood accident. But once up on a desolate mountain road, those fears come to confront her.

The movie that has every millennial changing lanes on the highway, this is still one of the best road trip horror movies ever made. On a road trip with friends, Kimberly (A. J. Cook) has a premonition of a horrible car accident to come. She blocks traffic, saving everyone who was supposed to die in the crash. But their fate catches up to them, one by one.

Midnight Ride  (1990)

A woman takes off on the road after leaving her cop husband. She picks up a hitchhiker who turns out to be a deranged killer intent on taking her for a ride.

This found footage horror movie follows a British YouTuber and her friends as they travel to America for a road trip and social media meetups. Along the way strange things start happening and all that is left behind is her recordnings.

A group of friends are road tripping to a school football game when they get a flat tire. In search of help they head to the nearest town: a strange ghost town known for its seemingly abandoned wax museum. They soon find out that nothing in the town is as it seems and if they don’t find an escape they will soon become exhibits themselves.

A family takes a summer road trip in a used RV. Along the way they pick up a stranded couple before finding themselves stranded themselves after an accident. Strange things start happening and the family soon realizes that the secrets that lie in the RV itself are ready to be unleashed.

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Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), by profession, can leave almost any situation without a scratch. He’s souped up his car for maximum enjoyment of his favorite hobby: taking women for deadly drives. He meets his match, though, when he encounters a group of tough women who challenge him at every turn.

T he Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A group of friends traveling the backgrounds of Texas pick up a strange hitchhiker. They then find themself being stalked and hunted by a chainsaw wielding freak wearing a mask made from human skin: Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen).

A couple of teenagers, Charlie Sykes (Chad Lowe) and Rachel Clark (Kristy Swanson), make a wrong turn on their way to elope in Las Vegas. There they encounter an undead demon who kidnaps the bride-to-be, forcing her fiance to enter a race in hell to rescue her.

A remake of the 1986 movie, The Hitcher follows a young couple on a spring break road trip who pick up a deadly hitchhiker.

Steven Spielberg directed this movie about a traveling salesman, David Mann (Dennis Weaver), driving cross-country on a two-lane highway. He finds himself in a dangerous chase with an oil tanker that seems set on running him off the road.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

A young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents’ secluded farm. An intense snowstorm serves as the backdrop of this psychological ride.

Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

Plan Your Road Trip

Hackberry General Store in Kingman, Arizona (Route 66)

If you’re driving Route 66 and see this junkyard of a place out of your car’s window, you might assume it’s been long shuttered and …

Valerie Bromann

Founder & road trip expert.

Valerie Bromann is a a website manager, content creator, and writer from Chicago, Illinois (currently living in Dallas, Texas). As an avid road tripper who has visited hundreds of roadside attractions, Val always pull over for a world’s largest thing. Founder of Silly America and author of The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book , she visits, photographs, and writes about all the weird tourist destinations she visits and offers road trip planning advice and inspiration based on her own travels so you can hit the road for yourself.

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Last modified: December 28, 2023 Category: Uncategorized

Route 66 Quotes, Sayings, and Phrases

Barney smith’s toilet seat art museum in the colony, texas, share this post ⤵.

The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book

Everything you need to have and record an epic road trip, by valerie bromann.

Enjoy fun games and challenges to pass the time on your next road trip and have a keepsake to look back on for years to come with this entertaining must-have for your next vacation.

The road trip you’ve been dreaming of starts here! Journal about your stops and get to know your fellow passengers with activities and exercises designed to pass the time and bring you closer together. Instead of “Are we there yet?” you’ll find yourself asking, “We’re there already?”. Complete with prompts you can turn to while driving between locations, this journal will one day be a memento of your life-changing trip.

Silly America

Silly America is a roadside attractions blog designed to help travelers find unique stops for their next road trip. The website is a tribute to the great American road trip, devoted to all that is odd in America: roadside attractions, tourist traps, peculiar destinations, bizarre events, road food, fun festivals, and more! It’s a travel website and trip planner for those seeking an offbeat road trip.

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