Inspiration for a story can come from anywhere, and for tales of horror, it may even come from real-life events. Knowledge of actual encounters, real killers, first-person accounts, ghost stories and haunted places has been heard, told and passed down over the years, and a few of these have even been made into successful and scary movies.
Those who are interested in the behind-the-scenes details of this genre should read and learn about the spooky spots below. They have haunted pasts, which, for better or worse, made for horror films that fans can watch and rewatch … if they dare.
An Indian Burial Ground
Poltergeist, from 1982, was loosely based on what happened to the Hermann family in Long Island, in 1958. Objects moved on their own, things flew around the house, and everyone, from the investigating police and a press photographer to a priest and ministers, witnessed the unexplained strangeness.
The family blamed it on a Native American burial site (sounds familiar) and moved away. In real life, the film seemed to be haunted, as well. The actress who played Dana, Dominique Dunne, was strangled by her ex-boyfriend and died days later. The actor who played Henry Kane in the second film, Julian Beck, died of stomach cancer when the film was released. Actor Lou Perryman was attacked in his home and killed by an ex-convict. And the actress who played Carol Anne, Heather O'Rourke, died during an acute bowel obstruction operation when she was just 12.
Taken Captive In The Australian Outback
In 2005, an Australian horror movie came out called Wolf Creek, about backpackers taken captive by a killer in the Australian outback.
It was said to be based on true events, as between 1989 and 1993, Ivan Milat was responsible for the backpacker murders. These crimes took place in New South Wales, Australia, and the bodies of seven missing people (five of whom were backpackers) were found.
A House Like No Other
The Winchester Mystery House is an actual house in San Jose, California, and it is like no other. It belonged to Sarah Winchester, and it has 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, six kitchens and three elevators. It is also supposedly haunted.
In 2018, a film titled Winchester was released, and it focused on the spirits that haunted Sarah.
An Iconic Haunted House
The Amityville Horror came out in 1979. It was based on a book from 1977, which was based on events that happened in 1974 and 1975.
In November of 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six of his family members in Amityville, New York. In December of 1975, the Lutz family moved into the house and then left 28 days later, due to paranormal phenomena.
Supernatural Forces In Connecticut
In 2009, The Haunting in Connecticut told the story of the Campbell family, who moved into a new home that was full of supernatural forces.
In real life, 1986, Carmen Snedeker and her family were haunted in their home in Connecticut. Well-known paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, said that the house used to be a funeral home and that there were powerful supernatural forces at work.
Ghosts Hunted By The Warrens
Speaking of the Warrens… More of their stories are told through The Conjuring franchise. The first installment, in 2013, focused on the Perron family and their farmhouse in Rhode Island, in 1971.
The 2016 sequel focused on the British Hodgson family, and their experiences with the Enfield poltergeist. Of course, there are also the Annabelle movies, about haunted objects, as well as The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do, which will release later this year.
A Haunted Hotel
The Shining is a film from 1980, as well as a book by Stephen King from 1977, and the setting of this story is the Overlook Hotel. The real-life place that inspired the hotel is The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. It was even used as the filming location for the TV miniseries in 1997.
While this makes it spooky enough, many claim that the hotel is actually haunted. Paranormal activity has been reported, investigators have come to check it out, and it has been featured on several ghost-hunting television series.
Tunnels Of Bones
The Catacombs of Paris are scary on their own, as there, visitors can find the remains of over six million people, all underground.
In 2014, As Above, So Below came out, and it was filmed in the catacombs, which definitely added to the horror.
Witchy Locales
When The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, audiences thought it was actual found footage -- that filmmakers actually lost their lives in the woods and that the Blair Witch was real.
While this was soon found to be not true, there is, however, the Bell Witch Cave, which can be found in Adams, Tennessee, and is associated with its own legend: The Bell Witch.
(Not-So) Empty Prison
Alcatraz Island features a lighthouse, a military fortification, a once-active military prison and federal prison. Many movies and shows have been set here, including The Rock, a thriller from 1996, Escape from Alcatraz, a biographical thriller from 1979, and The Enforcer, a thriller from 1976.
While abandoned prisons can be creepy in themselves, this one has even more scary stories surrounding it. Native Americans who once came to the island said they encountered evil spirits, and Mark Twain said that it was "cold as winter, even in the summer months.”