10 Ghost Films with Eerie Behind-the-Scenes Tales

October is here, and you know what that means – spooky season is in full swing! As Halloween approaches, many of us love to curl up for a horror film marathon. But what if the chills didn’t stop when the cameras did? Some movies are just stories, but the following ten films have backstories and on-set happenings that are arguably scarier than any scene on screen. Get ready to peek behind the curtain at tales that will make your skin crawl!

10. Ghostbusters (1984)

The much-loved 1984 comedy classic, Ghostbusters, wasn’t all laughs on set. Some strange occurrences took place, and one even made it into the final cut. Remember that iconic moment when Dan Aykroyd’s character encounters a ghost, and his cigarette seems to defy gravity, staying put on his lower lip after falling from his mouth? Aykroyd insists this was a completely spontaneous event, with no special effects or even sticky saliva involved.

He claims it was a “total the-gods-are-with-you comedian moment.” While a simple explanation like saliva might seem likely, Aykroyd sticks to his story that no trickery was used for this once-in-a-lifetime shot. It’s a curious detail that adds a touch of real-world weirdness to this paranormal comedy.

9. The Innkeepers (2011)

Ti West’s chilling low-budget film, The Innkeepers, tells the story of two hotel clerks trying to prove their workplace, the Yankee Pedlar Inn, is haunted. Interestingly, the movie was filmed at the actual Yankee Pedlar Inn in Torrington, Connecticut, a location already famed for its ghostly residents. Fittingly, the cast and crew reported experiencing truly baffling supernatural events during production.

Director Ti West, a self-proclaimed skeptic, was unnerved by doors slamming shut on their own, TVs flicking on and off without explanation, and new light bulbs constantly burning out. Even more strangely, everyone on set began having incredibly vivid dreams each night. Actress Sara Paxton mentioned frequently waking up convinced someone was in her room. West himself noted that after a break from the set, the unsettling dreams returned the moment he stepped back into the inn.

8. Candyman (1992)

The 1992 horror film Candyman, about the vengeful ghost of a lynched slave, left audiences terrified. One particular scene is profoundly disturbing because it mirrors real events that occurred five years before the film’s release. In the movie, investigators discover that Candyman entered a victim’s apartment through the medicine cabinet.

This detail was chillingly similar to the 1987 murder of 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy. Her killers gained access to her apartment by crawling through an opening behind her bathroom mirror, just as depicted in the film. The movie also draws other parallels from McCoy’s case, such as setting the story in Chicago public housing and naming a character Anne-Marie McCoy, echoing the real victim’s name.

7. The Sixth Sense (1999)

M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 blockbuster, The Sixth Sense, is often hailed as a masterpiece, known for its suspenseful atmosphere and shocking twist ending. However, the filming process had an unsettling effect on one of its stars, Toni Collette, who played the mother of Cole, the boy haunted by spirits. During production, Collette, who had never suffered from sleep issues before, found herself battling insomnia.

On the rare nights she did sleep, her discomfort was amplified by the peculiar times she’d wake up. Collette shared that after meditating in her Philadelphia hotel room, she would often wake up, check the clock, and see repeating numbers like 1:11, 3:33, or 4:44. This pattern deeply spooked her. Years later, while filming Hitchcock, she experienced these unsettling numerical recurrences again.

6. Paranormal Activity (2007)

When Oren Peli’s micro-budget horror film Paranormal Activity was making the rounds in Hollywood in early 2008, it landed in the hands of Steven Spielberg. The legendary director was considering whether DreamWorks should get involved with the found-footage thriller. After screening the film alone at his estate, something inexplicable happened: the door to his bedroom locked itself from the inside, trapping him until a locksmith could be called.

The incident thoroughly unnerved Spielberg. So much so, he refused to keep the DVD copy of the film in his house, returning it to DreamWorks the next day in a garbage bag. Despite this hair-raising personal experience, Spielberg recognized the film’s potential and DreamWorks acquired the rights. Paranormal Activity went on to become one of the most profitable movies ever made relative to its budget.

5. 1408 (2007)

Often cited as one of 2007’s best horror films, 1408 follows paranormal skeptic Mike Enslin (John Cusack) as he investigates the infamously haunted room 1408 in a grand New York hotel. While the movie seems like pure Hollywood fiction, it was actually inspired by the real-life investigations of parapsychologist Christopher Chacon at San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado.

This luxurious hotel was a playground for Hollywood’s elite but also the site of Kate Morgan’s tragic suicide in 1892. Since her death, guests and staff have reported paranormal activity in the room she occupied. Chacon set up infrared cameras and magnetic meters in the room, detecting 37 anomalies, including glasses flying off counters unaided. His chilling report of these findings deeply affected Stephen King, inspiring him to write the short story “1408,” which was later adapted into the successful film.

4. Session 9 (2001)

The 2001 psychological horror film Session 9 stands out because it was filmed inside a genuine abandoned mental hospital in Massachusetts, the Danvers State Hospital. Opened in 1878, this institution gained a dark reputation as one of America’s most inhumane asylums. The filmmakers found that the eerie building itself provided most of the props needed, adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

According to official production notes, actor David Caruso claimed he saw “something pass my window” while filming inside the dilapidated structure. Actor Peter Mullan also reported strange experiences, particularly while filming on the roof. He described hearing a voice in his head urging him to jump off “to see what would happen,” attributing it to the hospital bringing out a morbid kind of “overactive curiosity.” The ruins of the asylum were eventually demolished in 2007.

3. The Conjuring (2013)

While making The Conjuring, a film based on Ed and Lorraine Warren’s 1971 investigation of a haunted Rhode Island farmhouse, the cast and crew experienced their own share of paranormal frights. Warner Bros. production notes reveal that people on set were sometimes surrounded by gusts of wind that didn’t affect nearby objects, like tree leaves. Screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes reported that their phone calls with Lorraine Warren about the case were consistently interrupted by unusual static, unlike any other calls they made.

Early in production, the crew had to evacuate their hotel due to a mysterious fire. Director James Wan endured sleepless nights as his dog would growl incessantly at something unseen moving across the room. Perhaps most unnerving was actress Vera Farmiga’s discovery of five distinct claw marks slashed across her laptop screen. She couldn’t explain it and, understandably, became very cautious, only reading the script in short bursts during the day to avoid being overwhelmed by fear.

2. Crimson Peak (2015)

In 2009, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was scouting locations in New Zealand for the Hobbit trilogy when he visited the Waitomo Caves Hotel. This grand Victorian-style mansion, built in 1908, was empty due to the off-season. As a ghost enthusiast, del Toro persuaded the owners to let him stay, given the hotel’s haunted reputation. That night, he experienced something terrifying: he heard blood-curdling screams and whimpering coming from a vent connected to an empty room.

Del Toro described hearing “_a horrible murder being committed_” and being genuinely terrified, unable to sleep. This petrifying experience directly inspired a scene in his 2015 gothic romance film, Crimson Peak. He explained, “_There is the moment where you hear a murder in the bathtub. It comes directly from that moment in New Zealand_.”

1. Poltergeist (1982-1988)

The Poltergeist franchise is perhaps most infamous for the tragic and bizarre real-life events surrounding its actors, leading to the legend of the “Poltergeist Curse.” Over a six-year period, four cast members died. Most notably, Heather O’Rourke (Carol Anne) passed away at age 12 from septic shock in 1988. Six years earlier, Dominique Dunne, who played her older sister Dana, was tragically murdered.

Julian Beck (Kane, the evil reverend) died of stomach cancer in 1985, and Will Sampson (Taylor, the Medicine Man) died in 1987 from post-operative kidney failure. Decades later, in 2009, Lou Perryman (Pugsley from the original film) was brutally murdered in his home. Many believe these horrific occurrences were linked to the use of real human skeletons as props in the first film. Whether a curse from disturbed spirits or a string of awful coincidences, the story remains a chilling chapter in horror movie history.

These stories remind us that sometimes the most frightening things aren’t confined to the silver screen. The line between fiction and reality can blur, especially when dealing with themes that tap into our deepest fears. Next time you watch a horror movie, you might wonder what unscripted terrors unfolded when the cameras stopped rolling.