Halloween might be just around the corner, but for true horror fans, any time is perfect for a good scare. We love the thrill of a terrifying movie, the kind that makes you check under your bed before you sleep. But what if the stories behind the camera are just as chilling, or even more fascinating, than what we see on screen? Get ready to peek behind the curtain at some of the most beloved horror films and discover the surprising truths about how they were made. These aren’t just movie magic tricks; they’re tales of dedication, unexpected twists, and sometimes, real danger!
10. Candyman: The Buzz Was Real (Literally!)
Remember the terrifying Candyman covered in bees? Well, those weren’t special effects! In Bernard Rose’s 1992 classic Candyman, every single bee you see on screen was absolutely real. Actor Tony Todd, who played the iconic Candyman, bravely had hundreds of bees crawling all over him, even in his mouth, for the film’s intense climax. He mentioned using a dental dam for protection and having “balls of steel.” Over the course of three movies, Todd was stung 23 times! His lawyer smartly negotiated a $1,000 bonus for each sting. Talk about commitment to a role! Interestingly, Virginia Madsen, who played Helen Lyle, is allergic to bees and was understandably nervous. Director Rose initially dismissed her fears, but tests confirmed her allergy, though it was more severe for wasps. Paramedics were always on standby. They even used young bees, whose venom isn’t as potent, and applied synthetic queen bee pheromones to the actors to theoretically prevent attacks.
9. Carrie: Sissy Spacek’s Unwavering Dedication
Sissy Spacek’s role as Carrie in the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is legendary, and her dedication was astounding. Director Brian De Palma initially only let Spacek audition as a favor to her husband, Jack Fisk, the film’s production designer. Determined to land the part, Spacek arrived for her audition looking the part: she wore an old sailor dress, didn’t brush her teeth, skipped washing her face, and even put Vaseline in her hair to make it look “dirty and unkempt.” Once hired, she fully immersed herself in the role, isolating herself from the cast to mirror Carrie’s vulnerable state. Her co-star P. J. Soles revealed that after the infamous prom scene, where Carrie is drenched in pig’s blood, Spacek “slept in that blood for three days” to maintain continuity. She even insisted on performing the final shot of Carrie’s hand emerging from the grave herself, despite De Palma’s concerns about injury from the pumice rocks. Her hand got quite raw, but the shot became iconic.
8. Halloween: Michael Myers’ Mask Had Star Trek Origins
The eerie, blank mask worn by Michael Myers in Halloween (1978) is one of horror’s most recognizable images. John Carpenter simply described it in the script as “a pale mask” that was “almost featureless.” Tasked with creating this on a tight budget, production designer Tommy Lee Wallace decided to alter a cheap, store-bought mask. He considered a clown mask but ultimately chose a Captain Kirk mask from Star Trek because it had a “blank face” that “didn’t really look like anybody.” To achieve the creepy look, Wallace enlarged the eye holes, removed the eyebrows and sideburns, tousled the hair, and spray-painted it white. Carpenter has joked, “I guess I owe the success of Halloween to William Shatner.” Shatner himself found it amusing and reportedly wore the Michael Myers mask one Halloween to take his kids trick-or-treating.
7. Train to Busan: Zombies with Breakdancing Moves
In Train to Busan (2016), director Yeon Sang-ho wanted his zombies to have jerky, erratic movements, a far cry from the typical slow shuffle. To achieve this unique physicality, Yeon hired a team of breakdancers. Their job was to create specific choreography for the film and coach the actors playing zombies. He explained that the actors learned “some very strange dances, with unnatural movements like having broken elbows.” This distinctive movement style posed a challenge for actor Gong Yoo, who played the lead character Seok-woo, especially during fight scenes. He noted how difficult it was to anticipate their attacks and find where to strike because their bodies were always convulsing and their arms twisted.
6. The Thing: A Double Amputee and a Jaw-Dropping Effect
John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) is celebrated for its astounding practical effects, largely crafted by Rob Bottin, who was just 21 when he joined the project. One of the most memorable effects is the “chest chomp” scene. In it, Cooper (Richard Dysart) tries to revive Norris (Charles Hallahan) with a defibrillator, only to have his arms bitten off as they punch through Norris’s chest. To create this shocking moment, a fiberglass fake body was attached to Hallahan, whose real head and arms were hidden under the table. The fake chest contained a hydraulic mechanism designed to snap shut on realistic-looking arms made of Jell-O, wax bones, and rubber veins. These prosthetic arms were attached to Joe Carone, a double amputee wearing a mask of Dysart’s face. When the mechanism closed, it tore off the fake arms, sending gore flying, while Carone flailed his genuinely amputated arms. Bottin’s dedication to these effects was so intense that he ended up hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer, exhaustion, and double pneumonia after filming wrapped.
5. Get Out: Inspired by an Eddie Murphy Joke
Jordan Peele’s groundbreaking film Get Out (2017) drew inspiration from several sources. These included racial politics in America during the Obama years and Peele’s own experiences. Surprisingly, an Eddie Murphy stand-up joke also played a part. In his 1983 show Delirious, Murphy joked about how a Black family would react very differently to a white family in a typical horror movie scenario, such as a ghost telling them to leave a haunted house. Murphy said he’d “tip the f*ck out the door.” Taking a cue from this, Peele made sure the Black characters in Get Out reacted with a realistic awareness of danger. He explained this reflects a “heightened awareness that Black Americans have developed in looking out for racism and the real horrors that we’ve been subjected to for years.” Peele believes this realistic approach resonates with all audiences because “it’s satisfying to see a movie where somebody at least is aware that this could go into a horror situation.”
4. The Babadook: The Eerie Pop-Up Book Is Real (and Rare)
The menacing pop-up book, Mister Babadook, is central to the horror in Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (2014). While children’s pop-up books and horror don’t usually mix, it was a perfect combination for this film. In 2015, Insight Editions actually published 6,200 replicas of the Mister Babadook book. These were designed by illustrator Alex Juhasz, who created the book for the film. The paper engineer for the book, Simon Arizpe, confirmed that the limited edition copies matched the specifications of the film version, including color, binding, and size. Since the movie doesn’t show every page, they created new pages to complete the story. A second limited edition was released in 2019. Copies are now very rare and can fetch high prices online. If you’re curious, you can find videos online showing a flip-through of this creepy creation.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Bloody Bed Scene Mishap
One of the most striking scenes in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is when Glen (Johnny Depp) is pulled into his bed by Freddy Krueger, followed by a massive geyser of blood. This effect was achieved using a revolving room. Everything in the room was nailed down, and then the entire set was flipped upside down. About 220 gallons of fake blood—a mixture of water, red food coloring, and poster paint for thickness—was then poured through the hole in the bed. However, the shot didn’t go entirely as planned. The water became electrified when it hit a light on the ceiling, shocking the crew member pouring it (he wasn’t seriously hurt). Another problem arose from the film’s low budget: the room was rotated manually by the crew. As the large volume of liquid sloshed around, the crew lost control, and the room began to rotate unexpectedly. While a mistake, the resulting shot, with the camera angle veering off, arguably made the scene even creepier.
2. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Unbearable Filming Conditions
Perhaps the most grueling part of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) wasn’t for the audience, but for the cast and crew, especially during the infamous dinner scene. Filmed in Texas during a scorching summer, the scene where Sally (Marilyn Burns) is tormented by her cannibalistic captors took a grueling 26 hours to shoot. Temperatures soared well over 100°F (38°C), and the room reeked due to animal hides and bones used as props. Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface, recalled that the food on the table rotted so quickly they had to replace it every few hours. (Interestingly, “Head Cheese” was a potential title for the film.) Joseph Lanza, author of a book about the movie, reported the heat was so intense that the cast and crew needed frequent breaks outside for oxygen and to vomit. Marilyn Burns arguably had the worst of it. She fainted after being genuinely roughed up, and Hansen actually cut her finger when a prop knife and fake blood effect failed during the scene where Grandpa tries to suck her finger. Burns later said her hysterical laughter at the end of the movie wasn’t acting; it was her genuine reaction to the ordeal.
1. The Exorcist: A Real-Life Murderer On Set
The making of The Exorcist (1973) is shrouded in tales of a supposed curse. Nine people connected to the film died during or shortly after production, and various other misfortunes, from fires to injuries, plagued the set. While some stories of a curse might have been spread to generate buzz, with director William Friedkin even stating his belief in demonic possession after his experiences, a truly dark fact emerged years later: one of its cast members was convicted of murder. For the scene where Regan (Linda Blair) undergoes an angiogram, Friedkin insisted on realism and hired actual medical personnel instead of actors. One of these was Paul Bateson, a radiological technician. In 1979, years after the film’s release, Bateson was convicted of the murder of Addison Verrill and was suspected in several other killings. Friedkin later used Bateson’s case as inspiration for his controversial 1980 crime thriller, Cruising.
These behind-the-scenes glimpses show that creating our favorite horror movie moments often involves incredible creativity, dedication, and sometimes, truly unexpected or even unsettling circumstances. The real stories can be as captivating as the fiction they help create.
What’s the most surprising behind-the-scenes horror movie fact you’ve ever heard? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
