10 Horror Movie Locations You Can Visit (If You Dare!)

Ever watch a scary movie and wonder if those terrifying places are real? Good news for horror fans! Many iconic locations from your favorite chilling films aren’t just Hollywood magic. You can actually visit them. Imagine standing where your favorite horror movie moments happened. Get ready, because we’ve rounded up 10 famous horror movie spots you can add to your travel list. Just remember, the on-screen monsters and ghosts probably won’t be there… or will they?

10 Lord Summerisle’s Castle from The Wicker Man (1973)

The creepy folk horror film The Wicker Man takes place on the made-up Scottish island of Summerisle. Filming happened in several small villages on Scotland’s west coast. Culzean Castle serves as the outside of Lord Summerisle’s (Christopher Lee) impressive castle home. This grand castle, with its tall turrets and walls, sits dramatically on a cliff overlooking the sea. You can explore the large grounds of Culzean all year. The castle itself is open for visits from April to the end of October.

However, if you’re a big Wicker Man fan, the inside of Culzean Castle might not look familiar. Those interior scenes were actually filmed about an hour away at Lochinch Castle. This castle is part of Castle Kennedy’s grounds. While Lochinch Castle isn’t open to the public, you can visit Kennedy’s gardens. These gardens were another filming spot for the movie. They were used for the May Day parade and the scene where women dance around a stone circle.

9 The Cemetery from Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The groundbreaking horror movie Night of the Living Dead begins in a cemetery. Siblings Johnny (Russell Streiner) and Barbara (Judith O’Dea) are visiting their father’s grave. This is where Johnny famously teases Barbara with the line, “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” This unforgettable scene was shot in Evans City Cemetery, Pennsylvania. It’s located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, where director George A. Romero lived for most of his life.

The gravestone used for Johnny and Barbara’s father actually belongs to Grace and George H. Cole. The tall tombstone Barbara grabs in fear as a zombie attacks her brother belongs to Nicholas Kramer. Every October, Evans City hosts The Living Dead Weekend, organized by The Living Dead Museum. The cemetery is part of the filming locations tour. In October 2023, it even hosted a meet-and-greet brunch with actors from the film, including O’Dea and Streiner.

8 Count Orlok’s Castle from Nosferatu (1922)

F.W. Murnau’s classic 1922 silent film Nosferatu is set in Transylvania. However, it was actually filmed in Germany and Slovakia. The pretty German cities of Lübeck and Wismar were used for the town Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) travels through. He was on his way to Count Orlok’s (Max Schreck) castle. The spooky 13th-century Orava Castle in Slovakia, sitting high on a rocky cliff, was used as the Count’s home. You can tour this castle all year round. Slovakia’s High Tatra Mountains and Vah River also appear in the film.

Orava Castle made such a strong impression as a vampire’s lair that it played the role again. It was featured as Dracula’s home in Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s 2020 TV series Dracula.

7 The Steps from The Exorcist (1973)

At the end of The Exorcist, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) becomes possessed by the demon. He then jumps out of a window, tumbling down a steep stone staircase before dying at the bottom. This intense scene was filmed in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. However, some movie magic was needed. The MacNeil’s house was actually set back from the steps. So, a fake front was built to get the right angle for stuntman Chuck Waters to make the dive.

To cushion the fall, special effects supervisor Marcel Vercoutere lined each step with a half-inch thick layer of rubber. Waters had to perform the stunt twice. It’s said that Georgetown University students sold tickets for $5 to people who wanted to watch the dangerous stunt from nearby rooftops.

So many fans have visited the steps over the years that an official plaque was added in 2015. Mayor Muriel Bowser stated, “It is important that all the tourists know exactly what these steps mean to D.C. history, and they are indeed an icon in our town.”

6 The Overlook Hotel from The Shining (1980)

Stephen King got the idea for The Shining (1977) after a stay at The Stanley Hotel in Colorado. The hotel was strangely empty at the end of the season. For Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie version, The Overlook Hotel was a mix of two hotels. Both were designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood.

Exterior shots were filmed at The Timberline Lodge, located on Oregon’s Mount Hood. Interior shots were filmed on sound stages at Elstree Studios in England. However, these sets were designed to look like The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, California. The Overlook’s grand main hall and staircase look very much like The Ahwahnee.

Filming was stopped for a while due to a fire that destroyed some sound stages. Murray Close, the set photographer, explained that it damaged “the stage that had the set of the Overlook Hotel with the lounge set where Jack typed and he chased Shelley Duvall around with a baseball bat.” The cause of the fire was never found. Close captured a rare photo of Kubrick laughing among the wreckage while taking photos for insurance.

5 Louis’s Plantation from Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Interview with the Vampire (1994), based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel, is partly set at a grand plantation near New Orleans. This plantation is owned by Louis (Brad Pitt). Like The Overlook Hotel in The Shining, the plantation was created by filming different buildings for its outside and inside shots. Both plantations can be found along the Mississippi River, about 30 miles apart.

Oak Alley Plantation, with its Greek-style columns, was used for the exterior of Louis’s mansion. Its grounds were used for the graveyard and dock scenes. This plantation was also a filming location for Knight Rider and Days of Our Lives. Louis’s fancy parlors and bedroom were filmed at Destrehan Plantation. The barn at Destrehan also appears in 12 Years a Slave (2013). While visitors won’t find vampires at these locations, the buildings have dark histories due to their connection to slavery.

4 The Colonial Theatre from The Blob (1958)

When people think of The Blob, they often picture the scene where the Blob oozes into the Colonial Theatre from the screen. This causes moviegoers to run out in terror. This famous theater is in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Every July, it hosts Blobfest, a festival celebrating all things Blob. The festival includes movie screenings, costume contests, a street fair, and a reenactment of the famous cinema escape scene.

Director Irvin Yeaworth was from the area. Drew Boardman, the events manager for Blobfest, said Yeaworth “reached out to the people who were in charge of the theater and paid them a criminally low rate and was like ‘but trust me, it’ll make you iconic.’” Yeaworth was certainly right.

The diner across the street, where some characters run, can also be visited. It’s actually about 15 miles away, but currently, it doesn’t have any Blob items inside.

3 KAB Lighthouse from The Fog (1980)

The most memorable location in John Carpenter’s The Fog is definitely the lighthouse on Spivey Point. This is where KAB radio DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) works. From this small lighthouse, she warns the people of Antonio Bay that a spooky fog is coming. Point Reyes Lighthouse in California was used for the outside shots of this atmospheric building.

Visitors can walk down the 308 steps to the lighthouse. There, they’ll also find a small visitor’s center detailing the building’s history. However, filming didn’t actually happen inside the lighthouse. Instead, a set resembling its interior was built at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. The nearby town of Point Reyes Station also provided Carpenter with exterior shots for the fictional Antonio Bay. He liked the look of the town so much that he returned 15 years later to film his remake of Village of the Damned (1995).

2 The Gas Station from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Before the terrifying cannibalistic horror begins in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the group of characters stops at a run-down gas station. According to its sign, it also sells barbecue. Not only is this gas station still standing in Bastrop, Texas, but it has also been turned into a real barbecue restaurant called The Gas Station.

Roy and Lisa Rose, both fans of the film, bought the building in 2014. They worked hard to make it look as close to the movie as possible during renovations. There’s even a copy of the green van and gas pumps from the 70s. “We just want it to be authentic, so when you go, you’re not disappointed,” says employee Ben Hughes. “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” Visitors can also rent cabins and browse a gift shop full of movie merchandise.

Another horror movie gas station can be found in Morocco. This station was built for filming Alexandre Aja’s 2006 remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977). After filming, the set was left on the side of the highway, complete with old furniture and rusty cars.

1 Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th (1980)

The cast and crew of Friday the 13th went to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hardwick, New Jersey, to film their bloody slasher movie. This camp (short for North Bergen Boy Scouts) is still actively used by the Boy Scouts of America today. Official tours started in 2011, but they don’t happen often, so tickets sell out fast. Cast and crew members, like Adrienne King (who played final girl Alice) and special effects makeup artist Tom Savini, have sometimes made special appearances on these tours.

According to tour guides, the movie producers paid $25,000 to film at the site. This amount is even mentioned in the movie when a truck driver says the camp’s owners must have spent $25,000 to fix it up. The tour covers most of the main locations in the film. These include the cabins, generator shed, and bathrooms—all sites of gory deaths. Props, like the important canoe on the lake, are also put out. There’s also a gift shop filled with Jason Voorhees items.

Blairstown Diner, which was Crystal Lake Diner in the movie, is just a short drive from Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco. However, it has been remodeled since it appeared on screen.

Visiting these real-life horror movie locations offers a unique thrill. It’s one thing to see these eerie places on screen, but another to stand where iconic horror moments were filmed. Whether it’s a creepy castle, a haunted hotel, or a quiet cemetery, each spot has a story to tell. These places remind us of the power of film to make locations legendary. Who knows, maybe your next trip will be to one of these spooky destinations!

Which of these horror movie locations would you dare to visit first? Have you been to any? Leave your comment below and share your spooky stories!