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10 Iconic Horror Movie Locales to Visit Before You Die!

Published

4 years ago

April 18, 2022

Though it’s of course impossible for any of us to go back in time and hang out on the sets of our favorite horror movies, that doesn’t mean that we can’t pay a visit to some of the iconic locations where they were shot. All it takes is a tank full of gas and an address, and though we can’t fill up your tank for you here on iHorror, we can provide the latter.

So come along with us on this virtual road trip, as we stop off at 10 memorable horror movie locations that all of us horror fans should make it a point to visit before we get stuffed in a casket and buried under six feet of dirt!

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR

We begin our journey right here in my own neck of the woods, in the Long Island, New York town of Amityville. Amityville is about a 45-minute drive from my house, and the town of course rose to infamy in 1974, when Ronald DeFeo Jr. brutally shot and murdered his entire family inside of the house, claiming to be possessed by a demonic spirit.

The murders, and subsequent hauntings, served as the inspiration for a lengthy horror movie franchise, and though none of the movies were shot at the actual house, the DeFeo home still stands in the town of Amityville, at the address 108 Ocean Avenue. The house looks very much the same as it did back in the 70s, though the iconic eye-shaped windows have since been replaced.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

Another iconic horror movie house is the one where Leatherface and his family did their dirty deeds in, in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Though the house was moved from its original location in 1998, it still resides in Texas, and not all that much has visually changed about it since Leatherface used the home as his own personal butcher shop. The only difference is that it’s no longer a home, as it was converted into a restaurant after the move.

Originally named the Junction House Restaurant, it has since been renamed Grand Central Café, and it’s located at 1010 King Court, in Kingsland, Texas. Head cheese is not on the menu, but I hear they have a really tasty burger!

FRIDAY THE 13TH

Surely Camp Crystal Lake is a fictional location, made up for the Friday the 13^th franchise, right? Well, yes and no. While no real camp exists under the name Camp Crystal Lake, the original Friday the 13^th was in fact shot at a real campground, which is still in operation to this very day. It’s called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, though it’s unfortunately private property of the Boy Scouts of America.

Located at 11 Sand Pond Road in Blairstown, New Jersey, the camp is not far from the town seen in the early moments of the film, and the campground occasionally opens up for fan tours, typically when the 13^th of any given month falls on a Friday. Otherwise, the whole place is entirely off-limits to folks like ourselves.

That said, you can head over to the Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco website to purchase relics from the filming location, including pieces of the cabins seen in the movie and even jars of Crystal Lake’s very own water, from the faux Angry Mother Bottling Company!

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

If you’re more of a Freddy fan, you’ll be happy to know that you can visit the iconic 1428 Elm Street house, though it’s not located in the town of Springwood, Ohio – which was made up for the movie. A Nightmare on Elm Street was actually filmed in California, and the Thompson house is located at 1428 North Genesse Avenue, in Los Angeles.

The house was recently fixed up and put up for sale last year, selling in March for over $2 million. As you can see in the image above, the exterior of the house looks very similar to the way it did in the movie, and you can check out photos of the newly renovated interior over on the house’s Zillow listing.

HALLOWEEN

Much like Elm Street, Halloween was also filmed in California, though set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois – Haddonfield is technically a real town, though it’s in Jersey, not Illinois. The house seen at the start of the film, where Michael Myers kills his sister, was abandoned when John Carpenter made the movie, and has since been renovated and moved across the street, currently residing at the address 1000 Mission Street, in South Pasadena.

What has become of the Myers house, in the years since Michael lived there? Well, it has oddly enough been converted into a chiropractor’s office, titled the Alegria Chiropractic Center.

It’s interesting to note that a super-fan of the series by the name of Kenny Caperton recently constructed a full-scale replica of the Myers house in North Carolina, which he lives inside of. You can learn more, and see pictures, over on The Myers House.

THE SHINING

It was a stay at Colorado’s Stanley Hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining, with the allegedly haunted building being transformed into the fictional Overlook Hotel, for his novel – and, of course, the subsequent film. Though the Stanley is essentially the real-life counterpart of the Overlook, no scenes from the movie were actually shot there, as Kubrick instead used a sound stage and Oregon’s Timberline Lodge to bring the Overlook to life. The hotel was, however, used for portions of 1997’s mini-series adaptation of the tale.

The Stanley often plays host to writer’s retreats, ghost hunts, and even an annual horror film festival, and The Shining airs on a continuous loop on channel 42 in all of the guest rooms. You’ll find the hotel at 333 East Wonderview Avenue in Estes Park, Colorado. Be sure to book your stay in Room 217, which was the room King stayed in, and which became Room 237 for the film!

ROSEMARY’S BABY

In Rosemary’s Baby, Rosemary Woodhouse lives in an apartment building called The Bramford, where she is impregnated by the Devil and gives birth to his spawn. Though the building was real, it was actually called The Dakota at the time, which it still goes by to this day. Located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, the apartment building stands at 1 West 72nd Street.

John Lennon moved into The Dakota shortly after filming on Rosemary’s Baby wrapped, and the building became a true piece of horrific history when he was murdered outside of it, in 1980. Lennon was shot dead at the south entrance of the building, which Rosemary and her husband are seen entering at the start of the film.

THE EXORCIST

One of the most memorable filming locations from The Exorcist is the set of steps that Father Karras tumbled down at the end of the film, after sacrificing himself by allowing the demon to transfer itself from Regan’s body into his own. Those steps can be found in the Washington, DC neighborhood of Georgetown, located near 3600 Prospect Street. Not far from the steps you’ll find the MacNeill house, and many other locations from the film can also be spotted when prowling the area, including Georgetown University.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

It was an ill-fated trip to the cemetery that kick-started Night of the Living Dead, and the entire zombie subgenre as we know it today, and if you’re a fan of zombie cinema, retracing the steps of siblings Barbra and Johnny is an absolute must, on your bucket list. Those opening moments took place inside Pennsylvania’s Evans City Cemetery, located in the borough of Butler County. You’ll find the cemetery on Franklin Road, and we warn you to be wary of anyone who’s shambling around the premises!

DAWN OF THE DEAD

We round out this virtual tour with a trip to Pennsylvania’s Monroeville Mall, which is where George Romero filmed the original Dawn of the Dead. Though the mall looks quite a bit different than it did in the 70s, as most malls do, the shopping center is nevertheless one of the absolute most must-visit locations for horror fans like ourselves, and certainly the most well-known and iconic mall in the history of cinema.

Located at 2000 Mall Circle Drive in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, the Monroeville Mall often plays host to fun zombie-themed events, and formerly had a zombie museum inside of it, which featured props and memorabilia from Romero’s films. The museum was recently moved to Evans City, not far from the Night of the Living Dead cemetery.

If you want to see what the inside of the mall looks like today, watch Kevin Smith’s film Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which was filmed in Monroeville, and features a scene set inside the mall!

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This Week in Horror: Black Phone 2, The Backrooms, and the Return of Scary Movie

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2026

Luna Gray

A release week. Something in theaters today, something on Netflix tomorrow, a trailer that is going to divide people cleanly down the middle, and a Kane Pixels situation that is either the most exciting thing to happen to A24 horror in years or a complete disaster, and we are about to find out which in two weeks. Here is everything.

Obsession Opens Today

Obsession is in theaters today. Curry Barker directed, Inde Navarrette stars, and the premise involves a supernatural toy called One Wish Willow that does not appear to grant wishes in a way that works out well for anyone. Barker is coming off solid work in the short horror space and this is his feature debut.

The Black Phone 2 Hits Netflix Tomorrow

The Black Phone 2 streams on Netflix starting May 16. Scott Derrickson directed both, Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames are back, and the first one did $132 million on a budget that did not require $132 million to recoup, so this sequel had time to actually be made right instead of being rushed out.

The first Black Phone is one of the better supernatural thrillers of the decade, and the ending left enough room that a sequel is not a stretch. The thing I want to know is whether Derrickson is doing something with that space or just filling it. Tomorrow we find out.

The Scary Movie Trailer Is Here

The Scary Movie trailer is out and June 12 is the release date. Michael Tiddes directs. Anna Faris is back. Regina Hall is back. Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans are back. The whole thing looks exactly as chaotic as you would expect from a Scary Movie film in 2026, which will either be a feature or a problem depending entirely on how you feel about the franchise.

The original Scary Movie came out in 2000 and it was funny. Some of the sequels were funny. I am genuinely not sure what this one is going to be, and I mean that in a way that is not entirely negative. Faris has not been in a wide release in a while. Seeing her back in the thing she was genuinely great at is enough to make me curious even if the whole rest of the movie turns out to be a mess.

Insidious: Out of the Further Gets an August Date

The sixth Insidious film has been officially dated for August 21. Jacob Chase directs, Amelia Eve leads, and Brandon Perea and Lin Shaye are back in the cast. The trailer showed at CinemaCon in April and the response was apparently positive enough that the August date got locked in immediately after.

Shaye has been the connective tissue of this franchise since the beginning and the decision to keep her involved in whatever direction the series goes next is the right one. She is also just an extremely good horror actor who does not get enough credit for how much work she has done making these films feel like they are about something beyond the haunted house mechanics. August 21.

The Backrooms Movie Is a Month Away

The Backrooms opens in theaters May 29 through A24. Kane Parsons directed it. He is 20 years old. He is the Kane Pixels person, which means he built an entire mythology from scratch in YouTube shorts and did it well enough that A24 hired him to make a theatrical feature before he could legally rent a car in most states.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve star. James Wan and Shawn Levy are producing. The budget exists. The question that has been hanging over this project since it was announced is whether a feature-length Backrooms works or whether the whole thing depends on the specific intimacy of the short format, and we are two weeks from knowing.

American Horror Story Is Going Back to the Coven

American Horror Story Season 13 is coming in October on FX and Hulu, and it is going back to the Miss Robichaux’s Academy setting from Season 3. Sarah Paulson is back. Evan Peters is back. Angela Bassett is back. Ariana Grande is joining the cast.

The Coven season was the last time the show felt like it had a unified identity, and bringing the whole thing back around to that specific world is a reasonable way to remind people why they liked it before the middle seasons started doing a lot of experimental things that did not always work.

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Exclusive: ‘Key of Bones’ Reveals New Poster and Cannes Fantastic Pavilion Gala Screening

Published

3 days ago

May 14, 2026

Anthony Pernicka

The curse is heading to Cannes.

iHorror is exclusively revealing the brand-new poster for Key of Bones: Curse of the Ghost Pirate ahead of the film’s screening this Saturday at the Fantastic Pavilion Gala during the Cannes Film Festival.

The supernatural horror-comedy will screen as part of the Fantastic Pavilion festivities during Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, marking another major moment for the indie production as momentum continues building toward the film’s Fall release.

*Actor Jeremy King, Actress Gina Vitori, Writer/Director Tony Armer, & Actress Melissa Chick*

Filmed in Key West, Key of Bones: Curse of the Ghost Pirate follows a local waitress, a ghost tour guide, and an unlucky tourist who accidentally awaken a pirate curse tied to the infamous Anne Bonny. What follows is a wave of ghosts, supernatural chaos, cursed treasure, and paranormal mayhem spreading across the island.

Written and directed by Tony Armer, the film stars Gina Vitori, Melissa Chick, Jeremy King, Chad Newman, Benjamin Healy, Ty Spann, Kitty Clements and Vincent De Paul.

*Gina Vitori as Mary Read* *& Jeremy King as Christie*

Key of Bones also marks one of the first feature film productions connected to iHorror, expanding the brand beyond horror coverage and into original filmmaking.

The newly released poster leans into the film’s mix of pirate mythology, paranormal horror, cursed treasure, and the eerie atmosphere of real haunted locations in Key West. It offers another glimpse into the movie’s supernatural adventure, comedy, and ghostly chaos.

If you’re attending events in Cannes this weekend and would like to catch the screening of Key of Bones: Curse of the Ghost Pirate, visit Fantastic Pavilion for event schedules and screening information.

For more on the film, visit www.KeyOfBones.com

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Universal’s Horror Make-Up Show Ends 36 Year Run

Published

5 days ago

May 12, 2026

Piper St. James

The Horror Make-Up Show at Universal Studios Orlando has closed its doors after 36 years of entertainment. But not permanently.

The long running show that combines horror, comedy, and interactive demonstrations is next in line for a makeover at the Florida theme park. Besides the E.T. Adventure, The Horror Make-Up Show is the only other remaining attractions at Universal Orlando from its opening day.

A Brief History of the Make-Up Show

The idea for the show originated from an attraction at Universal Hollywood called The Land of A Thousand Faces. Land ran from 1975-1979. The twenty minute show entertained an audience of up to 1,700 visitors in an open air venue. The show taught the audience about movie makeup. Additionally, two volunteers were chosen to be transformed into the Frankenstein monster and his bride.

Despite the show’s popularity, The Land of A Thousand Faces was closed to make room for a new experience at Universal Studios Hollywood.

An Era of Gods and Monsters

Lon Chaney

Explained with movie clips, Universal’s Horror Make-Up Show explains the humble beginnings of makeup and special effects in horror movies. Starting with the classic Universal monsters such as Frankenstein’s Monster, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Phantom of the Opera, this era heavily features the work of Lon Chaney.

Lon Chaney’s contribution to the world of horror makeup greatly impacted the industry for decades to come. Many of his creations were the results of self experimentation. In fact, his extreme dedication to his craft earned him the nickname “The Man of 1,000 Faces”.

While we do know how he did some of his makeup effects, Chaney took many of these secrets with him to the grave when he died in 1930.

Rick Baker

Another important name in the industry that Horror Make-Up mentions is Rick Baker. Baker created the incredible werewolf transformation in An American Werewolf in London (1981). It was his work in this movie that earned him his first Academy Award for Best Make-up in 1982. This would be the first win for the make-up artist in a long line of achievements.

Perhaps Baker’s second highest achievement was his work in Michael Jackson’s music video Thriller. Baker’s make-up transforms the pop singer into a werewolf among a hoard of zombies. The makeup artist even makes a cameo in the video as one of the undead.

Other movies Baker helped bring to life with his craft include; The Howling, Men in Black, and The Wolfman (2010).

A Blending of Technologies

As seen in An American Werewolf in London, Rick Baker did not only use prosthetics to create horror movie magic. Baker and his team designed the animatronics and “change-o” heads, limbs, and other props to create the groundbreaking transformation from man to werewolf.

The combination of prosthetics placed directly onto the actor in combination with robotics began the blending of technologies used to create the next generation of monsters.

The Horror Make-Up Show continues its education of the genre as technology expanded into the computer era. The final clips shown on screen demonstrates the latest evolution of horror make-up in Universal’s The Mummy (2017).

Computer generated imagery is layered over physical practical effects to create the amazing hieroglyphics covering the character of Ahmanet, played by Sofia Boutella. It is the partnering of these two technologies that the host of the show claims creates the best and most convincing effects in modern day horror.

Moving Forward

Hardcore horror movie fans of the Horror Make-Up Show will be some of the first to say while entertaining, the show is indeed outdated. The names Lon Chaney, Rick Baker, Dick Smith, and Tom Savini certainly deserve to be immortalized in horror history. However, there is so much new blood that should be acknowledged for their contributions to the genre that continues to propel it forward.

Artists such as Damien Leone (Terrifier), Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), Todd Masters (Final Destination), and Eryn Krueger Mekash (American Horror Story) are all examples that have continued the evolution of visuals in the genre.

Damien Leone, Philip Falcone, and a victim in the make-up chair!

As touched upon in the original Make-Up Show, the best results in movies is when practical effects are blended with computer generated effects. Using just one style versus the other runs the risk of looking “too fake.” Using both techniques can also be more budget friendly and less time consuming for the actor in the make-up chair during the creation process.

The Future of the Horror Make-Up Show

Universal Studios Orlando is expecting to re-open their doors to the new Horror Make-Up Show during the winter of 2026. However, they have not yet announced what changes will be made, or what the future show will look like. The most the theme park has announced is the show will be:

“featuring classic and modern horror properties along with shockingly fun surprises – all while staying true to the comedic and irreverent vibe that guests love.”

What were your favorite moments of Universal Orlando’s original Horror Make-Up Show, and what do you hope they bring to the table when they reopen? Let us know in the comments!