Our 13 Favorite Halloween and Horror Movie Houses
Step inside if you dare.
As any lover of horror films or Gothic literature knows, a house is more than just a backdrop; it's a living, breathing character. Take a closer look at the homes that played arguably the most important roles in our favorite spooky and not-so-spooky Halloween flicks.
Halloween
South Pasadena, CA
Roadtrippers.com
Michael Myers' simple, two-story house was empty and abandoned when the producers of Halloween found it and decided to use it for the film. Since production wrapped, however, the house has moved across the street and found new life as a chiropractic office.
Hocus Pocus
Salem, MA
Roadtrippers.com
Built in 1870, Max and Dani's house in Salem is still used as a private residence. Albeit, a private residence that gets a lot of tourist attention. Located on the end of a street with no neighbors on three sides, the home is pretty easy to spot. Plus, the owners have kept the unique exterior, including the iconic lookout tower and red-trimmed porch, intact since filming wrapped in 1993.
Rose Red: Thornewood Castle
Lakewood, WA
Thornewood Castle
The evil, human-eating mansion from Stephen King's thriller was brought to life on the big screen in the form of Tudor Gothic-style Thornewood Castle. Similar to Rose Red, Thornewood was given as a gift from husband to bride. Unlike Rose Red, the story of the real home has a happy ending. Originally built in England at the beginning of the 16th century, the castle was bought by Mr. Chester Thorne for his wife Anna. It was then deconstructed, shipped in pieces by boat around Cape Horn and rebuilt in Lakewood, Washington.
Beetlejuice
East Corinth, Vermont
Warner Bros. via Hooked on Houses
Before you get too excited (like I did) and start booking your flight to East Corinth, you should know that the Maitland's quaint, turn-of-the-century home was just a facade built for the film. All interior scenes were shot on set in California. Needless to say, the modern touches the Deetzes added to the home in the movie are pretty cool. I especially love the avant-garde porch and black and white-striped brick skirting.
The Woman in Black: Cotterstock Hall
Cotterstock, Northamptonshire, UK
Director James Watkins said he chose Gothic-style Cotterstock Hall because "it looked like it had eyes." The only drawback? The place was in pristine condition. It took the production team four days to cover the house and grounds in ivy, weeds and moss before it was ready to play the role of the sinister Eel Marsh House.
Rosemary's Baby: The Dakota
New York, NY
©iStockphoto.com/stevenallan
Known as 'The Bramford' in the film, the iconic Dakota on New York's Upper West Side was used for the exterior shots of Guy and Rosemary's new apartment. When it was completed in 1884, the Dakota was one of the only buildings on the block and boasted 65 luxury apartments, with no two alike. Through the years, the building has played host and home to many celebrities including Leonard Bernstein, Lauren Bacall and John Lennon, who was shot and killed at the front entrance.
The House of the Seven Gables: Turner-Ingersoll Mansion
Salem, MA
©iStockphoto.com/kickstand
While the Universal Studios set used in the film was torn down in the early 2000's, the real House of the Seven Gables — built in Salem, MA in 1668 — still stands today and is open for tours. Also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the Jacobean/post-Medieval structure was the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel and subsequent films of the same name, the most notable being the spooky 1940 Vincent Price thriller.
The home is the one of the oldest surviving wooden houses in North America and is rumoured to be haunted by the ghosts of a playful young boy and Nathaniel Hawthorne's cousin, Susan Ingersoll.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets: Alnwick Castle
Northumberland, UK
Getty Images/DEA /S. VANNINI
Look familiar? The grand, 11th-century Alnwick Castle played the role of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter films. Scenes were shot outside and inside the castle, perhaps the most memorable being when Harry and his first year pals receive their first broom flying lesson in the courtyard (pictured below). Visitors to the castle today can take flying lessons in the same courtyard!
Getty Images/DEA / S. VANNINI
Beyond Harry Potter, the castle has gained international fame as one of the only English estates to feature a poison garden — a unique garden where visitors can see and learn about the world's most lethal plants including opium, nightshade and much more.
Learn More: Step Inside the Alnwick Poison Garden
The Shining: Timberline Lodge
Mount Hood, Oregon
Getty Images/DC_Colombia
The inspiration for Stephen King's fictional Overlook Hotel was the Stanley Hotel in Estes, Co. But the film adaptation of The Shining was shot mostly on a studio set in England, with exterior shots filmed at Timberline Lodge, a government-owned National Historic Landmark in Mount Hood, OR. Fun fact: proprietors at the Timberline asked director Stanley Kubrick to change the number of the sinister room 217 to room 237 (a room number they don't actually have) so guests wouldn't avoid booking the room.
The Amityville Horror
Filming Location: Toms River, NJ
Tony Urban Photography
In 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed his parents and four siblings in their five-bedroom Dutch Colonial house on Long Island. Thirteen months later, the Lutz family bought the three-story waterfront home along with its swimming pool and boathouse for a bargain $80,000. What transpired afterwards became the controversial and often contested subject of a 1977 best-selling book and multiple film adaptations. The first film was shot in 1979 in this Cape Cod-style home in Toms River, NJ, which was temporarily remodeled to include the original home's iconic gambrel roof and chilling 'eye windows.'
As of June 2016, the Amityville, NY Home is for Sale: See the Listing
Zombieland
Atlanta, GA
Hooked on Houses
In case you were wondering, Bill Murray's Hollywood estate in Zombieland isn't his actual house. At the time of filming, it belonged to real estate developer Lee Najjar, ex-boyfriend of Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Kim Zolciak. What's more, the house itself isn't even in California, but in the residential neighborhood of Buckhead in Atlanta, Ga. Nevertheless, the sprawling, multi-million dollar mansion is pretty incredible and boasts some of the most awesome ceilings I've ever seen.
Poltergeist
Simi Valley, CA
MGM
This cookie-cutter, mock-Tudor-style home was exactly what director Steven Spielberg had in mind when scouting out houses for his creepy paranormal thriller. Who would ever suspect that the Freelings' nice suburban home was harboring an evil secret beneath its foundation? Fun fact: To capture the final scene in which the house gets sucked up into a vortex, set designers built a 4-foot wide mock-up in a California studio, then placed industrial-sized vacuums above the replica with hooks attached to specific points in the house. When the camera started rolling, the special effects team shot at the tiny house with a shot gun while the vacuums seemingly whisked it away into the Netherworld. Watch the scene here.
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Oakley Court
Windsor, Berkshire, UK
Oakley Court Hotel
An ideal setting for Dr. Frank-N-Furter's devious dealings, this stunning Victorian Gothic country house sits on a sprawling 35 acres overlooking the river Thames. When it isn't being used as a film set, Oakley Court is a hotel and event center that entertains its fair share of English royalty.
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