With Halloween fast approaching, why not gather a bunch of friends and visit these ten places where famous horror films used to scare and thrill their audiences? It’s a terrific way to feel shivers as you walk past these famed locations without needing to pay to visit a haunted house or go on a ghost tour.
NOTE: Since some of these locations are privately owned, do not trespass or disturb the residents.
10 Horror Movie Locations in Los Angeles that you can visit Halloween
Halloween – Michael Myers House (1978)
Despite being located in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, John Carpenter’s iconic slasher hit was actually shot in and around South Pasadena, California. The infamous Myers house, where a 6-year-old Michael murdered his sister Judith with a kitchen knife, is located across the street from the brick structure that acted as the hardware shop where Michael obtained his iconic white-faced mask in the first film. The Myers home is no longer as eerie or decrepit as it seemed in the film, but it retains many of the subtle Victorian elements that made it such an ideal option for a horror film.
Address: 1000 Mission St South Pasadena, CA 91030
Poltergeist – Freeling family’s House (1982)
Tobe Hooper’s supernatural blockbuster, one of the most iconic horror films of the 1980s, takes place in a fictitious suburban neighborhood in California, where an all-American family finds their comfy house invaded by vengeful ghosts and demonic spirits. The fact that the house itself seems so homey and non-threatening, as writer and producer Steven Spielberg often choose for his settings, contributes significantly to the film’s effect. Unlike the gloomy abodes shown in films such as “The Haunting” and “The Changeling,” the house in “Poltergeist” seems more like a Brady Bunch home than a typical haunted house, making the terror much more realistic.
Although the residence literally implodes and vanishes towards the film’s conclusion, it may still be found in the faraway Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley.
Address: 4267 Roxbury St., Simi Valley
Another Halloween Special: 15 Most Haunted Places in the Philippines
The Ring – Katie’s House (2002)
An unfortunate teenage girl confesses to her friend in the horrific opening sequence of the 2002 adaptation of “The Ring” that she had seen a cursed videotape. She is killed seconds later when an evil spirit crawls out of a TV set and literally scares her to death. Despite the fact that much of the film was shot in Washington and Oregon, the mansion where that iconic scene takes place is in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park area.
Address: 413 S. McCadden Place, Los Angeles
Child’s Play 2 – Andy’s Foster Home (1990)
Andy is sent to live with a foster family in a magnificent two-story Craftsman home in a quiet neighborhood in South Pasadena in the 1990 sequel to the cult film Child’s Play. Unfortunately for Andy, his demon doll, Chucky, finds him at home and proceeds with his plan to possess his body.
Address: 2035 Milan Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030, USA
Nightmare on Elm Street – Nancy’s House (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven’s massively famous 1984 behemoth, spawned seven sequels and a 2010 revival and was mostly shot on a quiet residential street in Hollywood. The green-roofed, Colonial-style home where Freddy Krueger pursued Nancy Thompson’s nightmares remains remarkably identical to its cinematic counterpart, as does the home of Glen Lantz (Johnny Depp in his debut acting appearance). Glen’s house is two homes down, on the opposite side of the street from Nancy’s.
Address: 1428 N. Genesee Ave., Los Angeles 90046
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, the deceptively named horror sequel that featured Jason Voorhees terrorizing a new crop of teenagers (including a spasmodically-dancing Crispin Glover) at Camp Crystal Lake, made this private property in remote Topanga Canyon famous. Its isolated setting inspired a number of future horror films, including Pumpkinhead, Ed Gein, and Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.
TYes, you can book a photoshoot at the location and even spend the night at the farm!
Address: 1801 N Topanga Canyon Blvd, Topanga, CA 90290
Drag Me To Hell – Shaun San Dena’s Mansion (2009)
The historic Doheny House is located on the downtown campus of Mount Saint Mary’s College in Los Angeles. This is just to the north of Exposition Park and USC. The film begins with a flashback to “Pasadena, 1969,” in the large estate depicted in the top photo when attempts to save a young boy from a demon stalker fail and he is actually dragged down into hell.
Address: 8 Chester Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Insidious – Lambert family’s first house (2010)
In the film, a young boy falls from a ladder while exploring a creaking noise in the attic of a new home. The next day, he falls into a coma for reasons unknown to physicians, and his family is pursued by spirits. Moving to a less eerie house doesn’t help their predicament since the boy is a channel to the spiritual realm, and the dead use his body to travel to the real world. When the producers of the film “Insidious” were looking for a house to use in the movie, they wanted one that seemed to be haunted.
Address: 4350 Victoria Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90019
The People Under the Stairs – Funeral home (1991)
Wes Craven’s indescribably creepy horror-comedy, set mostly in a former funeral house, tells the story of an incestuous pair of landlords who torment their community by putting unsuspecting individuals in their reinforced basement. Surviving on human flesh, the unfortunate captives finally escape from the cellar and invade the rest of the house by crawling through a labyrinth of concealed passages in the walls. The Thomas W. Phillips House, constructed in 1905, is located in Los Angeles’ West Adams neighborhood, directly across the street from the eerie mansion featured in “The Convent.”
Address: 2215 South Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles
Ghoulies – Graves Family estate (1984)
In a year filled with fantastic horror films, “Ghoulies” stood out for its family-friendly comedy. The monster-infested mansion where the Ghoulies reside in this “Gremlins” knock-off was just down the street from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” house – right in the center of Hollywood. It was constructed in 1907 as the Wattles Mansion and is currently owned by the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, which rents it out for weddings, films, and other events. The grandiose residence may also be seen in “May,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Rain Man.”
Address: 1824 N Curson Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
More exciting things to do in Los Angeles, California
