For many, Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year, giving them the perfect excuse to hide behind their sofas as they “watch” their favorite horror film.
But which films give which states the biggest frights? [Interactive Map At End]
Here at Comparitech, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular movies by state to see what people are finding most spooktacular.
Some states are getting their scares close to home
There were a few states whose favorite movies were made in their own backyard. This includes:
- Texas for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Released in 1974, the film was based on real-life serial killer, Ed Gein, aka the Butcher of Plainfield. Renowned for snatching dead bodies from graveyards so he could turn them into mementos made up of their bones and skin, Gein was also found guilty of murder and was eventually deemed insane.
- Rhode Island for The Conjuring – Also based on a true story, The Conjuring follows the story of paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, as they try to help exorcise the demons that are possessing the Perron family. And the scariest bit? While the film may seem far fetched, Lorraine herself was actually involved in the making of the film and maintains that she didn’t allow for any over-dramatization of the events.
- Colorado for The Shining – Although this film is based on Stephen King’s novel, King did experience the haunting effects of the real-life hotel in which the book and film are set. With numerous tales of hauntings, King and his wife stayed the night at the Stanley Hotel in room 217. It was there that King had a nightmare that his son was being chased through the hotel by a possessed fire hose. At the time, King was also battling alcoholism, thus forming the central character of his novel.
What’s clear, then, is that horror films based on true stories add to the popularity and fright factor for those living in the state in which they’re set.
Sequels and remakes aren’t offering enough fright factor
Compared to the original movies, like Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Thing, remakes or sequels just didn’t cut it for our horror fans. The only exception to the rule seemed to be IT which performed incredibly well upon its release in 2017.
Methodology
Using IMDB’s list of top horror movies, we searched each film individually on Google Trends to find which state scored the highest. This was then the designated film for that state. If any state came up twice, we used the film that ranked higher on IMDB for popularity. If a state didn’t appear top for any of the movies, we looked at the state’s individual information for the topic “horror movies” to ascertain which movie was being increasingly searched for in the related topics section. We also omitted any film with comedy as a genre (such as Shaun of the Dead).
