Our Tour Guides Share The Truth About These Classic Halloween Films

Halloween is nearly upon us and one of the best parts of Halloween is curling up on the sofa, dimming the lights and having a horror film marathon 😱 🍿 

Some of our favourite horror films are set in some of our favourite places around the world, so we asked our tour guides to share some spooky truths about these classic horror films and their creepy locations; here’s what we found out. 

The iconic puppet from Saw, known as Billy, was so precious to filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell that they paid for it to have its own seat on a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles. We feel sorry for anyone who was on that flight - v. creepy 🙈

The Blair Witch actors all agreed to stay in character while filming, but if they needed a time out or wanted to comment on something, they would use the code word “taco” - what a great safe word!

The location used in the iconic summer camp slasher film was (and still is) a functioning scout camp in New Jersey. Called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, it was founded in 1927, and it's the oldest running scout camp in the state. In the fall (autumn to us Brits of course!) of 1979, the filmmakers were granted permission to use the grounds during the off-season. 

The famous maze that features in The Shining is actually so good that the director, Stanley Kubrick, and other members of the crew frequently got lost in it. Walkie-talkies were even brought in to help people find their way out 👀 

You’ll never have guessed it but the iconic horror film, Halloween, is not actually set in Illinois like you’re led to believe; in fact it was actually shot in sunny L.A. To create the illusion of autumn, the filmmakers had to cover the outdoor set in fake leaves, which had to be removed after each shot - that sounds like a lot of effort to us. However, they didn’t always get it quite right, and in some scenes you can actually see some L.A. palm trees 🌴

If you feel like taking your scare fest up a notch this year, why not book yourself a truly spooky Halloween experience? From ScareFest at Alton Towers to a Jack the Ripper walking tour, we have something for everyone.