Horror Movies, Thrillers, and Other Creepy Georgia Films & Shows
The air has cooled, and things are getting spooky. Georgia has been the setting for horror movies, thrillers, and all-around creepy television shows and movies featuring vampires, zombies and madmen on a rampage. Add these titles to your fall watch list, and whatever you do, don’t watch alone!
The Walking Dead
A police officer wakes up in the hospital in Atlanta and discovers that the world as he knows has ended, replaced with the “walking dead.” He reunites with his family and a band of survivors, taking on both zombies and their fellow humans. “The Walking Dead” is the most-watched television series in basic cable history, based on the graphic novels by the same name. The show filmed extensively in Georgia, especially Atlanta and Senoia. Notable locations in Atlanta include the Jackson Street Bridge, Bellwood Quarry at Westside Park, Georgia State Capitol, and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
Scream 2
In the follow-up to Wes Craven’s 1996 classic, a new Ghostface piles up a body count of victims. Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell reprise their roles, alongside Jada Pinkett Smith and Sarah Michelle Gellar. While most of the film was shot in California, the campuses of Agnes Scott College in Decatur and Georgia Tech in Atlanta were used.
Halloween 2
Rob Zombie’s new millennium reboot brought Michael Myers back from the dead. In this film, he is still on the run, trying to find his sister. But Laurie Strode is recovering from his last appearance. Much of the greater Atlanta area was used, along with Madison's Morgan County Courthouse.
Zombieland
The 2009 indie horror comedy tells of a dysfunctional group of survivors during the zombie apocalypse traveling the country to find safety. Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin star in the movie, which filmed at Valdosta’s Wild Adventures and the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton. The 2019 sequel “Zombieland: Double Tap” was filmed in Atlanta at the Academy of Medicine in Midtown and Hilton Atlanta downtown, as well as locations in Jackson and Macon.
The Originals
The successful spinoff of “The Vampire Diaries” set in New Orleans tells of the Mikaelson siblings, the original vampires trying to take back the city they founded. Conyers was the home to the series. Filming locations include the Celtic Tavern, the Georgia International Horse Park and Costley Mill Park in Conyers, the Hay House in Macon, the Kingfisher & Silvercreek Trails in Rome, and The Carmichael House in Jackson.
Stranger Things
The hit Netflix series involves a group of friends and a mother in search for her missing son. A young girl appears seemingly out of nowhere, but they soon discover that government agents are after her. Filming locations include Stone Mountain Park, Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers and downtown Jackson. You can even see Hopper’s Cabin from Seasons 2 and 3 at Sleepy Hollow Farm in Powder Springs. The cabin is one of the outdoor escape rooms you can experience at Escape Woods.
Sleepy Hollow
A modern interpretation of Washington Irving’s classic story, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman appear in modern times in this series that aired on FOX from 2013-2017. Conyers served as the main filming location for the third and fourth seasons. Gwinnett Historic Courthouse in Lawrenceville and the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers served as locations, along with Oglethorpe University, Rhodes Hall, and Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, and Stone Mountain Park.
Doctor Sleep
The 2019 film adaptation of Stephen King’s 2013 novel stars Ewan McGregor as the now-adult Dan Torrance, the young boy with psychic powers in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” (1980). Set in the fictional town of Frazier, New Hampshire, the movie was actually filmed in Georgia, including downtown Covington, the Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, Stone Mountain Park, the Fayette County Library, the Old Hotel in Porterdale, and beaches on St. Simons Island.
