Horror Movies, But Everyone’s From Scranton

 

by Tara Adams
The Creature Beat

Scranton, Pennsylvania doesn’t just watch horror movies. It quietly lives inside them, shrugs, and asks if you want pierogies afterward.

Here’s a very serious, completely scientific breakdown of horror films that are a perfect fit for a Scranton setting:

1. The Fog (1980)

Swap the coastal mist for Lackawanna Valley fog rolling in at 4 a.m. You can’t see the road, the radio crackles, and you’re pretty sure the siren is just a volunteer fire department testing something. Or a ghost. Either way, slow down near the Sheetz.

2. The Exorcist (1973)

Catholic guilt? Check. Parish rumors? Check. A priest who looks like he’s been tired since 1958? Absolutely. The real horror is the inevitable conversation afterward about whether it really happened and who knows the family.

3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Three people wander into the woods convinced they know where they’re going. They do not. This could be any group that underestimated the trails near Nay Aug Park or thought “it’s just a quick hike.” Bonus points if someone insists they heard something but everyone ignores them.

4. Friday the 13th (1980)

Camp Crystal Lake, but make it a summer camp upstate where the cabins smell like wet sneakers and regret. The counselors are teens, the adults are nowhere to be found, and everyone assumes “nothing bad ever happens here,” which is always the kiss of death.

5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Relax. It's not for the chainsaw but for the vibe. Loud family, strange silences, and that creeping feeling you’re being watched at a backyard gathering you can’t politely leave. Also: the heat. Why is it always hotter than expected?

6. The People Under the Stairs (1991)

Old houses. Basements. Locked doors no one talks about. Scranton real estate listings love words like “character” and “original features,” which is horror-movie code for do not open that door. And watch out for the underground vaults. 

7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Pennsylvania-based, bleak, and full of people arguing while things outside get worse. Honestly, this one barely needs exaggeration. Replace the farmhouse with a row home and you’re there.

8. The Shining (1980)

Winter. Isolation. That one stretch of road you regret taking after the snow starts. A man slowly losing it while insisting he’s “fine.” The only unrealistic part is how nice the hotel looks.

9. Candyman (1992)

Urban legend energy thrives here. Say the wrong name three times and suddenly someone’s cousin knows someone it happened to. You didn’t see it, but you believe it.

10. Halloween (1978)

Quiet streets. Early sunsets. That feeling someone’s watching you from across the alley, except it’s probably just a neighbor who’s lived there since Nixon and hasn’t blinked since.

Scranton isn’t flashy horror. It’s atmospheric horror. The kind that creeps in with fog, family stories, and basements that shouldn’t exist. No jump scares, just a lingering sense that something’s off … and it’s probably been that way for decades.

But hey. At least there’s good pizza nearby.