# Best Horror Setting?



## Papa Bones (Jul 27, 2005)

I think the scariest setting for a horror movie is deep in the forest or way out in the country. In that setting, once the sun goes down, it gets really dark, really fast. You can hide, but you can't run- there's nowhere to run to. And if the "monsters" are local people that want you dead for whatever reason, they have the advantage of knowing the area, which you don't.

So what do you think is the best setting for a horror film? I posted this on Amazon's horror discussion board and got some interesting responses.


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## Eldritch_Horror (Jul 27, 2008)

I work in a power plant. Twice a year we shut down a boiler to do general repairs that cannot be done while the boiler is actively running. With that said, one year I drew the straw to work 7pm to 7am, it was quiet and serene and pretty darn creepy! I wouldn't say it would be the greatest setting for a horror film, but it would make a terrific setting for a survival-horror game!


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## DeadDudeintheHouse (Jul 23, 2008)

I actually think the scariest setting - not because of any films I've seen - is a city. Or a town. A place where there are a lot of people around. But that's probably because I personally kind of fear chaos and end-of-the-world situations a lot.

Also- creepy old, semi-abandoned or slightly dilapidated houses are some of the best too. Definitely among the scariest.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think a dentist's office would be a pretty scary setting for most people.


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## DeadDudeintheHouse (Jul 23, 2008)

And yet, there haven't been almost any horror movies that had a scene set there- unless the film itself was _about_ a dentist.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

DeadDudeintheHouse said:


> And yet, there haven't been almost any horror movies that had a scene set there- unless the film itself was _about_ a dentist.


I think you're right, although that scene in Marathon Man is pretty horrifying.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

Has to be an old house. An old mansion would do too.


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## DeadDudeintheHouse (Jul 23, 2008)

Or a castle?


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Papa Bones said:


> I think the scariest setting for a horror movie is deep in the forest or way out in the country.


Funny you should mention that. Stay tuned for Hauntcast 8....


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## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

The best setting, to me, is one that you would least suspect as anything remotely horrifying. Turn the ordinary on its ear and make the ordinary and commonplace a world of terror and fear. Take the everyday and expose the fright in our seemingly unimportant day to day.


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## Bone To Pick (Oct 23, 2007)

Basements always creeped me out as a kid. Half of our basement was an unfinished "crawl space" with dirt floors. At night, if I had to go down there I always half-expected to see a monster come thru the entrance to the basement from the crawl space. But it'd be difficult to do a full movie entirely in a basement, so...

... my choice would be a large abandoned structure in the middle of nowhere (like a hospital), or an out-in-the-country graveyard ala Night of the Living Dead - that graveyard was not elaborate, but felt very genuine and isolated.


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## DeadDudeintheHouse (Jul 23, 2008)

Haven't there been a lot of horror movies featuring dirty basements in the last 3 years?



RoxyBlue said:


> I think you're right, although that scene in Marathon Man is pretty horrifying.


Agreed. Very expert in building up the tension. Good suspense.


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## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

Anyone else have a thought on this topic?


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## GRAVEYARD HOUND (Jan 11, 2010)

The original "Frankenstine's lab is interesting though I think the folks in special effects, with all the machines, sparks, flames should be given extra credit.


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