Summer Road Trip: 8 Places Every Horror Fan Needs to Visit
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Summer isn’t a season often associated with horror, other than the maybe the dread of scorching heat and larger theatrical horror releases. It’s a season that often feels more like a countdown to the best season of the year, Fall. There’s a lot more to do and see beyond the dark, a/c cooled theaters this summer, though, making that countdown to Halloween way more fun and interesting. If you’re planning a road trip or summer vacation, these stops are worthwhile for the horror fan:
Kingsland, Texas – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Grand Central Cafe
Just over an hour’s drive northwest of Austin is the little town of Kingsland, where horror fans can dine on pancakes and burgers while perusing memorabilia from Tobe Hooper’s seminal 1974 horror film at the Grand Central Café. Why would a café on the property of a Texas Historic Landmark have memorabilia from the Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Because it’s the renovated house featured in the film as the Sawyer clan household. Over two decades later, after falling into a state of disrepair, the house was transported from its original location in Round Rock to the grounds of The Antlers Hotel. Now, the Sawyer home is Grand Central Café. If that’s not enough inspired horror dining for you, you can also chow down on Texas barbecue at the restored site of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre Gas Station, just southeast of Austin in Bastrop, Texas.
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania – Blobfest (July 13-15)
This annual 3-day event is hosted by the Colonial Theatre in celebration of, you guessed it, the 1958 horror film, The Blob. Held rain or shine, the even kicks off with a re-enactment of the famous scene from the original film in which a panicked crowd flees the theatre under attack by the amorphous creature from space. Aside from screenings of The Blob, there are numerous screenings of additional retro horror classics, live music, special guests, contests and more.
New Orleans, Louisiana – Horror Headquarters in the French Quarter
One of America’s most haunted cities also happens to be a busy city for film productions. You could spend a lot of time taking ghost, cemetery, and voodoo tours, or even perusing the morbid Museum of Death and barely scratch the surface of horror-themed offerings. But if you’re looking to get up close and personal with some beloved horror movies and TV series, then the French Quarter also marks notable film locations for shows like American Horror Story (the Hermann-Grima House is a central location of the series) and Adam Green’s Hatchet. In other words, New Orleans is a treasure trove for horror fans.
Estes Park, Colorado – The Stanley Hotel
This Colonial Revival hotel nestled in Estes Park boasts stunning views being situated a mere few miles from Rocky Mountain National Park. But for a horror fan, it’s the place where Stephen King stayed in 1973 for one-night in room 217. He and his wife were the only guests there that night, but he was convinced they weren’t alone, and that stay became the inspiration behind The Shining. The hotel has long been investigated for paranormal activity, and room 217 remains the most requested room. There are 90-minute tours nearly every night from May 31st to December 31st that delves into the dark nooks and corners of the hotel to introduce visitors to the spirits of the 100-year-old hotel.
Austin, Texas – Jaws on the Water (June 15-August 4)
The popular Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow event is back again this year to celebrate one of summer’s all-time best summer horror movies: Jaws. Of course, in true Rolling Roadshow-style, this is the definitive way to celebrate; with a movie-themed inner tube, attendees float in the water of Lake Travis, in the picturesque Beachside Billy’s Water Park, to watch Jaws while divers below the surface emulate the monstrous shark. Our own Trace attended the event last year and went more in-depth on what to expect. It doesn’t get much more summer for a horror fan than this.
Blairstown, New Jersey – the Friday the 13th Diner
While the site of the infamous Camp Crystal Lake, Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, is privately owned by the Boy Scouts of America, and therefore not open to the public very often, there’s another way to get up close and personal to the classic summer slasher. Scenes from the original film were shot on Main Street in the quaint town of Blairstown, which hasn’t changed much since filming. Strolling down Main Street on a self-guided tour should help you work up an appetite to dine at Blairstown Diner, also featured in the film, on Route 94. Classic diner food and friendly locals make it worth the stop, but beware any residents on bikes that warn of your doom.
San Jose, California – Winchester Mystery House (July 13)
Not even Helen Mirren could make the biographical horror film Winchester as interesting as its source material early this year, so why not visit the real place? Reportedly among the most haunted of places in America, the Winchester Mystery House was once the residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearm mogul William Wirt Winchester. Her inheritance after his death resulted in daily construction to the home to appease the spirits who had fallen victim to Winchester rifles. The daily, round-the-clock construction resulted in the strangest house in existence, with dead ends and secret passageways that twist and turn in dizzying ways. Tours are offered on the regular, but Friday the 13th brings a distinct type tour that allows visitors only a flashlight to see their way through the dark. The next Friday the 13th is this July.
Bangor, Maine – A Stephen King Tour
The home of prolific horror author draws thousands of fans to Bangor every year, just to see his house. But the inspiration behind King’s fictional town of Derry means a lot more to see than just his house. The cemetery featured in Pet Sematary, the looming Paul Bunyan statue that terrified Richie Tozier in It, the truck stop the served as the basis for Maximum Overdrive, and so many more pit stops that fans will recognize. You can even pay to take a tour that will bring you to all the notable stops on Bangor from which King drew inspiration. After that, feel free to stop by the bookstores that specialize in King collectibles and titles.
“Elevated Horror.” Of all the combinations in the English language, that one is the most insufferable.
It represents almost a decade of scary movies that, for the most part, took themselves too seriously. Horror responds to the moment, so its “why so serious” lean makes sense as we scuttle through the “worst of times” equation of Charles Dickens’ famous opening lines. But there’s still an opening and a need for a lighter approach; one that not only has fun with its audience but takes the piss out of a genre that is seemingly letting its newfound “respectability” go to its head.
Wes Craven believed devotees see horror films to let out their fears one primal scream at a time. At their core, these movies are roller coasters; they bring us as close to the edge as possible before pulling us back into a safety net of reality. The need for a bigger and badder coaster increases during times when the size of that net decreases.
There’s a thrill that comes from imagining being in a foot race with a madman, or outthinking the hordes of zombies on the other side of the door, plus the scavenger humans coming behind them. There’s even a rush that comes from imagining how one might deal with possession to see good triumph over evil in the end. It’s all about building tension and releasing it through catharsis. That cathartic release usually sounds like screams followed by laughter, which signals relief. Genre heavy hitters over the past 10 years offered very little of that respite when the credits rolled. Films like Hereditary, The Witch, Talk to Me, and even Smile (pick one) keep that tension going after the screen fades to black.
Hereditary
As the genre became obsessed with creating trauma metaphors, that lack of release made sense. Anyone with even a small sample size of traumatic experiences knows those emotions don’t magically resolve themselves in an allotted run time. But how much trauma can one take? Especially when there’s a mess going on outside that few of us can escape from. Movies offer that off-ramp, no matter how short.
Everything can’t be, nor should it be, “elevated.” Audiences need thoughtful explorations of life’s ills via monsters as much as they need murdering masked maniacs with kitchen knives. And no, it doesn’t have to go any deeper than that. Sometimes, a knife is just a knife, and it’s still worth our time and respect. As weird as it sounds, that simplicity is comforting not in spite of the trauma but because of it.
The worst of times should manifest more than just anguish. People need to laugh just as much as they need to think seriously about this moment in time. Even the Scream franchise forgot the meta rock upon which it built its church when the latest foray sacrificed the subtle comedy for serious drama. Scary Movie returned at the perfect moment. It provides the necessary laughs, but it’s not a cure-all.
This isn’t a call for Scary Movie imitators but a return to a mainstream landscape where Killer Klowns from Outer Space sat with The Serpent and the Rainbow, nestled neatly with the latest Nightmare on Elm Street, which took nothing away from The Vanishing.
They Live
Even They Live, John Carpenter’s horror sci-fi satire sandwich, kept its tongue firmly in cheek while discussing serious ideas still relevant in 2026. Yes, a film about aliens taking over the world through subliminal messaging only visible through coded sunglasses is, in fact, a tad silly. Carpenter understood that mainstream horror can’t become so self-important that it never looks itself in the mirror and laughs at that inherent silliness.
The thing is, horror historically excels at poking fun at itself. Most of the Scream franchise, The Cabin in the Woods, or The Blackening show adoration without kowtowing. They recognize tropes and trappings but invert them for an audience already in on the joke, but one that also finds solace in said conventions. This keeps the genre on its toes; once something gets parodied, it’s usually time to evolve. That breeds new ideas and fresh filmmakers, which not only strengthen the genre’s collective voice but also amplify it.
Get Out, as “elevated” as some critics want us to believe it is, is a cathartic, populist scary movie that spoke to an untapped audience rather than speaking down to them. Backrooms is one of the biggest horror hits in years, partially because it’s fine-tuned for modern-day teenagers instead of their parents. Movies like these tell everyone the genre is open for business; open for innovation and, yeah, open for new ways in which people can lovingly poke fun at with a wink and a nudge.
Horror needs dread as much as it needs laughter.
Catharsis is just as important as tension, and pulpy populism has the same merit as more high-brow material. Respectability shouldn’t come at the expense of an experience akin to walking through a haunted house. At a time when joy seems in short supply, horror should look to its past to map out its future, and make things just a tad brighter for audiences.
Backrooms
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