The Geography of Horror

In honor of Halloween, the Geographic Information System (GIS) software company ESRI has mapped the locations of more than 200 of the top-rated horror films of all-time.

1 minute read

October 31, 2013, 11:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Jack O Lantern

Jesse Palmer / flickr

Looking for a fun travel destination this winter? You may want to first consult ESRI's guide to some of the scariest places on the planet (at least according to Hollywood), to find out what to avoid. ESRI had divided its map into distinct time periods, beginning with films made before 1960 and continuing decade-by-decade since, so some interesting patterns can be discerned.  

Before 1960, Europe (and England in particular) was a hotbed of horror. In the 1960s a distinct cluster of fright emerged in America's Northeast and Southwest. From the 1970s through the 1990s, horror films found a home in the U.S.; but in the 2000s, Europe and Japan emerged as two of the primary settings for scary tales. 

Thursday, October 31, 2013 in ESRI

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