7 U.S. Towns That Inspired Famous Books and Movies
a lot films and books It was inspired by real cities. Sometimes, the inspiration is around a specific event, while there are times when cities serve as inspiring places for the feel and theme of the film.
Of course, movie and book fans will want to visit these locations, and in many cases, this is the perfect destination Horror genre Who takes a city and builds on it. There’s something about ghost towns, isn’t there? Surprisingly, there are a lot of them to use, along with real-life locations where the writers and directors had formative experiences.
- Centralia, Pennsylvania
- Elm Street in Dallas, Texas
- Gainesville, Florida
- (Silver Creek, Colorado).
- Northbrook, Illinois
- The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
- Durham, Maine

Centralia, Pennsylvania
The city of Centralia in Pennsylvania has become the inspiration for many ghost stories. After all, he is ghost town In real life. The population has dropped from about 1,000 people in 1980 to just five people in 2020. Yes, just five, and it’s all thanks to… Coal mine fire Which has been burning under the city since the 1960s.
This fire beneath the city helped create the sense of hell being directly beneath it. The properties were condemned, and the zip code was discontinued in 2002, causing many people to leave. The only people still living there are those who were there before the condemnation, and they cannot pass their property on to their families after they die.
Therefore, it was used as inspiration for ghost towns silent hill Being single Of those – only movies, not games. It has also been an inspiration for novels such as Vampire Zero By David Wellington Strange highways By Dean Koontz.

Elm Street in Dallas, Texas
While the original story of A Nightmare on Elm Street He was Inspired by Drawing on Wes Craven’s own experiences in the Los Angeles areas, one element of the series is inspired by a real-life event. Elm Street was taken from Real life street It bears the same name in Dallas, Texas, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
As for the city – imaginary SPRINGWOOD, Ohio – The idea was to create something that looked ordinary. That’s why the city has the appearance of a suburban community. Then, beneath the normal-looking city, there is the supernatural element.
It’s this reminder that no matter how wonderful and innocent a city may seem, there is often something lurking underneath. In this case, it’s the legend of Freddy Krueger.
Gainesville, Florida
At first, you wouldn’t think so Screaming It was based on nothing that happened in real life. After all, the film is a parody of other horror films, pointing out all the flaws the characters might make and all the rules that existed for the characters to survive.
However, it turned out so Screaming Inspired by Gainesville, Florida. More like, it was Inspired by that It happened there. Five students were killed when a man committed a murder in 1990. Kevin Williamson was watching the news and a documentary about it, which led to the development of the film.
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(Silver Creek, Colorado).
Another horror film inspired by a small town in the United States was… Misery. Well, really, the book was written Stephen King Who took inspiration first. King once lived in Colorado, Boulder, to be exact, and so he is Where he wrote Misery, The bright oneand Attitude.
Such as Centralia, Silver Creek It was once Popular because of its mining business. However, once the silver crash occurred, mines began to close. Despite a slight prosperity during World War I, the prosperity did not last, and in the end, the people all left. It is now a ghost town, making it very easy for anyone to disappear.
Northbrook, Illinois
while Breakfast Club The film takes place in a fictional town called Shermer, Illinois, and the town itself is inspired by a real town called Northbrook in the same state. This was John Hughes Private city Growing up, he was inspired to create the film based on his own experiences in high school.
Glenbrook North High School was the inspiration for Schirmer High School. It was even used in some interior shots for the film, but most of the filming took place at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, due to the location being closed for a few years.
Shermer has also been mentioned in other Hughes films, including Weird science and Sixteen candles. This may indicate that everything is connected in the same universe.
The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
Well, not quite a city, but it is a famous American location. Stanley Hotel It was used as inspiration for A hotel overlooking the imagination in The bright one. Just take a look at the outside of the hotel and you will instantly feel like you are in a movie.
Again, it’s the book that initially took inspiration and turned it into a fantasy setting. Stephen King had stayed at the Stanley Hotel when he was… It was a nightmare From chasing his son down the hall. Naturally, this formed an idea for the horror writer. Timerline Lodge in Oregon was the actual location used for the film.
Stanley Ho Hotel It is said to be Haunted. In fact, Room 217 and the fourth floor are known for paranormal activity, so it seems that King took a lot of inspiration from this hotel in his story.
Durham, Maine
Fans of King know that many of his works are set in Maine. Some of the towns themselves are inspired by real cities in the state, and Durham is one of them. This is it Inspiration For the lot of Jerusalem, which was a place Salem piece.
King did not go into many details about why he used the city Go to When he was 11 years old. However, there was an abandoned house in Durham that became the inspiration for Marsten House, likely because of the way he was able to connect the story to the location – and how the story came to life in his head.
The Jerusalem area became a continuing city in several of King’s books, along with Castle Rock and Derry.



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