Filmed in Wilmington
This 1986 Stephen King film—his first and only as a director—featured murderous machines and was shot entirely in Wilmington.
What is Maximum Overdrive
In this 1998 Disney Channel film, Marnie learns why her grandmother’s town celebrates Halloween every day.
What is Halloweentown
This 1984 novelty song warns that “the funk of forty thousand years” is inside its spoken-word breakdown.
What is Thriller by Michael Jackson
This 1968 black-and-white film introduced the modern flesh-eating zombie.
What is Night of the Living Dead
This candy bar, introduced in 1932, combines nougat, caramel, and peanuts covered in chocolate and was named after a horse.
What is Snickers
This 1997 sequel to a meta-slasher hit brought its masked killer to a fictional Windsor College, filmed largely in Wilmington.
What is Scream 2
The Sanderson Sisters’ cottage stood on the edge of Salem in this 1993 classic where a black-flame candle causes trouble.
What is Hocus Pocus
Released in 1962, this dance hit by Bobby “Boris” Pickett was performed in a “graveyard smash.”
What is Monster Mash
In this 2009 horror-comedy, “Cardio” is rule #1 for survival.
What is Zombieland
This Halloween staple’s tri-colored pyramid shape and waxy texture make it both beloved and despised.
What is Candy Corn
This 2018 horror reboot, continuing a 1978 storyline, filmed key neighborhood scenes around Wilmington.
What is Halloween Kills
This 2000 Disney Channel sequel features the return of Kalabar’s son, who plots to merge the mortal world with the magical one.
What is Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
This 1978 theme for a masked killer was composed on a simple piano riff by the director himself and remains one of horror’s most chilling musical signatures.
What is the Halloween Theme (John Carpenter)
This 1954 black-and-white film featured a gill-man who emerged from the Amazon and became a cornerstone of creature cinema.
What is Creature from the Black Lagoon
Originally called “Opal Fruits” in the UK, this chewy candy changed its name in 1998.
What is Starburst
This 2013 supernatural horror film about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren filmed key interior scenes at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, standing in for a haunted Rhode Island farmhouse.
What is The Conjuring
Based on a Disneyland ride, this 2003 film stars Eddie Murphy as a realtor who learns that 999 happy haunts already occupy the property.
What is The Haunted Mansion
The theme from this 1984 film begins with a synthesizer riff that instantly evokes slime-covered ghosts.
What is Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
In this horror film adaptation, an ancient entity awakens every 27 years to feed, taking a form its victims fear most.
What is IT
This 1930s chocolate bar was marketed as having “two great tastes” in one pack.
What is Twix
This 2009 supernatural thriller set in a New England asylum filmed in Wilmington under the working title Asylum, featuring Renée Zellweger and a mysterious child named Lilith.
What is Case 39
Tim Burton first conceived this stop-motion favorite as a poem; its title asks which holiday truly reigns supreme.
What is The Nightmare Before Christmas
This 1982 synth-pop song by The B-52’s features a spooky love story between a living woman and a spectral suitor.
What is Deadbeat Club by The B-52’s
This 2008 found-footage movie follows New Yorkers fleeing a colossal creature attacking the city.
What is Cloverfield
Created by H. B. Reese, a former Hershey employee, this peanut-butter-filled confection debuted in 1928.
What is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups