Paranormal science … most academics will tell you it’s nonsense. That there’s no way to actually prove the existence of ghosts, ghouls, goblins or any other supernatural entity. Well, we beg to disagree. And we know a way to both prove that these creatures do exist as well as pinpoint where you should look out for them: watch hundreds of our favorite scary movies! We looked at the 100 highest-grossing horror films of all time and the 100 most critically acclaimed horror films of all time to figure out just where America’s scariest place to live is. Do you ever worry that your hometown may be a hotbed of haunted houses? Or your state might be slasher central? Well, you might be right, and after reading this article, you’ll know for sure. If, after that, you decide to move to a less-spookified safe place, well … no one is going to blame you.
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State by State Scarefest
Bad news for anyone living in New York or California: Your home is three times more likely to be haunted than one in any other state in the country. New York was the setting for 18 scary movies on our list, while California came in a close second with 17 films. It seems the two major coastal states are infested with every kind of unholy terror you can dream up … or should we say nightmare up? California was where teenage vampires stalked the boardwalk in “The Lost Boys,” Norman Bates got close to his mother in “Psycho” and Ghostface made some of the most hardcore prank calls ever in “Scream 1,” “Scream 2” and “Scream 3.” Meanwhile, New York has been trampled by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, King Kong and Cloverfield; infested by multiple batches of Gremlins; and hosted the shower for Rosemary’s baby. Some foolish skeptics might argue that this isn’t proof of the paranormal and that because the entertainment industry exists primarily in New York and LA, it makes sense that screenwriters would be writing primarily about the places where they live. But isn’t the more likely explanation that ghosts are just as attracted to the bright lights of showbiz as the living?
And don’t get too comfortable just because you live inland. There are plenty of chances to get scared, spooked and stabbed in the flyover states as well. Pennsylvania is zombie central, serving as the setting for all the original “Night of the Living Dead” films. Illinois is a great place to go if you want to get hacked to pieces by slashers like Michael Myers and Chuckie, the killer doll. And stay out of Ohio if you ever want another good night’s sleep — otherwise you could end up on Elm Street coming face to face with the king of bad dreams himself: Freddy Kruger.
All told, the movies we reviewed spanned 23 different American states and the District of Columbia, which could leave you feeling pretty safe. That means, according to scaretistics, there are 27 more states where you’d never run into anything too spooktacular. But you haven’t taken into consideration the scares that span multiple states. A nationwide “Purge” could happen at any moment, sending legally sanctioned murderers running into your very own home!
Monster Mash
Movies have proven that our country is overflowing with life-threatening nightmare fuel, but what are the monsters you should really be afraid of? Possessed children, like Reagan from “The Exorcist,” only showed up in two of the films we watched, so you can probably cut back on the number of times you throw holy water on your child in the middle of the night — once a week should be fine. Werewolves seem to be more of a European-flavored horror, as they also only show up in two American-set films. The big threats to your current safety are aliens and demons, which both show up in seven films; ghosts, which are present in 12 films; and slashers, which are featured in a terrifying 17 films. It may seem ironic that human killers are actually the most active members of this list. Is man truly the most evil creature on Earth? If you’re talking about men with sinister supernatural powers, then we’d have to say the answer is yes!
Road Kill Trip
Supernatural killers aren’t confined by the known laws of physics, so why should they be confined by something as insignificant as state lines? Plenty of traveling terrors have stalked numerous states in their time. Charles Lee Ray may have been known as the Lakeshore Strangler, one of Missouri’s most notorious serial killers, when he was human. But once he possessed the body of a Good Guy Doll and became the infamous Chuckie, he was ready to see America! Eventually he took a cross-country trip and ended up in Hollywood, where he slashed his way to the big screen and through several big stars.
Sometimes leaving the country won’t even increase your survival chances. Not when you have continental killers like Hannibal Lecter taking tours of his favorite European cities with plenty of stops for some fine dining, of course! And if you’re somehow lucky enough to someday book passage into outer space, don’t expect it to put an end to your problems. Jason Vorhees may have started out as a small-time Jersey boy, hacking up kids and counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. But the hockey-masked hooligan eventually expanded his horizons, making it all the way to Manhattan and, soon after that, outer space!
Is Anywhere Safe?
It certainly seems like there’s no part of our country where you’ll feel completely protected, but if you want to try and escape your impending doom, we suggest a trip to the Mountain Time Zone. While the other time zones all featured dozens of monster attacks, the Mountain Time Zone only featured one ghost, one slasher and one vampire in total. Maybe supernatural entities can’t stand the high elevations.
But in reality, there’s probably nowhere safe to hide. Pretty soon, another awesome horror film will open, proving that some other, previously safe state is actually a hotbed of horrors. The best you can do is keep the lights on at night and hope nothing evil is coming for you.
Source List:
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=horror&sort=boxoffice_gross_us,desc
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=best%20horror%20movies
http://hannibal.wikia.com/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chucky_(Child%27s_Play)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Voorhees