The Story in Van Winkle Hollow
A quiet place along Highway 12 between Rogers and Eureka Springs holds...
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Halloween is getting closer, which means scary movies are making their way back onto our watch lists. You can always go with the classics, but this year you might want to add a little Arkansas to your October viewing.
As it turns out, the Natural State has a surprisingly long history with horror movies. We’ve given filmmakers everything from the Fouke Monster and an unsolved series of murders to haunted houses, werewolves, backwoods killers and, somehow, prehistoric sharks.
Some of these movies were filmed right here in Arkansas. Others are set here but were actually filmed somewhere else. A few manage to do both. And while not everything on this list is strictly horror, they all fall somewhere in the world of creepy, suspenseful, strange or downright scary.
So, grab the popcorn, turn down the lights and see how many Arkansas scares you recognize.
The Legend of Boggy Creek
1972 | Horror, Docudrama | Set and filmed in Arkansas
You can’t really make a list of Arkansas scary movies without starting with the Fouke Monster. Arkansas filmmaker Charles B. Pierce mixed local stories, interviews and reenactments to tell the story of the large, hairy creature reportedly seen around Fouke. Much of the movie was filmed there, and Pierce even used local residents, including people who claimed to have encountered the creature. The low-budget movie went on to become a huge drive-in hit and helped spread the Fouke Monster legend far beyond Arkansas.
Encounter with the Unknown
1973 | Supernatural Horror, Anthology | Filmed in Arkansas
This low-budget horror movie tells three separate supernatural stories involving a mother’s curse, a mysterious hole that may lead somewhere you definitely don’t want to go and a strange young woman who needs a ride home. Arkansas filmmaker Harry Thomason shot the movie around Little Rock, including scenes at Mount Holly Cemetery, the Capital Hotel and near the tiny town of Natural Steps. There’s even a fun connection to The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling provides narration for the film.
So Sad About Gloria
1975 | Horror, Psychological Thriller | Filmed in Arkansas
After being released from a mental hospital, Gloria returns home and begins having disturbing visions connected to a series of ax murders. Things don’t exactly improve when she falls in love and moves into a house where an unsolved murder once took place. Arkansas filmmaker Harry Thomason filmed the movie around Little Rock and North Little Rock, with recognizable locations including the Old Mill.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
1976 | Horror, Slasher, True Crime | Set and filmed partly in Arkansas
This one has a much more unsettling connection to real Arkansas history. Charles B. Pierce based the movie loosely on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a series of attacks attributed to an unidentified hooded killer known as the Phantom. The real crimes happened primarily on the Texas side of Texarkana, although the movie shifts them to Arkansas. Much of the filming took place around Texarkana, with additional Arkansas scenes filmed in Garland and Scott.
The Shadow of Chikara
1977 | Western, Supernatural Horror | Set and filmed in Arkansas
Part Western, part treasure hunt and part horror movie, The Shadow of Chikara follows former Confederate soldiers searching the Arkansas mountains for a stash of diamonds. Unfortunately, something mysterious seems determined to keep them from finding it. Also released under several other titles, including Wishbone Cutter, the movie was filmed around Yellville and the Buffalo River country and stars Joe Don Baker, Sondra Locke and Slim Pickens.
Return to Boggy Creek
1977 | Creature, Family Adventure | Set in Arkansas
The confusingly named second Boggy Creek movie wasn’t made by Charles B. Pierce and has a much different feel from the original. It follows a woman and her daughters who become stranded in the swamp, where the legendary creature turns out to be more helpful than horrifying. Dawn Wells, best known as Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island, stars in it. Pierce essentially ignored this sequel when he later made Boggy Creek II.
Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues
1985 | Creature Horror | Set and filmed in Arkansas
Charles B. Pierce returned to the Fouke Monster more than a decade after The Legend of Boggy Creek. This time Pierce plays a University of Arkansas professor who takes a group of students into the wilderness to search for the creature. The movie includes plenty of Arkansas scenery along with scenes at the University of Arkansas and even footage from a Razorback football game. It later earned a second life when Mystery Science Theater 3000 had some fun with it.
Hunter’s Blood
1986 | Survival Horror, Thriller | Set in Arkansas
A group of friends heads into the Arkansas wilderness for a deer hunting trip and soon discovers they aren’t the only hunters in the woods. A confrontation with a group of violent poachers turns their weekend getaway into a fight to survive. It’s basically an “isolated in the woods with the wrong people” story, set in rural Arkansas.
One False Move
1992 | Crime, Thriller | Set and filmed partly in Arkansas
This isn’t really a horror movie, but it is dark and suspenseful. Three violent criminals leave Los Angeles and head toward Star City, Arkansas, while police try to stay one step ahead of them. Arkansas native Billy Bob Thornton co-wrote the movie and plays one of the criminals. Although the story leads to Star City, Arkansas scenes were filmed primarily around Brinkley and Cotton Plant.
Resurrection County
2008 | Horror, Thriller | Set and filmed in Arkansas
Four friends head out for a camping weekend near the fictional Arkansas community of Enoch. After a confrontation with some locals goes terribly wrong, they discover that Enoch has its own ideas about crime and punishment. This one falls squarely into the backwoods survival-horror category, where getting away from civilization turns out to be a very bad idea.
Madison County
2011 | Slasher, Horror | Set and filmed in Arkansas
A group of college students travels to rural Arkansas hoping to interview the author of a book about a local murderer. When they arrive, the townspeople insist the killer never existed. You can probably guess that the students aren’t going to simply accept that answer and drive home. Despite the title, filming took place in several Arkansas locations, including Russellville, and at least one recognizable scene was filmed near Elkins.
Come Morning
2012 | Crime, Thriller | Set and filmed in Arkansas
More of a Southern crime movie, a grandfather and his young grandson head into the Arkansas woods on a hunting trip, but an accident sets off a chain of increasingly difficult decisions. It was filmed near Kingsland in south-central Arkansas.
Werewolf Rising
2014 | Werewolf Horror | Set and filmed in Arkansas
Emma leaves the city and returns to her childhood home deep in the Arkansas mountains hoping for a little peace and quiet. Instead, she gets a werewolf. The creature begins terrorizing the area as Emma learns there may be much more happening in the woods than she realized. It’s a straightforward low-budget creature feature that gives Arkansas the distinction of having its own werewolf movie. The movie was also filmed in Arkansas, specifically in areas around Hot Springs, Glenwood, and Caddo Gap.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
2014 | Slasher, Horror | Set in Arkansas, filmed mostly in Louisiana
This isn’t exactly a remake of the 1976 movie. Instead, it takes place in a world where the original movie exists and Texarkana is still living with the Phantom Killer’s legacy. Then a new series of attacks begins that looks disturbingly familiar. Some scenes were shot in Texarkana, but most of the production took place around Shreveport, Louisiana.
Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre
2015 | Creature Horror, Sci-Fi | Set in Arkansas, filmed in Florida
You probably already know from the title that this one isn’t taking itself too seriously. A fracking accident opens a path to an underground body of water and releases prehistoric sharks into an Arkansas swamp, just as a group of female prisoners happens to be nearby. Despite all that “Arkansas” in the title, filming actually took place around Marianna and Florida Caverns State Park in Florida.
Ozark Sharks
2016 | Creature Horror, Horror-Comedy | Set in Arkansas, filmed in Louisiana
If Sharkansas didn’t give Arkansas enough sharks, Ozark Sharks brings them to a lake in the Ozarks. A family vacation goes downhill quickly when sharks turn up in fictional Lake Drover just as the community is preparing for a fireworks festival. The movie is set in Arkansas, but the scenery you’re seeing is actually from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area.
Close Calls
2017 | Psychological Horror, Thriller | Filmed in Arkansas
A troubled teenager is stuck at home caring for her sick grandmother when an already unpleasant night becomes increasingly strange and frightening. Mysterious phone calls are only the beginning as reality, nightmares and family secrets start running together. Although Arkansas isn’t specifically named in the movie, it was filmed in North Little Rock.
12 Hour Shift
2020 | Horror, Dark Comedy, Crime | Set and filmed in Arkansas
Mandy is a nurse working an overnight shift at an Arkansas hospital in 1999. She’s also stealing organs from patients as part of an illegal trafficking operation. When one of those organs goes missing, an already bad night spirals into murder, drugs and increasingly ridiculous attempts to fix the situation. Written and directed by Brea Grant, the movie was filmed in Jonesboro.
House of Darkness
2022 | Horror, Psychological Thriller | Set and filmed in Arkansas
A man gives a woman he met at a bar a ride home and discovers that “home” is an enormous castle hidden in the woods. He goes inside hoping the night will continue, but the arrival of her sisters makes it increasingly clear that he has seriously misread the situation. The castle isn’t a Hollywood set. The movie was filmed at Dromborg Castle outside Fayetteville, and the real house provides most of the movie’s wonderfully creepy setting.
The Forest Through the Trees
2025 | Horror | Filmed in Arkansas
A year after her mother’s disappearance, Chloe and her stepfather are still trying to figure out what happened. A new clue sends Chloe and a friend looking for answers and leads them toward something far more sinister involving a demon cult. Northwest Arkansas filmmaker Jason Pitts made his feature directing debut with the movie, which was filmed in Northwest Arkansas and premiered in Fayetteville in January 2025.
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