Pacific Northwest Horror: Episode 198

For much of the Scariest Things crew, we are discussing horror movies from our backyard. This is our home turf. The Pacific Northwest is a suitable backdrop for horror, with its often gloomy weather, quirky urban cities, and history of cryptids. Famously, we keep it weird in the PNW, and the movies reflect these tastes.

Perhaps it is the reputation of the Pacific Northwest as being a bit quirky and a haven for eccentric individuals seeking to escape civilization. Maybe it’s something in the Cascade fresh waters. Whatever it is, horror has a damp home in the upper left corner of the continent. In a genre that heavily relies on the cabin-in-the-woods trope, few places have more iconic woods than the forests of Oregon and Washington.

However, the Pacific Northwest is more than moss-covered damp forests; it is a region of great variety. Rocky coastlines that are moody and craggy. High plateau landscapes with big sky that are just a few hours’ drive from major metropolitan areas. And it’s located between the movie-making meccas of Los Angeles and Vancouver. (Vancouver, of course, being part of the PNW) Oregon, in particular, hands out film subsidies to attract filmmakers, and many independent horror directors have taken advantage of the moody environment and the money.

In addition, the region has a reputation for cryptids. McMinnville, Oregon, hosts an annual UFO festival that attracts a large number of visitors. The Crater Lake Monster. (Which is largely a cryptid created by cinema… few people actually believe in a Nessie in Crater Lake.) Recently, a number of PNW mermaid horror movies have been created. And, of course, Sasquatch, the king of the cryptids, is the legend that dominates the region.

Because portions of the PNW are isolated, it attracts anarchists and isolationists. Sometimes they actually come to clash with each other (consider the riots of 2020). For all its progressiveness, the Pacific Northwest also harbors a number of Nazi skinhead groups. We’re not proud of that, but they are here. Hollywood has picked up on this, and we got one of the great films of the new millennium with Green Room. There is also a reputation of the area being a haven for serial killers, notably the Green River Killer, who terrified the citizens of Puget Sound during the ’80s and ’90s.