Build Your Own Scary 'Dream House' Using the Creepiest Rooms in Movies

8FizzyLiftingDrinks.jpgDream House promises to chill you with intrigue and suspense, but will the actual 'dream house' provide any of the scares? Here's hoping yes. Freaky houses are a touchstone in horror cinema, and today I'm building a blueprint for a spooky manse made only from rooms in creepy movies. Norman Bates, Jack Torrance and Leatherface all contribute to the interior decoration.

Have your own customized design suggestions? Share them in the comments.

Dining Room: Texas Chainsaw Massacre

In what remains the freakiest movie ever made, Leatherface and his quaint family gather 'round the dinner table as their squirming victim screams for her life. The juxtaposition of the fine table with the smattering of bones and death really make this noshing nook "pop."

Bedrooms: The Exorcist and Poltergeist

When your children can't sleep, they should be able to climb their bedroom walls freely and hurl dressers at their parents. Kids rule! In The Exorcist, we see a tall bureau come after Ellen Burstyn like an enraged Beauty and the Beast setpiece, and in Poltergeist, Dominique Dunne JoBeth Williams scampers up the walls like either a gecko or Lionel Richie.

Kitchen: Scream

We've seen grotesque and paranormal feng shui so far, but how about a pristine, suburban kitchen with shock-white walls and enough windows to please your neighborhood's murderous, ghostfaced voyeurs? In Scream, Drew Barrymore kicks off the proceedings by unsuccessfully avoiding a masked killer. As she's stabbed repeatedly, we watch her popcorn burn on the stove. Who makes popcorn on a stove anymore? Hair-raising!

Basement (and Bathroom): Psycho

You'll need a motel-size bathroom with an intrudable shower in your nightmare house, but you'll also need a horrifying basement that serves as a drawing room for your decayed mother. In Psycho, my time-machine husband Anthony Perkins is protective over his tiny inn, and he keeps his most prized possession in the cellar of his adjacent residence. Mommy, hold me.

Bubble Room: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Yep, our house has a Bubble Room. No one understood creepy like Roald Dahl, and in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, we watched in agony as Charlie Bucket and his ragtag grandfather defied Gene Wilder's orders, downed some Fizzy Lifting drink, and nearly floated up to an early death. With a vertical like this, we don't need the attic from The Changeling!

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Yard/Hedge Maze: The Shining

Finally, no scare fortress is complete without landscaping. In The Shining, the Overlook Hotel's massive hedge maze is both a metaphor and a battleground for Shelley Duvall's showdown with Jack Nicholson. Pretty for such a terrifying place!



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