Movies are filled with characters finding themselves in situations and places they might not have really want to be, but on many occasions these places and situations could have easily been avoided if they had simply not got itchy feet and decide to play Scooby Doo. If they had simply stayed away from the creepy cabin, not gone down into the basement or not visited camp bloody blood blood, they might have made it through to the final credits. Here are 13 Places People Shouldn’t Have Explored in Horror.

Creepshow – The Crate (1982) – Under The Stairs

There’s a great saying that goes thus, “Once bitten, twice shy.” Well it seems that the folks in our first entry have never heard it before. The Crate is a short story by Stephen King, adapted as a segment in the classic horror anthology Creepshow. In this short, a Janitor unwittingly discovers an old dusty crate, locked away under the basement stairs of the zoology department of Horlicks University. With the help of a biology professor, the two open the crate to discover a small, hungry, creature inside. The professor fleas in fear as the Janitor is gobbled up by the furry little fella. He returns shortly after with a grad student, to discover that creature has dragged his crate back under the stairs. Rather then alerting authorities, the two decide to explore under the stairs. Great job!

Halloween Resurrection (2002) – Myers House

Visiting the abandoned childhood home of one of the most notorious serial killers is never a smart move. Doing so on the very day in which has murdered over 120 people is just reckless. And yet, that is what Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) and his Dangertainment crew do on Halloween Resurrection, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the masked menace, Michael Myers.

The Descent (2005) – Unexplored Caverns

The Decent is a daring and powerful exploration into grief, that takes place inside a North Carolina cave. Whilst the spelunking friends are unaware that the caverns they are about to descend into are unexplored, the team leader gleefully sends herself and her friends deep inside a strange an uncharted path without telling a single sole. The fact that caves are home to a community of flesh eating humanoids in neither here of there, they just should not have been down there in the first place.

Evil Dead (1981) – The Woods

It’s never nice being the third wheel, any good Morris Minor will tell you. So when Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), from Sam Rami’s The Evil Dead, finds herself stuck between two lovey dovey couples shacking up for the weekend in remote cabin, she’s bound to be a little put out. But when this young lady hears some strange voices in the woods, she heads out to discover the source of the sound, rather than alerting her friends. Heading out, near naked, into the pitch black woodlands is probably not the best thing to do.

Friday the 13th series – Camp Crystal Lake

With a nick name like Camp Blood, you would have thought that people would avoid Camp Crystal Lake like the plague, and yet, throughout the Friday the 13th franchise, groups of horny teens flock to the idyllic lakeside summer camp, fully aware of the presence of Jason Voorhees and his murderous ways.

Phantasm (1979) – Mausoleum

Phantasm is a wonderfully bizarre affair filled with surreal narratives and dreamlike imagery that will give any horror fan a good thrill. But the plot of the film could have been adverted, and hence stop the end of the world (if you followed the entire films series) if young Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) had decided not to explore the Morningside Mausoleum. His explorations inside the building lead him to discover the strange body stealing plot and puts the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) right on his tail when he cuts of the morticians fingers.

Demons 2 (1986) – Quarantine Zone

The bloody Sequel to director Lamberto Bava’s and producer Dario Argento’s Demons, Demons 2 see’s the titular creatures invading a modern apartment building when the Demons burst through a television set. Yep, that is seriously the plot! The film starts with a program that showcases the dangers of Demons, by following a group of teens as they decided to break into the quarantine zone of the city that was deserted as a result of the outbreak from the first film. This movie within a movie ends when the group are attacked by a Demon. After sinking it’s claws into the hapless group, it proceeds to climbs through the camera lens and into the bedroom of churlish birthday girl Sally (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni). Happy Birthday Sally, hope you enjoy your special birthday gift!

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) – Circus Tent

Finding a seemingly empty, unmanaged circus tent, Mike Tobacco (Grant Cramer) and his girlfriend Debbie Stone (Suzanne Snyder) decide to head straight inside. Even when they discover a complex interior with elevators and various bizarre rooms, they continue to head deeper into the compound hoping to find out what they have discovered. There’s no circus to be found, instead the couple discover a troupe of blood thirsty Killer Klowns form Outer Space. Cotton candy included!

The Thing (1982)– The Shack

The Thing tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous “Thing”, a parasitic extra-terrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. There is a point in the movie where you’ll completely lose track of who’s the things and who’s not and it’s at the point when Macready (Kurt Russell) decided to head up to his shack, by himself, in a heavy snow storm. You can’t help but think that the film would have played out different if that one single character had decided not to play detective and explore a remote location by himself.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Woods

Love it or hate it, The Blaire Witch Project proved that amazing low budget horror was still possible and that found film footage was still a powerful medium. Whilst this genre has become a little stale, The Blaire Witch Project stands the test of time thanks to it’s amazingly convincing cast. But their deaths, presumably at the hands of the titular witch, would have been prevented if they had not decided to explore the Burkittsville woodland. The same could be said for the characters of its sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), which saw a new group head into the woodland in the hope of discovering the secrets of the Blair Witch.

Arachnophobia (1990) – Rain Forest

Visits to the rain forest rarely ever go very well in films, but no visit has been more devastating than the spider plague brought down on a small Californian town, thanks to careless exploration in the 1990 hit Arachnophobia. In the Amazon rainforest, entomologist Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands) hopes to discover new species of insects, and inadvertently ships a deadly new species of spider to the US in the coffin of a photographer, killed on their expedition. This eight legged little beasty then breeds with a local house spider and creates a brand new species of deadly arachnid.

1408 (2007) – The Haunted Room

When skeptical author Michael Enslin (John Cusack) hears about a haunted room that no one has lasted more than an hour inside, he doesn’t run a mile like most people. Nope, this debunker of supernatural phenomenon books the damn room. Everyone, in the last 95 years, has died within in the first hour inside the room, by suicides or a strange “natural” death. This fact doesn’t faze Enslin who insist on staying in 1408 and gets one hell of a night, as that “one hour” plays out again and again, slowly driving him insane.

Zombieland (2009) – Pacific Playland

During a zombie apocalypse, there are many places you might want to avoid. Busy cities, dark tunnels and amusement parks are all out. Yes, AMUSEMENT PARKS! But the characters of the 2009 zombie romp Zombieland seem to have missed that memo, when they head straight towards the Los Angeles based theme park, Pacific Playland. With it’s flashing lights and loud sounds, it’s exactly the place you want to bypass on your cross country ramble, yet this clueless group switch on all the rides, all the loud noises and flashing lights, and look a little bit surprised when a huge hoard of zombies show up.

“Hello Horror Fans – I’ve poked my nose into many places I shouldn’t have, but the folks on this list really should have though harder about their actions. Any how! Stay in, stay safe and love Horror!

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician