The trailer for The Night House begins with Rebecca Hall’s character in the movie, Beth, asking her friends, “Do you guys believe in ghosts?”
The question alone is attention-getting but it becomes even more so when paired with the disturbing-looking doll or sculpture that she’s contemplating during the voiceover. It’s of a woman with an arched back reaching backward for her ankles with spikes protruding from her body.
Then, as she says, “I think there’s something in my house,” it cuts to scenes where any reasonable viewer would agree with her.
Doors slam shut in her face. Something lifts a terrified Beth horizontally up the wall near the threshold of a doorway. Bloody disembodied footprints materialize out of nowhere and approach her as she’s standing on a dock. Yeah. It’s safe to say she’s experiencing paranormal activity.
Is it the ghost of her husband, Owen, trying to communicate with her? During dinner with friends, she explains he took a rowboat out into the middle of the lake one day with a handgun she didn’t even know he had and committed suicide.
One friend asks if he left a note. Yep. Beth proceeds to read it, “You were right. There is nothing. Nothing is after you. You’re safe now.”
Another friend then asks, “Safe from what?”
Yes. What?
Then there’s a revelation that the lakehouse Owen built had a reverse floorplan. But not just a floorplan. He constructed an entire house that’s exactly the opposite of theirs.
She’s not sure what’s more upsetting and confusing: that he kept a secret at all or one like this. One of her friends tries to reassure her that everyone harbors secrets. Some go to the grave. Some don’t.
It’s a great creepy haunted house movie trailer. The movie premiered at Sundance in 2020, but it will release in theaters in the U.S. on August 20, 2021. When it does, will others want to know where the house in The Night House is located like I do? Will it become a destination for horror movie-loving set jetters to seek out?
We’ll see. But if it does, where is it?
All I know so far is that some scenes were shot in Syracuse, New York. Like Maxwells, a restaurant in Hanover Square in downtown Syracuse. (Perhaps the scene where Beth is eating with her friends?)
But what about the lake? And the lakehouse?
I haven’t found out which lake might have served as the backdrop, or if there was more than one. I have found a couple of contenders though. Onondaga Lake is nearest to Syracuse, but I’m not sure any scenes were filmed there. However, some were shot at Skaneateles Lake, which is a nearby Finger Lake in central New York.
As for the house, I haven’t been able to find out much about it. Is it a real house on one of those lakes or is it on a different one? The search continues. I’ll update this post if I ever figure out exactly which lake was used and where the house is.
However, if you happen to know, by all means, please check-in and leave a comment letting me know!
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’ll probably wait till its on DVD to see it, but I’ve done a fair job of tracking down locations to little known horror movies. I might be able to track it down.
OMGosh, that trailer! It looks like a terrifying (and fun) movie!
The house is on Skaneateles Lake.
If you happen to find anything I’d love it! Because I know if anyone can, you can!!!
Yes! Wayne saw the trailer the other night and said, “I know you want to see this one, don’t you? I’m freaked out just from the trailer though.” LOL
Ooo! So I was in the ballpark at least. Cool! THX for the info!
My process is hit and miss depending on what I can pull from surrounding landmarks. It took me a while to find the location in “Silent House,” but I found that one.
Oooo! Hey, I say whatever works. Love that you have a method!
There’s a few clues in the image. Like the cliffside and the fact that the house has a fence right at the ledge. That eliminates the properties at water level and where the road runs near the lake – So its somewhere on the southern shore line
HOLY COW!!!! Check you out, Sherlock! I am SO incredibly impressed you’ve already hoped on it and found some details!!!! THANK YOU for letting me know!!!!
In case anyone is curious, a reader emailed me with a link to an article on Variety that discussed set design and production of the house. They did use a real house somewhere in the Syracuse area but made interesting changes to it. They didn’t say what lake they found the home on though. But if you are interested in how the architecture factored into the story too, or you like movie set design, it’s an interesting read: https://variety.com/2021/film/news/night-house-production-design-david-bruckner-1235042489/
It was 100% shot on Skaneateles Lake – The most gorgeous and cleanest lake in America. It was shot on the west side of the lake.
Hi Robby! Thanks so much for stopping by to weigh in about not only which lake it was filmed on but what part of the lake.
I know that bookstore is on James st. And woodbine
Well that’s super cool to know that’s a real place. It looked like an awesome bookstore! THANKS for this!