Here's What Really Happened to That Creepy House From 'The Blair Witch Project'
Even though it's been 20 years since the cult-classic horror hit The Blair Witch Project first premiered, it's still as scary as ever. It basically launched the "found footage" genre of horror movies, which is arguably the most frightening of them all. During the initial marketing for the film, moviegoers truly thought they were going to be watching real, found footage taken by the three college students, Heather, Mike, and Josh—which might've just caused a heart attack (or two, or three) in the movie theater.
The haunted home featured at the end of The Blair Witch Project was a real abandoned home, known as the Griggs House. In the movie (SPOILER ALERT—even though it came out 20 years ago) Heather and Mike are lured to the abandoned home after Josh disappears, where they are subsequently murdered by none other than the Blair Witch herself.
If you're like me and would rather read the Wikipedia description than actually watch a movie as horrifying as this, this post might just cheer you up—the actual home in the final scene is not in any way a haunted house, but it does have an interesting backstory. Read on below to find out more about the home where the trio from The Blair Witch Project spent their final hours.
The Blair Witch House was located in Granite, Maryland.
More specifically, The Blair Witch Project house could be found in Patapsco Valley State Park.
Griggs House was a two-story, gable-roofed home.
In 1984 the Department of Natural Resources conducted a historical survey on the abandoned house, where they were able to describe its appearance and features in full. According to the documents, it was a stucco-framed house with a small, pedimented porch entrance with simple Victorian stair details, and most of the remaining woodwork appeared to be from the late Federal and early Classical period at the time of inspection.
It was built in the mid-1800s.
According to the historical survey, Griggs House was built in the mid-nineteenth century and had been remodeled in the early twentieth century.
The home was set to be demolished in 1999, two years after the film was released.
After the announcement came that the Griggs House was to be demolished, fans of The Blair Witch Project were outraged. It was described as a "nuisance and a hazard" by the Department of Natural Resources, who ordered to have it demolished in 1999, the Baltimore Sun reported.
"Blair Witch has nothing to do with the value of the property, as far as the park staff is concerned," said Susan O'Brien to the Baltimore Sun, a spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources at the time.
The community's protests stopped the Griggs House demolition...for a short time.
They fought the Department, and the Department won. Shortly after the protests, the house was demolished.
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