HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A Hillsborough house with a terrifying tale behind it is giving a couple – and movie fans – a thrill.
“Every now and then I come down the driveway and it kind of sends a chill up my spine when the sun hits it just right or whatever,” said Kenny Caperton, describing his own house – the “Michael Myers House.”
Caperton designed his house to be a replica of the actual Michael Myers house from the 1978 movie “Halloween.”
“On Halloween night we would go trick or treating and come home and watch Halloween on cable television, so it just really resonates with me being a horror fan and it holds a lot of memories for me – really good memories,” he said.
He got the idea to build the Myers house and tried to find blueprints but he said they couldn’t find any.
“We had to do everything from scratch,” he said.
He and his wife Emily had never even owned a house before, but they decided in 2008 to give building a replica house a shot.
To get it right, he and Emily used images from the movie, photos he took from the real house in California, and help from a woman who worked in the house.
“I would send them lists and lists of measurements every week and her and her two sons…went out and measured the entire house for me,” Caperton said.RELATED: Click here for more Halloween stories and information
He had to modify the layout of the 1800s house to include modern amenities, such as bathrooms, but in the end it looked like the real horror film location – perhaps even a little too much like it.
“The first two weeks it was really hard to get comfortable in the house. I was like, ‘We have to live here now. This was a great idea, but we have to live in this house now,'” he said.
Eight years later and the house is now home for Caperton and his wife and a destination for fans of the film.
“A lot of people have really embraced the house,” he said.
Fans even come from other states across the country to check out the house.
“Throughout the year we have a ton of fans that make the trip. We have people from Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida that stop by the house,” said Caperton.
“It just kind of spreads like wildfire – horror fans are really crazy, dedicated fans. “
Caperton gives tours of the house to fans that make appointments.
The couple also hosts an annual Halloween bash at the house.
The 8th Annual Halloween Bash will be held at the house on Oct. 29 from 6:30 p.m. to midnight.
Last year’s bash was actually too popular and the house became too crowded. This year’s event will have a cut-off and those who come after the house has reached capacity will be turned away. Those interested in attending are encouraged to get there closer to 6:30 p.m.
This year’s Halloween bash will be extra special, Caperton said.
“We’ll have [a] special guest, actor Kip Weeks (flying in all the way from Maine), who co-starred with Liv Tyler & Scott Speedman in the 2008 horror film ‘The Strangers’ as ‘The Man Behind The Mask,'” he said in an email to CBS North Carolina. “He’ll be signing autographs and taking pics with fans. We’re showing ‘The Strangers’ and we’ll be doing a Q&A with him after the screening. It’s a really cool thing for local horror fans to have him here!”
You can find more information about the house by clicking here.
