Scituate, Massachusetts

Ellis Estate

Site of the creepy house used in Lucio Fulci's "The House by the Cemetery."

The 1981 The House by the Cemetery is an Italian horror movie directed by Lucio Fulci and filmed in the state of Massachusetts. It has all the trademarks of the Italian horror genre of that era, including bad dubbing, high-intensity gore, and blatant laxness of plot.

The House by the Cemetery is the story of a New York researcher who moves his family to an old house in the fictional town of New Whitby, MA, to continue the work of a recently deceased colleague who killed himself after living in that same house, only to learn that something horrible is in the basement. The house is a large, ominous bit of architecture the front lawn of which is mostly scattered headstones from some old, tiny cemetery.

Most of the town exteriors for New Whitby were filmed in Concord, MA, but the titular house itself can be found in the coastal Massachusetts town of Scituate, about 30 miles southeast of Boston and 50 miles southeast of Concord.

The house is part of a town-owned historical property called the Ellis Estate and is set on 120 acres of publicly accessible forest and trails. The house is set back from the main road and is accessible by a dirt track within the property. Currently, the house is the headquarters of the Scituate Arts Association.

Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker