Back to the AtlasResearch notes · Editorial review 2026-09-04

EVERY PIN
NEEDS A REASON.

The Atlas of Dread is a discovery tool, not a claim that every location has the same kind of relationship to a work. Its four layers keep production fact, story geography, editorial history, and computed patterns visibly separate.

Layer definitions

WHAT EACH MARKER ACTUALLY MEANS

398

Filming locations

A documented place where production work occurred.

Primary basis
Wikidata P915 and individually sourced editorial research
Read carefully
This does not imply that the story is set in the same place.
291

Story settings

A real-world place or region identified as the location of the narrative.

Primary basis
Wikidata property P840 (narrative location)
Read carefully
The pin locates the real geography named by the source, not an invented street address.
9

Regional movements

An editorially researched horror tradition associated with a place and period.

Primary basis
British Film Institute editorial research
Read carefully
These are contextual regions, not claims about one individual production.
15

Archive hotspots

An aggregate of many distinct filming and setting records at the same place.

Primary basis
Calculated from the filming and setting records in the generated snapshot
Read carefully
A hotspot is a discovery aid, not a qualitative ranking of a city or country.
The data pipeline

REPEATABLE, REVIEWABLE, AND BUILT TO IMPROVE.

The Atlas combines structured location facts with individually researched places and original field notes. The generated snapshot is dated 2026-08-13; the editorial additions were reviewed on 2026-09-04. Adding reviewed places does not imply that every older source has been rechecked.

  1. 01
    Start with published archive records

    Only HorroRated titles with usable TMDB identifiers enter the automated location lookup.

  2. 02
    Resolve the matching Wikidata work

    TMDB movie and television identifiers prevent loose title matching and reduce false joins.

  3. 03
    Request the two location properties separately

    P915 supplies filming locations. P840 supplies narrative locations. They never become the same layer.

  4. 04
    Require coordinates and preserve provenance

    Every generated point retains the work source, place source, property used, and precision label.

  5. 05
    Research the places behind the films

    Editorial additions use named film commissions, institutions, location owners, tourism authorities, and production accounts. Each retains its evidence, field note, location scale, and review date. Regional movements draw on film-institute research.

  6. 06
    Combine, validate, and accept corrections

    The map and this page share one validated dataset. Duplicate relationships are resolved without discarding their sources, and reviewed additions survive a generated-data refresh. Human review remains part of every release.

Precision and restraint

WHAT THE ATLAS DOES NOT CLAIM

No invented accuracy

A country, state, or broad region is labeled “regional.” Site and city markers are approximate too: the place notes explain the scale supported by the source. A city or university name alone cannot identify a particular building.

No production-setting shortcuts

A film shot in Toronto but set in New York can show both facts, in separate colors and records.

No literal pin for an unmappable fiction

Story settings use sourced real-world geography. Entirely invented towns are not assigned a fake street coordinate.

No claim of permanent completeness

Structured databases have gaps. Missing points mean “not yet sourced,” not “this work has no geography.”

Discovery trails, not travel directions

Guided trails connect films and places for reading and exploration. They are not walking or driving routes. A mapped place may be private, altered, or inaccessible; its inclusion does not establish visitor access.

Sources and reuse

VISIBLE SOURCES, CLEAR RIGHTS

Wikidata-derived facts are available under CC0. The map uses bundled Natural Earth world geography and Canadian province and territory boundaries, alongside U.S. Census-derived state boundaries. This public-domain geography is drawn locally without a remote tile service. State, province, and territory names appear as you zoom. HorroRated's editorial field notes are original writing. Linked publishers retain the rights to their material; the complete Atlas is not offered under a blanket CC0 license.

Found a problem?

HELP US MAKE THE MAP BETTER.

Send the title, location, correct relationship, and a reliable source. Corrections are reviewed before the dataset is rebuilt.

Submit a map correction