The first week of October is when the reality of another fleeting Maine summer sinks in – and the fresh, crisp tingle of some great Maine spookiness takes its place. We all know Maine’s creepy. A certain Bangor-based author has essentially made our state Spooky Central. And over the years, I’ve written about innumerable Maine filmmakers who’ve seized upon this innate in-state eerie vibe to create some truly impressive and unnerving Maine-made, Maine-based scares.
So here’s a rundown of some of the best Maine horror movies and where to see them.
“Are You the Walkers?” (2011)
Director Derek Kimball’s early entry in Maine’s own horror and dark fiction short film anthology series Damnationland is not just the best Damnationland movie I’ve ever seen, but one of the best, most atmospheric and downright chilling short horror films I’ve ever seen. Two estranged friends spend a weekend at a cabin on the shores of a frozen Maine lake. And then there’s a knock at the door. No, I’m not saying any more.
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Watch it: On DVD, for sale at the Damnationland Bandcamp page. (And get ready for this year’s 14th annual Damnationland, premiering Oct. 18.)
“Dead Whisper” (2024)
Recently featured in this column, Conor Soucy’s eerie psychological thriller sees a grieving man (Brunswick native Samuel Dunning) compelled to investigate one of those mist-shrouded Maine islands you should never go to alone when you’re carrying psychological baggage. For those who like their horrors on a slow burn, this one will burn you. Slowly, but lastingly.
Watch it: Rent on Apple, or with your Hoopla or Tubi subscription.
Samuel Dunning as Elliot Campbell in “Dead Whisper.” Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
“Alien Absolution” (2024)
Bath filmmakers Christian and Sarah Matzke’s no-budget fan film set in the outer space backwaters of the “Alien” movie universe is a meticulously crafted, loving – and genuinely scary – short fan work. A lonely space cop (Will Stewart) allows a shady deal concerning an even shadier mysterious shipping container go through – with the expected slimy, toothy results. Atmospheric and ambitious, it’s what fans should do when their favorite franchise disappoints. You know, rather than griping on the internet.
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Watch it: For free on YouTube.
“Bone Cold” (2023)
Maine’s Billy Hanson takes full advantage of a cold, cold Maine winter to inject some sci-fi tinged action horror into the landscape. Following a pair of military snipers as they track a supposed Russian target whose icy retreat may or may not (OK, it does) hide a mind-bending, otherworldly secret, Hanson crafts a gripping, visceral tale of survival – with some killer twists.
Watch it: For rent on Apple TV.
“Swallowed” (2022)
Bowdoinham native Carter Smith (2008’s big budget “The Ruins”) returned to rural Maine to film this queer body horror film about two friends whose unwise choice to be drug mules turns into a gut-wrenching ordeal once the truth of what they’re smuggling (internally) is revealed. Featuring Jena Malone and “A Nightmare on Elm Street. 2: Freddy’s Revenge” star Mark Patton.
Watch it: Rent or buy it on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
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“One for the Road” (2021)
Stephen King may be a jillionaire, but he’s nothing if not generous – especially when it comes to spreading his Maine horror universe around. Filmed as part of King’s “Dollar Babies” program (where filmmakers can snap up rights to adapt King’s short stories for, you guessed it, a buck), the Brunswick-Topsham team of David Jester and Leigh Doran brings King’s tale of a stranded motorist back home. Sadly for him, his car broke down near the fictitious town of Jerusalem’s (or Salem’s) Lot, so King fans might have a guess as to what’s lurking out in the Maine fog.
Watch it: For Free on Film Freeway.
“Dirigo” (2021)
Portland’s own Noah Bessey saw this short horror tale snapped up as the Maine representative of Dystopian Film’s ambitious, one-from-every-state horror anthology series “The United States of Horror.” The Maine-shot short has all the basics (young people, cabin in the woods, unnerving visitors), all with a pine-scented twist and plenty of atmosphere packed into its running time.
Watch it: For rent on Amazon Prime Video.
“The Dead Ones” (2009)
Baltimore-born filmmaker Jeremy Kasten (“The Attic Expeditions,” “The Wizard of Gore”) resurrected this early high school-set horror film after he relocated to Maine with his family. Filmed in an abandoned inner city school, it sees four troubled teens assigned to a sort of all-night “Breakfast Club”-style cleanup crew, only to confront the seeming ghosts of a seriously traumatic school shooting. Provocative, gory, and intense, with just a touch of all-too-relevant real world violence.
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Watch it: For rent on Apple and Amazon, or with your Tubi subscription.
“Sweet Meats” (2023)
If you like your horrors to have some satirical bite, then this Damnationland short from Maine’s Myshrall sisters (Rebecca and Emily) is right up your dark alley. Set in an alternate universe where women rule with bloody impunity, this tale of dark empowerment includes plenty of hallucinatory yet trenchant imagery – including a scene ghoulishly worthy of the title.
Watch it: For sale (hooray, physical media!) on the Damnationland Bandcamp page.
“The Hanover House” (2012)
Writer-director (and Maine film teacher and movie maven) Corey Norman’s tale of a grieving man whose return to his Maine childhood home awakens some seriously dark secrets.
Watch it: Look for it under its re-release name “The Calling” on Hoopla, Tubu, Freevee and Amazon Prime Video (with subscription.)
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“The Wrong House” (2009)
One of the first Maine films I ever covered in this column, Shawn French’s nasty feature is a classic grindhouse tale of a group of obnoxious city folk robbing weed from, as the title implies, the very wrong house in rural Maine. Co-writers Sue Stevens and French play the inhabitants, a loving, sadistic couple with a hunger for torture and disproportionate vengeance. Think Rob Zombie in the Maine woods.
Watch it: There appears to be one DVD left on Amazon – which feels ominous.
Six Maine food producers were honored at the 16th annual Good Food Awards.
Awardees announced Tuesday include Allagash Brewing Company for their Allagash Lager and Kickabout Lager; Bixby Chocolate of Rockland for their Belize organic dark chocolate bar; Maine Grains of Skowhegan for their organic einkorn farro; Maine Sauce and Provisions of Newcastle for the Resurgam Spruced Up chile verde hot sauce; Tootie’s Tempeh of Biddeford for their curry-seasoned and traditional tempehs; and Turtle Rock Farm of Camden for Strawberry Chamomile Spreadable Fruit.
The total of 242 winners nationwide were selected through a blind tasting process from more than 1,200 entries.
The awards program is overseen by the Specialty Food Foundation. According to the foundation’s website, “The Good Food Awards Seal, found on winning products, assures consumers they’ve discovered something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.”
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Earlier this year, Tern Coffee of Brunswick was named one of the seven Maine finalists in the Good Food Awards for its Familia Diaz Honey Pacamara coffee.
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Tim Cebula has been a food writer and editor for 23 years. A former correspondent for The Boston Globe food section, his work has appeared in Time, Health, Food & Wine, CNN.com, and Boston magazine,…
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A Massachusetts photographer was seriously injured when he was stabbed during a wedding reception last month in Raymond, Maine.
Donald Halsing, 26, was hospitalized for five days after the stabbing on May 23. NBC affiliate News Center Maine reported that 26-year-old Andrew Manderson was arrested and charged with elevated aggravated assault.
Still recovering, Halsing told NBC10 Boston the attack came out of nowhere — one moment, he was snapping photos on the dance floor, while the next, he was searching for help as blood spilled onto his camera.
“I was sitting there in that chair thinking, ‘There’s a real possibility I could die here,’” Halsing said. “Immediately, I put my hand on my chest here to try and stop the bleeding, get some pressure on it, and started yelling for help.”
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Halsing was working at the reception at the Kingsley Pine Campgrounds. He took his last photo at 9:01 p.m., minutes before the stabbing.
“One of the wedding guests came up to me and started asking questions about our business,” he said.
Halsing said it was nothing out of the ordinary, and he tried to explain his photography business to the inquiring guest through the pulse of the DJ booth and celebrating guests.
“I thought he was going to reach in his back pocket for his phone, and instead, he didn’t pull out his phone — he pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed me,” he said.
Manderson, who faced a judge days later, is a cousin of the bride.
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“There was this look in his eyes that he wasn’t quite all there,” Halsing said.
Halsing’s fiancée, Ashley Wall, was feet away as he struggled to stay awake. She has been his photography partner for eight years since they met at Framingham State University, and she was helping him work the wedding.
“People who were around me, they asked, ‘What can we do to help you? What do you need?’ And I said, ‘Please go check on Ashley. Please go check on my fiancée,’” he recalled.
Halsing spent five days in the hospital suffering from two lacerations to his liver, ultimately developing a blood clot in his left leg. But the road to recovery exceeds his physical wounds as he contemplates his mental state when he resumes photography next year.
“I’m also worried about what lingering effects there might be,” he said. “If we get out on the dance floor and I start remembering what happened, I don’t know how I’m going to react.”
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Halsing still doesn’t know why he was attacked.
Manderson was released on $50,000 bail and is due back in court in October.
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This story will be updated.
The Maine Department of Transportation is moving to slash up to $400 million in projects from its agenda, a shocking and abrupt cutback that is rattling the state’s construction industry at the start of building season.
Roughly $50 million across six pavement projects have already been delayed, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Bangor Daily News. The agency plans to cut or delay another $150 million in bridge, highway, intersection and multimodal projects later this month. A further $200 million or more in cuts are planned in the next three-year work plan.
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Those figures were outlined by Transportation Commissioner Dale Doughty in the May 18 memo to Gov. Janet Mills that has since circulated widely in the transportation sector, which has been getting drip-by-drip details on the wide scope of the cuts over the past three weeks.
It comes at the beginning of the state’s relatively narrow construction season. Companies have hired workers and ordered materials for projects they expected to begin this summer. The severity of the transportation budget problems was not raised to lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session.
Kelly Flagg, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, called the shortfall “deeply troubling” in a statement.
“We stand ready to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners to identify both immediate and long-term solutions,” Flagg said. “Maine cannot afford to fall further behind.”
Insiders saw this first. This story was broken in Maine Politics Insider, the BDN’s daily premium newsletter for the most ardent political news followers. If you are a new BDN subscriber, you can sign up here. Current subscribers can contact our customer service team to upgrade.
The cuts stem from a structural funding gap of at least $130 million in the state’s current work plan, according to Doughty’s memo. Losses are magnified because state money from the gas tax and other revenue sources is matched by federal funds. Lawmakers have long grappled with politically difficult long-term problems with the state’s transportation budget.
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A Mills spokesperson said Wednesday morning that the administration was working on a response to questions from the BDN. The department says it needs roughly $240 million more in state capital funding annually to maintain the existing system, and that anything less than $200 million will erode it over time.
Doughty’s memo the only near-term solution is a series of bonds beginning as soon as possible. Lawmakers would have to return to Augusta to authorize that if one is going to appear on the November ballot.
