On Halloween we posted our Halloween themed search – the Commercial Dread and Woe search. We filled it with various clues to horror films and challenged our customers to spot as many references as possible to win a £20 Amazon voucher.
Below are a list of all the film references included in our search, as well as several that we inadvertently included:
Page one:
- Order number:1408 – a reference to the 2007 film 1408 starring John Cusack.
- Customer Ref: Case 39 – the 2009 film Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger.
- Search address, Black Hills Forest – The location of the Blair Witch project, the film is referenced again on the map with the stick man.
- Technician name, Michael Myers – The psychopathic killer in the Halloween franchise.
- not used to house… or a poltergeist – a direct reference to the 1982 supernatural horror Poltergeist.
- Question number 6.6.6 – This was never put in as an intentional clue, however we will accept it’s reference to The Omen.
- yes, if you can see IT (in summary) – Stephen King’s supernatural thriller IT that spawned a very dated 1990 tv movie and the recent adaptation in 2017.
- Creature from the black lagoon (in summary) – This was a pretty easy one to spot, the 1954 black and white film of the same name.
Page two:
- Bates high school – The name of the school in Carrie, however as it blatantly refers to Psycho too then we’ll also accept that answer.
- E & L Warren P.I. – refers to paranormal investigators Ed & Lorraine Warren whose stories have influenced several films including, Annabelle, The Conjuring, Ammityville Horror and The Nun all of which we’ll accept.
- Appalachian mountain cave – is the location of the claustrophobic horror The Descent.
- Stick man – see point 3 on page one.
- Camp Crystal Lake – Pretty much everybody guessed the famous location where Jason Voorhees stalks his victims in the Friday 13th film franchise. Interestingly there has been 12 films released so far, surely it’s only a matter of time before the 13th?
- Dead End (street) – This was one of those inadvertent references that was added without realising it was a 2003 french horror film starring Ray Wise, you may know him better as Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks.
- The windmill leading to the tree of the dead – is a clue to the final scene in Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. We will also accept entries that refer to The Windmill Massacre, which we’d never heard of.
- The witch in New England – references the period supernatural horror The Witch. We’ve also had several entries with the Witches of Eastwick, which we’ll also accept as parts of it were filmed in New-England.
- Woodsboro Lane – References the fictional town Woodsboro, home to the Scream franchise.
What didn’t make the cut
- Hatchett Road – We’ve had many entries referring to the film Hatchet, however we deliberately misspelt it as a red herring.
- Terror Turnpike – This was simply put in as a made up name, however there have been a few entries with the Turnpike Killer which we find to be too much of a tenuous link to accept.
- Elm Road – Yet another red herring, this was purposely put in to mislead everyone into thinking it was related to a Nightmare on Elm Street. Sorry folks.
A big thank you to everyone who entered, and congratulations to Sayoni Sen from Tinsdills, who wins a £20 Amazon voucher.