EAST CORINTH, Vt. (AP) — For nearly four decades, a small town in Vermont has attracted legions of “Beetlejuice” fans eager to visit the locations where the quirky horror movie’s most famous scenes were filmed.
With a population of only about 1,500, “Beetlejuice” mania has made East Corinth a household name for movie fans and those looking for spooky-themed road trips.
A photo of the house featured in the Beetlejuice movie is painted on a pole in front of the hill where the house was built and later removed during filming in East Corinth, Vermont, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
“It was like one of those coming-of-age movies for me,” said Beetlejuice fan Lisa Pinkerton, who was traveling from England with her family and decided to stop in East Corinth. “It brings back all the memories of watching it with my friends back then. It’s great to see everything fall into place and see that Hollywood magic happen.”
The original “Beetlejuice” was released in 1988 and was set in the fictional town of Winter River, Connecticut. The story centers on a recently deceased couple, played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, who try to blackmail their family into forcing them out of their home. When the attempt fails, the couple hires “bioexorcist” Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton, but soon regrets their decision.
A photo of Maitland Hardware, the fictional hardware store featured in the first “Beetlejuice” movie, hangs on a pole in front of the real hardware store used in filming in East Corinth, Vermont, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
But director Tim Burton actually chose East Corinth, near the New Hampshire border, for many of the iconic scenes.
This includes filming the 100-year-old building that serves as Miss Shannon School for Girls, which Winona Ryder’s Lydia Dietz attends in the film, and the red-covered bridge where protagonists Adam and Barbara Maitland drive off and plummet to their deaths.
East Corinthian Sarah Poli lives near the bridge used in the movie, with her garage converted into the Winter River Fire Station and the rest of her home serving as Jane Butterfield’s real estate and travel agency. Her uncle Maurice Page was the only local resident to appear in the film.
“He was supposed to be a barber, but he kept improvising and annoyed Tim Burton,” Poli said. “So he basically gave him a non-speaking role and he became Ernie dusting the statue in front of the library.”
East Corinth resident Sara Poli examines a photo taken during filming of the first “Beetlejuice” movie in East Corinth, Vermont, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
In the movie, Page is seen saying, “Hey, how’s it going?” I drive past Maitland in a yellow Volvo.
“I think it was a lot of fun for everyone, but I think a lot of the older people in town thought it was going to be a fun, idyllic movie about the countryside. There was some shock when the movie came out,” Poli said.
East Corinth resident Sarah Poli has a photo of actors Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin sitting on her front lawn while filming the first Beetlejuice movie in East Corinth, Vermont, in 1987. October 28, 2025 (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
The moody gothic hero Burton returned to the Vermont town to film the sequel, Beetlejuice, which helped draw even more tourists to East Corinth.
Polli said the town welcomes fans from all over the world, who residents affectionately call “juicers.”
“It’s been a continuous flow. I’ve met people from France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, England, all over Canada, and all over the United States. It’s really amazing,” she said.
The building known as “Miss Shannon School for Girls” in the movie “Beetlejuice” in East Corinth, Vermont, on October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Wade Pearson, who grew up in East Corinth, created a walking tour for fans like Pinkerton that showcased the various filming locations around town. With a little bit of movie magic built into some scenes, Pearson’s approximately 10-minute self-guided tour helps enthusiasts visualize the film’s iconic sets using large billboards featuring screenshots from the film.
East Corinth resident and Beetlejuice fan Wade Pearson points to the hill where a house was built and later demolished for the Beetlejuice movie on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 in East Corinth, Vermont. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
“People say, ‘Where is my house?’ It was a movie set, so it was removed,” Pearson said. “There’s a photo on a pole, and if you stand and squat in the right spot, you can line it up with the hills across the river and get a very realistic photo of what it looked like when the movie was shot.”
Meanwhile, the school building has since been sold to a “Beetlejuice” enthusiast who hopes to restore it and turn it into a community center that serves as a “Beetlejuice” museum and theater.
Wade Pearson, an East Corinthian and Beetlejuice fan, points to one of the printed photos placed around the city of various filming locations featured in the movie “Beetlejuice” in East Corinth, Vermont, on October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Pearson’s house, decorated with “Beetlejuice”-themed Halloween decorations, is located directly across the street from the school, and he says he had a front-row seat to the filming of both movies.
“I’m privileged to live literally across the street from Miss Shannon’s house, which has a living movie set,” he said. “The more people who enjoy it, the better.”
