Summary
- The filming locations used in the 2023 reboot series of Goosebumps, such as Deep Cove Yacht Club and Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School, help establish the small-town, Pacific Northwest feel of Port Lawrence.
- Cloverdale, specifically Minnekhada Lodge, serves as the area surrounding Biddle House, which is a central location in the Goosebumps plot and sets the tone for spooky events in Port Lawrence.
- Whistler Olympic Park provides the snowy winter setting in Goosebumps, adding tension to the plot and referencing the title's connection to fear and the nervous system.
The 2023 reboot series of Goosebumps makes use of many filming locations across British Columbia. Adapting RL Stine's best-selling anthology of children's horror books, Goosebumps offers a new spin on a beloved story. In this series, a group of misfit teenagers becomes cursed to experience the supernatural after going to a Halloween party held at the Biddle House. As they continue to experience dark events, they must come together to uncover their parents' secrets which started everything.
The first five episodes of Goosebumps dropped on Hulu and Disney Plus on October 13, and a new episode comes out every week thereafter until all ten are available. The Goosebumps cast includes a number of big names and new actors whose characters provide a center for the storyline. While many of the monsters and characters remain true to Goosebumps, there is a major change that sets it apart. This version of Goosebumps has a unified location and serialized format. Everything Goosebumps-related occurs in the town of Port Lawrence; however, this isn't a real location. Instead, filmmakers made use of the beautiful buildings and landscapes throughout British Columbia to bring this story to life (via IMDb and Atlas of Wonders).
Deep Cove Yacht Club, Vancouver, British Columbia
In the first episode of Goosebumps, there's a shot, lasting about a second, of the town of Port Lawrence. This aerial shot was filmed above the Deep Cove Yacht Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. While the area is highly populated in real life, the production team seemingly used CGI to make the treeline denser, add the school, and take away some of the buildings.
Though short, the shot establishes many things about the town where Goosebumps takes place. Firstly, Port Lawrence is relatively small in size, and the CGI removal of buildings helps give the town a rural feel. Additionally, the town is located on the water and filled with greenery, facts that become relevant in the show. Lastly, they add the school and football field into the aerial shot, making it large enough to indicate its importance in Goosebumps.
Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School in Maple Ridge, British Columbia doubles as one of the primary settings in Goosebumps, Port Lawrence High School. This school within the TV series is critical because the misfit group – Margot, James, Isabella, Isaiah, and Lucas – are high school students. Plus, a spirit possesses teacher Nathan Bratt making him a villain. The school was the perfect filming location because it appears extremely mundane and normal.
The building structure matches that of a typical high school in the United States and Canada. There's nothing distinctive, allowing viewers to imprint their experiences or perceptions on the school setting. Additionally, the hallways and classrooms in Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School are just the right size to provide different filming angles while still feeling relatively small, furthering the small-town setting. By incorporating these normal locations involved in teenage life, the paranormal and spooky events in Goosebumps feel more impactful.
Cloverdale, Surrey, Vancouver, British Columbia
In Goosebumps, Cloverdale doubles as the area surrounding Biddle House. The greenery in Cloverdale fits with Port Lawrence, giving a Pacific Northwest feel. Within Cloverdale, the series filmed all the Biddle House scenes at the famous Minnekhada Lodge. Biddle House appears very similar in architecture and color to other homes that are haunted in North America. These factors are important since Biddle House is important to the Goosebumps plot. Biddle House is the location of Harold Biddle's death and the Halloween party that brings together the vastly different teenagers at the center of the plot. Moreover, the Biddle House starts all things spooky in Port Lawrence.
Additionally, Port Lawrence – but specifically Biddle House helps – offers a central location for the events of the Goosebumps books which mostly take place in different towns, homes, and with characters. The lore of the TV show always comes back to the Biddle House and the Biddle family. The spirit that possesses Mr. Bratt in Goosebumps is Harold Biddle, not someone from a different location. Like the Neibolt House in IT, all things tie back to the Biddle House in Goosebumps.
Britannia Mine Museum, Britannia Beach, British Columbia
During Goosebumps, season 1, episode 3, "The Cuckoo Clock of Doom," the main characters discover underground tunnels and learn they play a part in the mysteries of Port Lawrence. The tunnels run beneath most of the town. Like everything else, it all comes back to the Biddle House. All the tunnel scenes were filmed at the Brittania Mine Museum in Britannia Beach, British Columbia. Tunnels can have different rock formations but mostly look similar to one another; as such, it's not the most distinctive filming set. However, the subterranean realm in this museum is expansive, so the tunnels can provide a variety of underground structures to create diverse shots in future Goosebumps seasons.
Deep Cove North Shore Marina and Rentals, North Vancouver, British Columbia
In the Goosebumps TV show, the teens spend a lot of time in Harbor Stop, a diner and coffee shop on the coast of Port Lawrence. This is a place where they come to talk about life and discuss supernatural goings-on in the town. Deep Cove North Short Marina and Rentals doubled for both the exterior and interiors of Harbor Stop.
The filming location has a rustic feel like something found in the mountains or on a remote lake. Especially with the tree-covered hill across the shore, this filming location reaffirms the small-town, Pacific Northwest feel of Port Lawrence. Also, the boats in the shots look small and older but still nice, helping establish the socioeconomic state of the town in Goosebumps.
Whistler Olympic Park, Whistler, British Columbia
All the winter scenes with snow in Goosebumps were filmed at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia. Whistler Olympic Park was built for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, offering 56 miles of land with trees, large fields, and slopes. Unlike other locations that focused on buildings important to the plot, this filming location helps establish the environment and weather of Port Lawrence. Additionally, the change in weather indicates change, adding tension to the plot. It also harkens back to the title which references the bumps a person gets on their body caused by the nervous system when it's cold or when they're scared. The scenes at Whistler Olympic Park appear in the latter half of the Goosebumps series.
Sources: IMDb, Atlas of Wonders, and Justin Long Instagram