‘Fear Street Part 2: 1978’: Camp Nightwing Filming Location Has a Real Haunted History
Netflix’s Fear Street slasher films have fans googling their filming locations and digging to find out whether these stories are based on reality. The movies are complete adaptations of R.L. Stine’s imaginative books, but some of the Georgia filming locations have their own folklore attached to them. An example of that is Camp Nightwing in Fear Street Part 2: 1978. The real campsite where filming took place has been known for spooky occurrences and hauntings.
‘Fear Street 1978’ Camp Nightwing site is at Camp Rutledge
The Fear Street team shot much of its footage for the trilogy in metro Atlanta, but they headed to a rural Georgia town for part 2. Rutledge is located a little over 50 miles outside of Atlanta with a population of approximately 1,000. Camp Nightwing gave fans total Friday the 13th vibes with its bloody and brutal story about the Bermans and the supernatural slaughter that rained down on all those poor campers.
Fear Street Part 2: 1978 was filmed at Camp Rutledge in Hard Labor Creek State Park. The camp has been open since the mid-1900s. And the park is actually home to another camp where Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives was shot, Crystal Lake and all.
Locals say Camp Rutledge is haunted by a little boy
For years, campers and locals have asserted that a playful little boy haunts Camp Rutledge. He’s known for laughing, leaving wet footprints, and toying around with a red ball. Some have said that he rolls the ball toward people and giggles. One witness reported that a little boy peeked out from behind a tree before disappearing.
Ghost Hunters did an investigation at the site in an episode that aired in 2012 titled “Camp Fear.” Jason Hawes and his TAPS team visited the camp where a groundskeeper said he worked at the park for almost 30 years, and there have been drownings at the lake. Ghost Hunters could not find a reasonable explanation for wet footprints in the dining hall.
Other entities reportedly also hang out at the camp
Over the years, people have reported seeing and hearing an old man hanging in or around the cabins, and once, he told someone they would die there. A woman who interviewed with Ghost Hunters said she once touched a spirit. “I put my hand on him, and my hand sunk in. It was warm and dense air, and I could fee; that it was not a person,” she said. She’s been visiting the campgrounds since childhood.
Others claimed to see odd shadows in the woods or hear crashing sounds. Team TAP trekked into the woods where they saw weird lights among the trees and caught a strange voice on audio equipment. They explained that there is likely paranormal activity happening at the camp site, but none of it is malicious. According to the Ghost Hunters team, if the entities wanted to cause harm, they would have by now.
Camp Rutledge is still the topic of lore and considered one of Georgia’s many haunted locations thanks to its old buildings and scary stories. Check it out in Fear Street Part 2: 1978 on Netflix, or visit the real-life camp during your next visit to Georgia.
