Ritesh Sharma
Directed by Stephen Cognetti, Shudder’s ‘825 Forest Road’ is a chilling horror film layered with astute commentary on mental health. Set in the quiet, seemingly idyllic town of Ashland Falls, Pennsylvania, the story follows the Wilson family as they relocate to the area in the wake of a personal tragedy. However, their search for peace is soon disrupted by a series of eerie events centered around the infamous house at ‘825 Forest Road.’ As the haunting presence intensifies, unsettling the townspeople and unearthing buried emotions, the line between psychological trauma and supernatural terror begins to blur. Rooted in an atmosphere of dread and emotional unease, the film stands as a haunting reflection of grief, guilt, and the ghosts we carry within. The interesting story and characters of the movie must make the audience wonder if what they witnessed actually happened or was inspired by something even remotely real, for that matter.
825 Forest Road is a Fictional Story, Not Based on Folklore
‘825 Forest Road’ isn’t lifted from any known ghost story or regional legend. The mysterious figure of Helen Foster is not an adaptation of preexisting folklore—she’s Cognetti’s creation. As he explained in an interview, “She (Helen Foster), specifically, is not based on any folklore. The whole story is based on any small-town American folklore.” This distinction is important. The movie deliberately distances itself from traditional haunted house narratives or urban legends. Instead, it builds its dread from the fabric of believable, everyday small-town mythmaking.
Cognetti’s focus was not to retell something that’s already been heard but to imagine what it would feel like if a local legend turned out to be real—if the town’s silence and fear around a particular house had roots in something still lurking there. The film’s setting—Ashland Falls—may be fictional, but the vibe is familiar. A house with drawn curtains, stories passed around at bars and family dinners, and a general feeling that something is “off” about that place down the road. It’s the kind of mystery that feels almost too casual to be scripted. But that’s where the realism comes in.
The Real-Life Inspiration Behind the Ghost Story
Cognetti found his inspiration not in research archives but in his own move from bustling New York City to the quieter, story-filled communities near Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was this relocation that shaped the narrative lens of ‘825 Forest Road.’ “Everyone I met always had a story to tell about the town’s history,” Cognetti said. “I imagined, what if one of these stories is about a ghost?” He wasn’t interested in resurrecting pre-existing spirits—he wanted to birth a new one, rooted in the atmosphere of his environment. “I wanted to create my own fictional small-town folklore and small-town legend,” he said. What followed was a tale in which a ghost doesn’t just haunt a house but lingers in the way people speak—or don’t speak—about it.
Cognetti painted a vivid picture of how such lore functions in real communities. “What if it wasn’t a legend but something still affecting the town to this day? If you talked about it, you’d talk about it while looking over your shoulder because you don’t want to bring too much attention to yourself by talking too much about it,” he said. “If you talk about it to a newbie, it’s a secret warning.” That idea—of a town’s shared, hushed memory—became the emotional heartbeat of ‘825 Forest Road.’ Cognetti added, “The truth of it came from my own move from New York City to small-town Pennsylvania and learning about the history. It didn’t have any ghosts in it, so I created my own.”
Read More: 825 Forest Road Ending Explained
