Movie characters from Scooby-Doo to Freddy roamed around these fictional Ohio towns

Ohio is home to a fair number towns that were once hometowns for some pretty notable names.

That fella' from Milan,Thomas Alva Edison, is credited with a number of inventions including the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb.

Cincinnatian William Howard Taft who aside from becoming President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may or may not have become stuck in a White House bath tub.

And Freddy Krueger?

Yes that Freddy Krueger of horror film fame also called Ohio home.

It seems Ohio towns reach way beyond history books and are a popular setting − real or imagined − for some pretty memorable movies that are perfect to watch this Halloween season.

Here's a geographic sampling of perfectly evil films where Ohio plays a lead role.

Springwood, Ohio

Okay. There's no such place in Ohio.

And like most of the films that call Ohio home − the actors in this film never set foot in the Buckeye State.

But there's probably no more memorable horror film character − sorry Jason − than Freddy Krueger and a town more deserving − albeit it a grim one − of a state historical marker.

It was in fictional Springwood, Ohio, that Clevelander Wes Kraven set his first "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film where Freddy seeks his revenge by murdering the children of those who had bullied him when he was a child.

The classic 1984 horror flick went on to spawn a series of films featuring Freddy including one where fellow killer Jason traveled to Ohio for a murderous spree.

Coolsville, Ohio

Coolsville would be the coolest place in the state if it existed.

No offense to Coolville − the small village in Athens County that is home to the Desonier State Nature Preserve − but the fictional Coolsville (with an s) that was located in Ohio in this film was home to the Coolsonian Criminology Museum.

The fictional Ohio town was made famous in the 2004 "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" film before Hollywood producers spirited away Scooby and the Gang and the whole setting off to California in future incarnations of the cartoon franchise.

In Scooby-Doo lore it is located in aptly named Erie County (a real place) and is home to Mystery Incorporated.

The original Coolsville was supposedly destroyed by a flood and everyone perished and the new town that according to Scooby-Doo geography in the form of a map that was used by the gang would place it south of Medina near Seville.

Rural Ohio

They grow more than corn in rural Ohio.

The fields also produce some settings for horror plots too.

In "The Prodigy" the movie starts in rural Ohio with the death of serial killer Edward Scarka and the birth of his son Miles in Pennsylvania. Things go down hill after that.

Speaking of serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer has been the subject of a couple films including "My Friend Dahmer" in 2017 that look at his beginnings growing up in real-life Bath Township where he began killing animals and his first victim.

The notorious serial killer then moved from Northern Ohio to Milwaukee.

Shadyside, Ohio

Shadyside is a village in eastern Belmont County and no there are no evil spirits that have plagued the town for centuries.

But in the creative mind of Ohioan and author R. L. Stine the town's name was perfect as a setting for a storyline in his Fear Street series.

The Ohio-based story set in Shadyside was perfect fodder for a trio of "Fear Street" movies that aired in Netflicks in 2021 that traced a series of slayings in the town from 1666 to 1994.

Herrington, Ohio

This one is a real red herring.

The 1998 sci-fi, horror film "The Faculty" is set in fictional Herrington, Ohio.

This coming of age, er alien, flick pits students against the faculty at Herrington High School.

Spoiler alert. The faculty has been acting a bit off as their bodies have been taken over by alien parasites seeking to take over the school and the planet.

Lillian, Ohio

Speaking of aliens, fictional Lillian, Ohio, had its fair share of out worldly problems to deal with in J.J. Abrams epic "Super 8" film that came out in 2011.

The poor town had its hands full in this film set in 1979 when a military train derails in town and folks begin disappearing.

Although Lillian doesn't exist, West Alexandria in Preble County does exist and it is shown on a map in the film.

Windsor College

College can be pretty scary.

And it got real scary at fictional Windsor College located somewhere in Ohio when the cast of "Scream 2" enrolled there.

Murder followed Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to college in this 1997 installment of an offbeat take on traditional slasher films.

Warren Valley, Ohio

There's a city called Warren and even a Warren County in Ohio.

While they both may have valleys, there's no town called Warren Valley.

And that's probably a good thing.

In the 2007 film "Trick 'r Treat" − there's a fictional town in Ohio called Warren Valley that has a lot going on during Halloween night.

The movie follows four separate yet intertwined stories with Sam, a costumed trick or treater who is Hellbent on enforcing the traditions of Halloween, at the plot's gruesome center.

And Ohio has been the setting for more mayhem than you could ever shake a meat cleaver at in countless scary TV shows.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Check out 7 made up Ohio towns that were settings for Halloween movies