Horror Town Name Generator
Unsettling small-town names for horror stories and games
Generate horror town names with the right kind of wrong: New England harbors like Innsbury and Kingsport Shoals, Appalachian hollers like Sorrow Fork, dying Midwest crossroads, desert ghost towns, moorland villages and cheerfully named places like Harmony Springs that you know will not end well.
About horror town names
The best horror town names are almost ordinary. Arkham, Derry, Castle Rock, Silent Hill and Innsmouth all sound like places that could be on a county map, which is exactly why they work: the reader accepts the town as real before anything goes wrong in it. So the first rule is to build names the way real ones are built. English place-name endings (-by, -wick, -mere, -bury, -ford, -thorpe) give you the old-world dread of Gallowmere or Wraithby; American frontier habits give you Hangman's Ford, Dead Horse Gulch and Starve Acre, names that record something terrible very matter-of-factly.
Tone comes from what the name quietly implies. A slightly off adjective (Sallow, Wither, Pale) or a word that should not be on a road sign (Carrion, Gibbet, Drowning) does more than piling on skulls and blood. The opposite trick works too: Harmony Springs, Peaceful Valley and New Hope are chilling precisely because the story will prove them liars. Religious names from the Bible belt (Goshen Bottom, Judgment Creek) suggest a town with a secret, while coastal names (Gilman Point, Dagon Reach) pull toward Lovecraft.
This generator mixes all of those, plus German, French and Spanish forms for European or borderland settings, so you can match the name to your story's landscape and let the geography do the haunting.
How to choose horror town names
- Decide what killed the town before you name it: a mining disaster suggests Firedamp or Old Works, a flood gives you Lower Drowned or Sunken Mill, a witch panic gives you Gallows Hill or Pricking Hill.
- Subtle beats gory. Sallow Creek or Wither Falls unsettle readers more than anything with 'blood' or 'death' in it; save the overt names for a road sign the characters laugh at before things go wrong.
- Use a cheerful name on purpose (Harmony Springs, Kindly Rest, Little Eden) when the horror is the townsfolk themselves.
- Match the geography: hollers and forks for Appalachia, harbors and points for New England, washes and flats for the desert, moors and meres for Britain.
- Give your town one official name and one local nickname. The map says Providence Forks; everyone who lives there calls it the Forks and will not say why.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a town name sound scary?
Plausibility first, then a single wrong note. Real place-name structure (a descriptive word plus a geographic feature, or an old English ending like -by or -mere) makes the town believable; one unsettling element such as Gallows, Sallow, Drowning or an overly sweet word like Harmony does the rest.
Are these names based on real places?
A few nod to famous fictional towns (Kingsport Shoals, Derry Falls, Haddonfield Heights) and some use real generic place names like Devil's Den or Hell's Half Acre that appear in several states. Most are original. If you are publishing, a quick search will tell you whether a name belongs to an actual town you'd rather not borrow.
Can I use these for a D&D or tabletop horror campaign?
Yes. The English-village forms (Wraithby, Nether Grimling, Ashwell St Mary) suit Ravenloft and gothic fantasy, the American names work for Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green and Monster of the Week, and the German and French entries fit continental settings.
How do I name the horror town in my novel or screenplay?
Pick something your characters could say a hundred times without it sounding silly. Two words at most, easy to pronounce, and with a meaning that only becomes sinister in hindsight. Mercy Falls, Silent Pines and Providence Forks all pass that test.
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All 500 horror town names
A: 16 names
- Adder's Mire
- Ague Landing
- Amity Shores
- Arkwright
- Arsenic Springs
- Ashbury Neck
- Ashby-on-the-Marsh
- Ashcombe Hollow
- Ashen Falls
- Ashgrave
- Ashthorne Magna
- Ashwell St Mary
- Ashworth Siding
- Asylum Road
- Atonement Gap
- Avalanche Gap
B: 48 names
- Baleford
- Banshee Ridge
- Barnaby Mill
- Barrow Downs
- Barrowby
- Bastard's Landing
- Bat Roost
- Bear Trap Gap
- Belladonna Hollow
- Bent Cross
- Bethel Gap
- Bitter End
- Bitter Lick
- Black Annis Ford
- Black Briar
- Black Ice Junction
- Black Tarn
- Black Tongue
- Black Tooth Ridge
- Blackburn Hollow
- Blackmarsh Landing
- Blackwater Falls
- Bleakholme
- Bleakstone
- Bleeding Heart Mill
- Bleeding Spring
- Blind River
- Bloodford
- Bloodletting Falls
- Bogholm
- Bone Dry Gulch
- Bone Hollow
- Bone Lick
- Bone Orchard
- Bone Saw Gap
- Bonepile
- Boot Hill
- Brackenridge
- Bramblecote
- Brimstone Corners
- Broken Bow
- Broken Steeple
- Brume-sur-Mer
- Burned Mill
- Burnt Cabin
- Burnt Offering
- Butcher's Hollow
- Buzzard Roost
C: 53 names
- Cairnholm
- Calico Wash
- Calvary Station
- Camp Blackmoor
- Camp Weary
- Canaan Ridge
- Candleford
- Candlemas
- Cannibal Plateau
- Carcosa Junction
- Carrion Bay
- Carver's Bend
- Casket Hollow
- Castle Rock Junction
- Cedar Gallows
- Cemetery Ridge
- Chain Gang Crossing
- Changeling Ford
- Chigger Ridge
- Chilcombe Abbas
- Chillingham Cross
- Cholera Flats
- Cinder Hill
- Cinnabar
- Clubfoot Hollow
- Cobb's Landing
- Coffin Branch
- Coffin Corner
- Coffin Ship Harbor
- Coffinwell
- Cold Harbor
- Convict Reach
- Copperhead Crossing
- Corbeau-sur-Loire
- Corbin Falls
- Coroner's Corner
- Corvin's Mill
- Corwin's Reach
- Covenant Falls
- Coyote Wells
- Cradle Rock
- Cresthaven
- Crimson Falls
- Crone Hill
- Crookback Ridge
- Crooked Creek
- Crookshank Ferry
- Crow's Nest Landing
- Crowhaven
- Crying Jack Creek
- Cuckoo Hollow
- Cutter's Gap
- Cyanide Creek
D: 35 names
- Dagon Reach
- Damnation Alley
- Dampford
- Danvers
- Darkmere
- Deacon's Hollow
- Dead Fork
- Dead Horse Gulch
- Dead Man's Curve
- Dead Man's Hand
- Dead Man's Wash
- Dead Mule Branch
- Dead Reckoning Cove
- Dead Winter
- Deadbone
- Deadwood Hollow
- Death Row Junction
- Derry Falls
- Desperation
- Devil's Backbone
- Devil's Claw
- Devil's Den
- Dirge Hollow
- Donner Ridge
- Dreadmoor
- Drowning Creek
- Drownsby
- Dry Bones
- Ducking Pond
- Dunbar Falls
- Dunhallow
- Dunkelholz
- Dunmore Light
- Dunmorrow
- Duskhaven
E: 7 names
- Eastwick
- El Ahorcado
- Elkhorn Siding
- Ellery Station
- Empty Cradle
- Empty Harbor
- Execution Rocks
F: 13 names
- Famine Crossing
- Ferryman's Rest
- Fever Ward
- Firedamp
- Fogbound
- Fort Deliverance
- Fort Despair
- Fort Rookery
- Foundling Cross
- Foxglove Falls
- Frostmere
- Frozen Man
- Furnace Flats
G: 31 names
- Galena Flats
- Gallowmere
- Gallows Corner
- Gallows Hill
- Gallows Oak
- Garrote Point
- Gatlin
- Geisterberg
- Ghost Run
- Gibbet Hill
- Gibbet Lane End
- Gilead Springs
- Gilman Point
- Gloomwood
- Gnaw Bone
- Gorebridge
- Goshen Bottom
- Grange Hall
- Granny Ketch's Crossing
- Granny's Hollow
- Grauwald
- Gravesend
- Great Mourning
- Grey Gull Bay
- Grey Snow
- Greywater
- Grimsdyke
- Grimsfield
- Gristle Gap
- Guillotine Falls
- Gullmere
H: 35 names
- Haddon Cross
- Haddonfield Heights
- Hag Thorn
- Halverson
- Hang Ridge
- Hanged Man's Landing
- Hangman's Cross
- Hangman's Ford
- Hangman's Hill
- Hargrove
- Harmony Springs
- Harrow's End
- Harrowport
- Hatchet Falls
- Haunted Hollow
- Hawkstone-under-Edge
- Headsman Creek
- Hell's Half Acre
- Hemlock Parish
- Hester Falls
- Hoarfrost
- Hogback
- Hollins Bend
- Hollis Junction
- Hollister Cove
- Hollow Knob
- Hollow Oak
- Hollowfield
- Hooded Falls
- Hornet's Nest
- Hulks Landing
- Hunchback Hill
- Hunger Ford
- Hungry Hollow
- Hush Harbor
I: 4 names
- Icefall
- Ingleside
- Innsbury
- Innswick
J: 3 names
- Jackdaw Cross
- Jericho Falls
- Judgment Creek
K: 8 names
- Kaltwasser
- Keening Point
- Kettle Cove
- Kindly Rest
- Kingsport Shoals
- Knacker's Yard
- Knotted Pine
- Krähenfeld
L: 24 names
- Lake Desolation
- Lake Forlorn
- Lamoille
- Lantern Hill
- Last Chance
- Last Water
- Leechwell
- Leper's Reach
- Les Pendus
- Limping Man Creek
- Little Dreadling
- Little Eden
- Llanto
- Los Muertos
- Lost Cove
- Lost Dutchman Crossing
- Lower Drowned
- Lower Gallows
- Lower Shrike
- Lowhollow
- Lowry's Mill
- Ludlow Grain
- Lullaby Falls
- Lunacy Hill
M: 24 names
- Mad Tom's Landing
- Mallory's Crossing
- Marlow Bottom
- Marrow Creek
- Marsh Haven
- Marshend
- Massacre Ridge
- Meathook Bend
- Meeker
- Mercy Falls
- Meriden Hollow
- Miresby
- Missing Mile
- Mistlemere
- Moccasin Swamp
- Moonshadow
- Morbury
- Mortlake Crossing
- Mount Misery
- Mourning Dove
- Mourning Glen
- Mrakovice
- Murder Creek
- Murkwater
N: 9 names
- Nebelheim
- Nether Grimling
- Nether Sallow
- Nettleburn
- New Hope
- Nightmare Pass
- Nightshade Ford
- Ninemile Gallows
- Noirmont
O: 8 names
- Old Harrowgate
- Old Mother Red Cap
- Old Nell's Ferry
- Old Works
- Orphan Creek
- Orphanage Hill
- Ossining Falls
- Oxbow
P: 37 names
- Pale Harbor
- Pale Horse Landing
- Palebury
- Panther Lick
- Paradise Flats
- Parson's Folly
- Pauper's Field
- Peaceful Valley
- Pemberton's Folly
- Penal Flats
- Penumbra Falls
- Phantom Falls
- Pickens Holler
- Pierre-Noire
- Pike's Hollow
- Pillory Corner
- Plague Island Ferry
- Plague Pit
- Point of No Return
- Point Pleasant Crossing
- Poorhouse Corner
- Port Blackmouth
- Port Blackwood
- Port Charnel
- Port Sorrow
- Potter's Field
- Pratt's Crossing
- Preacher's Rest
- Pricking Hill
- Prison Farm Road
- Promise Landing
- Prosper
- Providence Forks
- Pruitt's Landing
- Pueblo Olvidado
- Puerto Lamento
- Purgatory Pike
Q: 1 name
- Quarantine Island
R: 20 names
- Rabenmoor
- Ragged Point
- Rattlesnake Bend
- Raven's Roost
- Ravenmoor
- Ravensworth
- Razor Creek
- Razorback Ridge
- Red Bird Holler
- Redemption Flats
- Redmarsh
- Reedsmere
- Rockslide
- Rookwood
- Rope Ferry
- Rotherhithe Hollow
- Rotting Springs
- Ruin Springs
- Rusted Gate
- Rutherford Gap
S: 65 names
- Sable Bay
- Saint Agnes
- Saint Jude's Landing
- Sainte-Agonie
- Salem Heights
- Sallow Creek
- Sallow St Giles
- Sallowmere
- Salted Well
- Saltpeter Wash
- Saltwick
- Sanatorium Hill
- Santa Mira
- Satan's Kingdom
- Scaffold Point
- Scar Ridge
- Scarlet Hollow
- Schädelberg
- Schattenbach
- Schwarzmoor
- Scold's Bridge
- Scorpion Wash
- Screaming Woman Creek
- Screech Owl Ridge
- Sedgefen
- Sedgwick Hollow
- Shadowbrook
- Shiloh Ford
- Shivering Sands
- Shiverwick
- Shroudby
- Shutter Creek
S, continued
- Silent Pines
- Silo City
- Sixkiller Crossing
- Skeleton Canyon
- Skinner Creek
- Skullbone
- Skullcap Hollow
- Slaughter Beach
- Slaughterhouse Road
- Sleepy Hollow Crossing
- Smokemont
- Snapped Neck Creek
- Snuffwick
- Sodom Hill
- Sorgenstadt
- Sorrow Fork
- Sorrowby
- Sorrowfield
- Sorrowmouth
- Specter Bay
- Starvation Creek
- Starve Acre
- Still Hollow
- Stillborn Creek
- Stillwater Crossing
- Stocks Hill
- Stonehaven
- Strangler's Cove
- Strychnine Flats
- Sulfur Wells
- Sunken Mill
- Sweet Briar
- Swimming Stool Cross
T: 13 names
- Tallowby
- Tanner's Hollow
- Temnograd
- Temperance Hill
- Thorn Abbey Cross
- Thornfield
- Thornwick
- Thrapston-on-the-Fen
- Thrushmere
- Tombstone Flats
- Tombwick
- Totenhausen
- Trembling Ford
U: 7 names
- Ulmer's Point
- Umberton
- Underhill Station
- Undertaker Falls
- Upper Drowned
- Upper Pallow
- Upper Wraithby
V: 7 names
- Val-des-Morts
- Valle de Sombras
- Vance Corners
- Verity
- Vesper Falls
- Vulture Peak
- Vulture Wash
W: 30 names
- Wailing Ridge
- Weatherby
- Weeping Branch
- Weirmouth
- Wendlebury Cross
- Wenham Cross
- Wentworth
- Wetmouth
- Wexley Sound
- Whipping Post
- Whippoorwill Hollow
- Whispering Pines
- Whitcombe Ferry
- Wickerton
- Wickham Marsh
- Wickmere
- Widow's Creek
- Widow's Walk
- Widowmere
- Winterset Hollow
- Witch Elm
- Witch Hill
- Witchfinder's Cross
- Wither Falls
- Wolf Pit
- Wolf Trap
- Wolfsgrub
- Wraith Creek
- Wraithby
- Wyrdstone
Y: 1 name
- Yellow Jack Landing