The Blair Witch cemetery, Burkittsville

We visited Burkittsville, Maryland – the setting of The Blair Witch Project – on a horror movie pilgrimage, and a eerie fog descended over the town almost exactly as we arrived.

From the cemetery in the town, this created a really spooky atmosphere leading to a series of black and white photographs making Burkittsville look like the horror movie town it is now famous for being.

Mark Taylor took on this photo, and was inspired to take an entirely different, but still entertainment-themed approach:

“Straightaway this darkly atmospheric picture with its powerful religious imagery said “Murder Mystery TV Detective”. The sort of story that combines creepy deaths with light-hearted comic characters and bizarre, totally unbelievable scenarios.

“Think Miss Marple, Father Brown, Murder She Wrote, Columbo, Alfred Hitchcock Presents…

“The opening scene fades from black as the camera slowly sweeps across the cemetery towards the tolling bell. Choir boys singing inside the church. A slowly evolving, warped choir drone adds a subtle, rising edge of tension.

“The camera pans back out towards the Cross as disturbing vocal lines weave around each other accompanied by dissonant string runs. The music reaches its peak just as the camera focuses on the dead body of the local priest, hidden behind the cross.

“Cut to the opening credits and the main theme for the programme – hopefully conveying mystery, suspense, adventure and a healthy dollop of cheesy humour(!).

“Finally, a brief hint of the opening Agnus Dei from the choirboys leads into the first scene via a dramatic close up of a second body hanging in the bell tower!”