The Ultimate Stephen King Inspired road Trip in Maine
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Maine might be well-known for lighthouses and lobster, but there’s a literary connection that draws just as many fans. We’re talking about Maine-native Stephen King. Not only did King spend much of his life in Maine, but so many of his stories were also inspired by places around the state. Places you can visit, if you dare.
We put together this list of Stephen King’s iconic locations throughout Maine to go beyond the low hanging fruits like his house in Bangor. We also wanted to appeal to all generations of King fans and go off the well-read path for some stories that might surprise you with a King connection.
We’re also going to give some guidance for those of you who are new to King’s collection, maybe having just whetted your appetite with the IT: Welcome to Derry series on Max.
Stephen King’s House | Bangor
While it’s well known, there is some clarification needed for Stephen King’s former home in Bangor. The stately mansion with forboding gates sits at 47 West Broadway.
It’s great for a photo op or selfie, but don’t expect the King of Horror to be walking by. The house is now home to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. The Kings live on Casey Key in Florida, but still have some summer homes in Maine. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Bangor served as the town of Derry in numerous King books, such as IT. The inspiration wasn’t just because of local pride. He did the research, too.
“When I started to get the idea for the book — I’m from Maine — I wanted to find out what one of these towns has in the closet. I want to use every historical happening that grows and grows until it becomes a legend,” King said in a 2023 interview. “So we came to Bangor, and I started to look around. People started to tell me stories… and the real deal maker was when I found out there was this whole network of sewers under my city and a lot of people didn’t know where they went anymore.”
Mount Hope Cemetery | Bangor
Pet Sematary fans will recognize several locations in Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor (fictional name: Ludlow). The address is 1048 State Street. This is where King made a cameo in the 1989 movie Pet Sematary. Look around, and you’ll see the headstones that (allegedly) gave him the idea for the names Carrie (Carrie) and Georgie (IT).
Paul Bunyan Statue | Bangor
While several states (looking at you, Minnesota and Michigan) claim to be the origin of the mythological Paul Bunyan, Stephen King put Bangor’s Paul Bunyan statue in the minds of horror fiction fans. The address is 515 Main Street, but don’t expect it to come to life as it did in IT and IT: Chapter Two.
Kenduskeag Stream | Bangor
If Bangor is Derry on paper, Kenduskeag Stream is Derry in motion. This narrow waterway cuts right through downtown before emptying into the Penobscot River, and it shows up in IT in some of the book’s darker moments.
Ben Hanscom’s early encounter with Pennywise happens near the stream. King has an intentional habit of taking everyday places and tilting them just enough to make you uneasy. This is one of those spots.
When I wrote IT, I drew on a lot of things from my childhood. We had a barrens when I was a kid, and all of us went down there and played and paddled around. I think that a lot of adults these days would be white with horror at the idea of paddling around where the sewers dumped out and all this overgrown foliage was,” King said about this location.
If you’re visiting, stroll the Kenduskeag Stream Trail downtown. You’ll get the literary chills without, hopefully, the sewer clown problem King imagined lurking just out of sight.
Storm Drain IT Inspiration | Bangor
But if you want to see the sewer spot that really fueled the nightmare, it (reportedly) sits near the corner of Union Street and Jackson Street in Bangor. It’s not marked with a sign or roped off for tourists. It looks like every other unassuming curbside drain you’ve walked past a thousand times. Which honestly makes it creepier.
Full disclosure: King has never confirmed it was this specific spot that inspired the Pennywise hiding spot, but we do know the sewage system underneath was the catalyst.
Bangor Waterworks | Bangor
Believe it or not, people now live in the Bangor Waterworks building at 1 Waterworks Road. This setting was used in King’s short story Graveyard Shift, part of Night Shift, as a home to mutant rats. It’s now home to low-income housing units.
Thomas Hill Standpipe | Bangor
The Thomas Hill Standpipe at 41 Thomas Hill Road in Bangor helped shape the standpipe scenes in IT, including the moment Stan first crosses paths with Pennywise.
King lived just a few blocks away at the time and has said he wrote large chunks of the book on a bench in the park below it. You can see how the structure’s looming presence would get your imagination going.
The Thomas Hill Standpipe is normally opened a few times a year for guided public tours, when visitors can climb the interior stairs to the promenade deck.
Jade of the Orient | Bangor
Jade of the Orient, the Chinese restaurant where the adult Losers’ Club reunites in IT & IT: Chapter Two, is widely understood to be based on Oriental Jade in Bangor, located at 320 Bangor Mall Boulevard. The restaurant is worth a visit, as the staff embraces the IT connection through and through.
Bangor International Airport | Bangor
If you’re arriving by plane in Bangor, you should know that the airport is featured in the short story “The Night Flier” as well as the novella “The Langoliers.” It was also where Louis Creed dropped off his family as they headed back to Chicago, just before Church, the cat, died, thus catapulting the Pet Sematary name into literary infamy.
Pet Sematary Inspiration House | Orrington
When you look for the inspiration behind the Pet Sematary storyline, look no further than the home at 664 River Road in Orrington, just south of Bangor. King was the writer-in-residence at his alma mater, the University of Maine, in the late 1970s.
King explained in an interview years ago how the story was pieced together.
“The character in the book has a little boy; I have a little boy. My daughter had a cat that she loved very much, and the character in the book has a cat. In both cases, there was a pet cemetery behind the house where we lived. My daughter’s cat was run over in the road; there was a lot of heavy traffic. About six months later, my little boy almost ran into that road while a truck was coming. This all started to tick together in my head, and the result was Pet Sematary.”
NOTE: This house is a private residence. Do not walk on the property or knock on the door.
Pet Sematary Movie House | Hancock
If you head Downeast to 303 Point Road in Hancock, you’ll see the house that was used in the 1989 film Pet Sematary. It’s also privately owned, but there is a small pull-off on the side of the road where you can snap pictures. You’ll see the field where the Creed family was picnicking and flying a kite before Gage’s fatal mistake.
University of Maine | Orono
While the University of Maine Orono is beautiful enough to simply walk the campus, you can also walk in the footsteps of King’s alma mater path to becoming the King of Horror. His Hearts in Suspension non-fiction book from 2016 encapsulates his time here.
Check the schedule because King is known to make return appearances here. If you’re hungry, another King hangout when he’s in town is Pat’s Pizza.
Lisbon High School | Lisbon
Stephen King went to Lisbon Falls High School, now Lisbon High School, graduating in 1966. He commuted from nearby Durham in what can only be described as the most on-brand ride possible — a converted hearse taxi.
The school also shows up fictionally in 11/22/63 as the place where Jake Epping teaches. Today, the library is dedicated to Stephen and Tabitha King and houses a collection of their work.
Worumbo Mill | Lisbon Falls
Also from 11/22/63, what’s left of Worumbo Mill is near the corner of Lisbon Street and Canal Street on the Androscoggin River. Some claim that the former Kennebec Fruit Company, now known as Frank’s Restaurant & Pub, was the inspiration for Al’s Diner in the book. While you’re here, why not try Maine’s famous Moxie drink and let us know your thoughts!
Dysart’s Truck Stop | Hermon
Dysart’s Restaurant and Truck Stop in Hermon, just outside Bangor, has become a low-key pilgrimage stop for Stephen King fans. King used to eat there regularly, surrounded by idling semis and the steady rumble of engines. It’s widely believed to have inspired his short story Trucks, which later turned into the movie Maximum Overdrive.
Harmony Grove Cemetery | Durham
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stop on the Stephen King road trip in Maine, Harmony Grove Cemetery is a small burial lot in Durham. Salem’s Lot fans will recognize this as where Mike Ryerson unearths Danny Glick.
According to the Durham Maine Historical Society, “King and his childhood friend Chris Chesley, according to Chesley, were once bold enough to spend a night camping out among the stones. The impressions of that night on the future horror author may now be more timeless than the headstones.”
Runaround Pond Leeches | Durham
More Stephen King lore awaits at Runaround Pond near the cemetery. The Royal River Conservation Trust says that King lived on Runaround Pond Road as a child. While some stories say that this is where King and Chesley supposedly saw a dead body, inspiring the novella The Body, better known today as the movie Stand By Me.
What we do know for sure is that Runaround Pond inspired the ice skating tragedy in The Dead Zone. It’s also where King admits a day of swimming led to him being covered in leeches, which was also immortalized in The Body and Stand By Me.
Bachman Textiles | Harmony
About 50 miles from Bangor, in the small town of Harmony, you can see Bachman Textile from the movie Graveyard Shift. Its real name is Bartlett Yarns. This is a real-life business, but tours are available once a year.
It’s also worth noting that Stephen King’s pen name was Richard Bachman, which might have inspired the name change of Bartlett Yarns to Bachman Textiles. However, King has said the alias didn’t come from a local company. “Richard” was borrowed from author Richard Stark, while “Bachman” came from the band Bachman–Turner Overdrive, which was playing when he was trying to come up with a last name.
Deer Brook Trail | Acadia National Park
While Acadia National Park is famous for many hikes, there’s one that falls under the radar for some Stephen King fans. If you remember the rugged scene where Judd and Louis are walking to the Micmac burial ground, Deer Brooke Trail is the spot.
Full disclosure is needed here — the trail has since been revamped, and the tree root and rocky section were replaced by a set of stairs. You still get “beyond the deadfall” Stephen King vibes, but in a much safer walk between Sargent and Penobscot Mountains near Jordan Pond.
Storm of the Century Town | Southwest Harbor
While you’re on Mount Desert Island, it’s worth taking a trip over to Southwest Harbor. It’s where part of the miniseries Storm of the Century was filmed, acting as Little Tall Island. The Bass Harbor Lighthouse makes an appearance in the miniseries as well.
It’s also worth noting that while Southwest Harbor served as the filming location, we also know Little Tall Island was the setting of Dolores Claiborne. It is widely believed that Beals Island is the inspiration for the literary Little Tall Island.
Kezar Lake | Lovell
While some people speculate that Dark Score Lake from Bag of Bones and Gerald’s Game is inspired by Kezar Lake, we do know that King’s family owns several properties on this rather hidden piece of Maine wilderness.
A word of warning: The people who live in Lovell are quick to protect the privacy of the King family, and in that respect, we’re not giving out the exact address of his properties. However, don’t be surprised if you see him frequenting the restaurants and stores around town in the summer.
You might remember in 1999 when King was seriously hurt after being hit by a car; he was walking Route 5 in Lovell at the time of the accident.
Maine State Prison | Thomaston
While the Ohio State Reformatory in Ohio largely gets credit for the prison in the film Shawshank Redemption, it was the Maine State Prison in Thomaston that first inspired King to write Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption in 1982.
The original Maine State Prison opened in 1824 and closed in 2001. The prison was moved to nearby Warren (which we don’t recommend you attempt to visit), but you can walk the Thomaston Green to see the location where the original “Shawshank” once stood. Across the street is the Maine State Prison Showroom, with hundreds of hand-crafted goods made by prisoners.
Augusta House of Pancakes | Augusta
While the novel Thinner was set in Connecticut, the movie was partially shot in Augusta. A scene from the movie was filmed inside Augusta’s House of Pancakes restaurant, and the booth where actor Joe Mantegna sat during production is still pointed out today as a “celebrity booth” for fans.
Food City | Bridgton
Stephen King wrote The Stand and The Dead Zone during his time in Bridgton, but it’s the grocery store that still draws in the fans. Food City was replaced with the name Federal Food Supermarket in The Mist. Don’t expect Food City to look like the store in the 2007 movie; that was filmed in Louisiana.
While you’re in Bridgton, you should know that Bridgton Books is a place King likes to visit when he’s in town. You can also see Renys Department Store, which inspired the name Rennie from Under the Dome. In fact, Bridgton inspired the setting of Chester’s Mill in the same book.
Also, take a walk by the Magic Lantern Theater, where the movie The Shining premiered in 1980.
Ogunquit Beach | Ogunquit
While we could tell you dozens of reasons to visit Ogunquit’s “Beautiful Place by the Sea” location, Stephen King gives us one more. Ogunquit is the hometown of Frannie Goldsmith and Harold Lauder in Stephen King’s The Stand, where early scenes unfold amid the superflu outbreak and where at least one of them returns at the end of the story.
Fair warning: There isn’t a pier in Ogunquit, even though the book describes one. It’s worth the drive to see the pier at Old Orchard Beach, in our opinion!
Avalon Village | Hampden
Avalon Village in Hampden was used as a filming location for Creepshow 2, part of the horror anthology written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero. However, this location is now a retirement community. Maybe that’s a place Stephen King fans can spend their golden years?
Spoiler Alert for Welcome to Derry Fans
As IT: Welcome to Derry inspires a new generation of King fans while satiating long-time readers about the origins of Pennywise, we are a bit bummed to tell you that scenes shot in the series weren’t in Maine. You’d have to go to Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, to get a look at those locations. Even the water tower was CGI’d into the series.
However, we hope we’ve given you some of the other Derry… er… Bangor… locations and beyond to satiate your Stephen King road trip!