Vampire Proms and Ghosts at the View Point Inn

On this date in 1925, the now world-famous View Point Inn opened its doors and offered its guests a spectacular view of the Columbia River Gorge in Corbett, Oregon. Although originally opened as the Palmer House, the inn underwent various name changes with consecutive owners until current owner Geoff Thompson reopened the facility in 2007.

Since its purchase and reopening, staff and guests alike have reported unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Among the wide-range of activity cited (credited to not one but two ghosts) are cigar smoke that appears from nowhere, disembodied footsteps, doors that open and close on their own, drapes that jump off their supports, the sounds of a child giggling, and more. Although its paranormal stories are only now coming to light, the View Point Inn is perhaps more famous for its recent appearance in the 2008 hit vampire film, Twilight. In the film, the inn played host to the famous prom sequence, which appears at the end of the movie. Not missing an opportunity when it lands on their laps, the View Point Inn continues to host Twilight-themed parties and events to this day.

Read more on the View Point Inn.

-Casey H.

The Twilight Movie Location Travel Guide

Tonight at midnight, retailers around the United States are staying open late for an early-morning release of the much-anticipated two-disc DVD set of Twilight. The film hit theaters back in November and became a smash-hit, raking in just under $200 million in domestic box-office receipts alone. The film was based on the first novel of an equally popular series of books from author Stephenie Meyer that involves the relationship between a teenager and a century-old vampire.

The books are set in and around the small, yet very real, city of Forks, Washington (see Forks, Washington), which has seen over a 50% increase in tourism from fans of the series. The popularity and interest in seeing the locations in the book firsthand completely caught the city off-guard, but they have firmly embraced the interest and the fans - With the Chamber of Commerce going so far as to create a driving tour of the various locales (see Forks Chamber of Commerce Twilight Tours).

The filmmakers behind the big screen adaptation of Twilight were interested in filming in the real Forks (and La Push and Port Townsend), but found that the cities were too small to accommodate the cast and crew of a major motion picture production. In addition, the state of Oregon to the south of Washington stepped up to the plate and offered similar settings and a major incentive to lure the production to the state. Filming commenced in northern Oregon (with some filming in southern Washington) and included such Oregon cities as St. Helens, Vernonia, Portland, Oregon City, Carver and more. Needless to say, the locations used in the film have seen a similar growth in tourism to the area.

Filming is already underway on the next entry in the series, New Moon, but the state of Oregon was unable to match the incentives offered in first film and the production has again relocated - this time to Vancouver, British Columbia with a few extra weeks of filming in Italy. However, in anticipation of the DVD's release, we figured we would revisit its time in Oregon and include the list of that actual locations used in the production of Twilight; including both locations seen in the theatrical version, as well as a few that will most likely emerge on the DVD's deleted scenes.

Twilight Film Locations:

• Forks Police Station (Where Bella and Edward discover the death of Charlie's friend)
  
• Forks High Exteriors (In reality, Kalama High School)
  
• Forks High Interiors (In reality, Madison High School)
  
• Petite Jolie (The dress shop)
  
• Courthouse (Seen outside the dress shop and in possible deleted scenes)
  
• Bloated Toad (The restaurant)
  
• Thunderbird and Whale (The bookstore)
  
• The Alley and Parking Lot (Where Edward comes to Bella's rescue)
  
• The View Point Inn (The dance)
  
• The Carver Cafe (Where Charlie and Bella spend time)
  
• First Beach (Where Jacob tells Bella about Edward)
  
• Oxbow Park (Part of the meadow scene)
  
• Stone Cliff Inn (Part of the meadow scene)
  
• The Greenhouses (The school fieldtrip)
  
• The Marina (Where Waylon is attacked)
  
• Industrial Factory (Where the night watchman is attacked)
  
• Multnomah Falls (Seen in the baseball scene and a major deleted scene)
  
• Silver Falls State Park (Scenes in the trees and opening deer sequence)
  

If those are not enough for you, we also offer the individual Washington locations in Forks, La Push, and Port Townsend from the books that are considered the "must-stops" for fans of the series. We are still hard at work and tracking down more locations from the books, as well as starting the preliminary scouting of locations used in the upcoming sequel, New Moon. Stay tuned!

-Casey H.