"Halloween", "The Fog", "Christine" and "The Thing"--It's essential horror movie viewing for this time of year, and they're all from the mind of Bowling Green native, John Carpenter.

Now, the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is letting film fans appreciate one of the great horror directors of all time, in a whole new way.

It's late October. Leaves are changing, pumpkins are perched on front porches, and it's time for that annual viewing of John Carpenter's “Halloween”.

But this year, you can do more than watch it, you can pick up a tour brochure that takes you to the places that inspired Carpenter's films.

"Well, of course, in 'Halloween', Michael Myers escapes from the Bowling Green Warren County Sanitarium. There's also the movie, 'The Fog', where someone asks for a sweep to be done on 10th and Chestnut," explained Marissa Butler, with the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It's an exciting tour for Howard Carpenter, John's father, who still lives in Bowling Green.

He says John's love of film developed here in town, though he doesn't know where his son's love of all things scary actually came from.

"I'm not sure, maybe he got that from his mother," says Howard.

Or maybe he picked up a few tips on suspense at Tour Stop #12.

It was at the Capitol Arts Center that John Carpenter saw some of his favorite films. These films inspired him to direct some of the scariest movies ever made.

But no matter what made John Carpenter a modern master of suspense, it was at Tour Stop #9, John's childhood home, that his filmmaking genius developed.

Seeing these sights is a special opportunity for horror buffs, young and old. And, just like Michael Myers, the tour will be back, every Halloween.

"We expect this to be, for years to come, a strong attraction that we can push," Butler explained.

Brochures for the John Carpenter Driving Tour can be picked up at the Visitor's Bureau on Three Springs Road or at the National Corvette Museum.