Many, many years ago – back when I first started college, in fact – I did a little stalking of my fave horror movie, Scream. I guess you can say that I have been pretty much obsessed with that movie ever since it premiered back in 1996. At the time I was still living in Northern California, and I was absolutely floored when I found out that the entire movie was filmed on location in the towns of Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, just about an hours drive from my house. I absolutely could not believe that one of my favorite movies was shot in such close proximity to where I lived, so of course I dragged my mom and my aunt Lea, who lives in the area, right out to stalk it.
The first stop on our Scream stalking tour was the Healdsburg police station, which stood in for the “Woodsboro” police station where Deputy Dewey worked in the movie. I was quite the little stalker, even back then, so I of course marched right inside the station and asked the officer on duty if Scream had actually been filmed there. He could not have been nicer and even took us on a little mini-tour of some Scream locations. The officer first told us that while Scream had in fact used both the interior and the exterior of the real life Healdsburg police station for filming, shortly after filming was completed, the police station was relocated to a new building. The former police station is now a grocery store/delicatessen called Oakville Grocery and sadly looks very different than it did in Scream.
But the officer also gave us some good news – while the Woodsboro police station no longer looks like it did in Scream, the alleyway where Sidney punches Gail Weathers towards the beginning of the movie is still there and it is still very recognizable from the movie. 
And, in fact, the officer told us that if you watch that scene closely you will notice a crowd of people standing just outside the alleyway (pictured above). The crowd was actually made up of residents of Healdsburg who had come out to watch the filming. Wes Craven decided to keep them in the shot, and simply set up barricades and police tape around them to make them look like gawkers hanging around the police station waiting to hear news about the killings of Casey Becker and her boyfriend.
Another little tid bit of trivia that the officer shared with us was that the scene where the street sweeper drives around the Woodsboro town square at dawn the morning after the murderer first tries to kill Sidney (pictured above) was actually not filmed in the morning, but at dusk. Apparently Wes Craven needed the shot and was not able to get it during the morning of his last day of filming, so he simply shot it at night. I always love hearing little bits of insider information like that! : )
The last Scream location the officer showed us was the Healdsburg town square, which was featured several times in the movie, most prominently in the scene where Sidney and her friends eat lunch after learning about the killings. The town square looks EXACTLY as it did during the filming and even the fountain the group sits on is still there. For some reason, though, the fountain is usually boarded up, but otherwise it looks the same as it did in Scream. I must say that it was very exciting for me to visit the Scream locations in person – especially since visiting them was one of my very first stalking adventures. The town of Healdsburg is an absolutely adorable place, with great restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques. I highly recommend stalking it, even if you aren’t a Scream fan!
On a side note, my aunt told me this morning that Bradley Video, which was also featured in the movie Scream, just announced they are closing down. 
How sad!
Note – the above photographs were taken during two different trips to Healdsburg, which is why I am wearing two different outfits.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Healdsburg town square is located on Healdsburg Avenue, between Plaza Street and Matheson Street. Oakville Grocery (the former police station) is located at 124 Matheson Street, kittycorner from the town square.
