The Geography of Phantasm

The geography of the original Phantasm can be confusing. Heck, the name of Mike and Jody's hometown isn't even mentioned in the film. Thought by some to be Morningside, the town is actually revealed to be called China Grove in the little seen and now out-of-print novelization. Still, knowing the name doesn't help explain where anything is in relation to anything else. The Pearson home? Morningside Mausoleum? Reggie's crash site? In reality, these locations were scattered across the entire state, some more than four hundred miles apart. In fact, sometimes the interiors and exteriors of the same location were miles apart, so reality isn't going to be any help here. Continue reading for one fan's interpretation!

Fortunately, Jesse Miksic at 366 Weird Movies has tried to make sense of it all with a detailed explanation and wonderfully designed "psychogeography" map graphic, which you can see below. Her article takes a look at the house, road, graveyard and mausoleum, examining each locale both as a physical place and as something that might only exist in Mike's head. You can read the full text of her "psychogeography" here.

Click the image to see it larger. All credit to the 366 Weird Movies website.