‘Jeepers Creepers’ Schoolhouse: A Michigan Halloween Horror In Real Life
*NOTE: Do not enter this schoolhouse. This is considered trespassing, the schoolhouse is no longer safe to enter, and the property owners and locals do not take kindly to people snooping around the site.
I was recently watching a horror movie called Barbarian (2022), a film that features a surprising twist midway through that had me hooked. Not only was the movie set in Detroit, a cool Michigan connection, but it also featured an actor whom I recognized from another movie with a unique Michigan connection.
Justin Long was the main star of Jeepers Creepers, a movie whose story is based on a real-life murder that took place here. The eerie place where the killer was witnessed in the opening minutes of the film is an abandoned old school in Coldwater that is still standing to this day. This school is now infamous and famous, but for all the wrong reasons.
This is the story behind the Jeepers Creepers schoolhouse and the DePue family.
The Murder That Inspired Jeepers Creepers
The story of the 1990 murder of Marilyn Depue by her husband Dennis and its coverage the following year in Unsolved Mysteries is well documented, as the show is credited with leading to the solving of the crime. You can read a full recounting of the murder and its subsequent investigation here. The murder was also recently featured in the Discovery+ series "A Man with a Van".
Comparing the Crime and the Film
But the inspiration for Jeepers Creepers is evident. As shown in the video below, the DePue murder story depicted in the opening scenes of Unsolved Mysteries is very similar to Jeepers Creepers.
The schoolhouse in Coldwater, where Dennis and his van were spotted disposing of Marilyn's body in a bedsheet, is reminiscent of the one the Creeper was spotted using; the van the Creeper drove was the same as Dennis', and how the Creeper disposed of his victims was inspired by Dennis, too.
Dennis reportedly stuffed the bedsheet in a foxhole, like how the Creeper shoved the body in a hole. The only difference was that Jeepers Creepers placed the Creeper's hole near a church, while Dennis only hid the bedsheet at the schoolhouse. Marilynn was tragically found in a ditch.
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The DePue murder also inspired the car chase featured at the beginning, as Dennis' reckless driving endangered the couple who went on to witness Dennis's crime at the schoolhouse. The Jeepers Creepers car scene, featured in the official trailer above, shows a van speeding around them and tailgating the main characters.
While Jeepers Creepers features a physical monster, the story the movie is inspired by features a beast of its own. The schoolhouse is still standing to this day, but it is boarded up, and the property owners don't want anyone visiting the site.
However, that hasn't stopped some daring individuals. Find out what the schoolhouse looks like on the inside.
