Horror at the Peninsula Drive In

The image flickers on the screen as you sit in the relative safety of your vehicle. Then it happens...a blood-curdling scream shrieks through the little silver box attached to your window. You cover your eyes and peak through your fingers. That's the price your pay for viewing horror movies like "The Fun House" at the drive-in theater. 

The Peninsula Drive-In was located at 301 Peninsula Drive, where the Tom Ridge Environmental sits today. Shows started at dusk, and there was usually a double or triple feature. Sometimes the early show was aimed at a young audience (think Herbie the Love Bug), and other times the movies were strictly for a mature audience. 

There was generally a long line of cars waiting to get in to the Peninsula Drive-in, which opened around 8 p.m. Cars would snake their way along the gravel covered lanes, which made a distinctive sound when you drove over them. The lot wasn't flat; it was quite a bumpy ride over the humps in the road. Station wagons would bottom out if there was a pothole in the lot. 

Enjoy more historical facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie