Helmed by Damian McCarthy, ‘Hokum‘ begins with writer Ohm Bauman struggling to finish his epic trilogy, just as the phantoms of his past begin to stir up the present. Desperate for a break, as well as to give his deceased parents a proper closure, he heads out to the woods, wherein lies the Bilberry Woods Hotel. Ohm’s parents stayed here for their honeymoon, and while the hotel has still held up after all those decades, nothing quite seems the same. From the start, Ohm is beckoned into a world of folk horrors and nightmarish twists and turns, all of which fuel his lingering trauma and ever-intensifying self-hatred. Before long, the hotel begins to function as a psychological sponge, feeding Ohm’s worst fears to whatever malevolent force seems to be lurking in the deepest, darkest corners of this isolated space.
The Bilberry Woods Hotel is an Invention Baked in Irish Folk Horror
The Bilberry Woods Hotel of ‘Hokum’ is a fictional setting crafted by writer-director Damian McCarthy for his cinematic world. While the hotel may not have a specific real-life antecedent guiding its creation, McCarthy was largely influenced by Irish folklore, also known as Seanchas. As a native of West Cork, in Ireland, McCarthy has his share of Seanchas and other children’s tales that have played a formative role in developing his storytelling abilities. In a conversation with Script Magazine, he revealed that his fascination with folk narratives stems from the possibility that they might be real. By choosing a setting like Bilberry Woods, the writer-director then gives themselves the opportunity to play with the uncertainties of horror as a genre, by mapping a space meant to be both physical and supernatural.
McCarthy’s personal experiences also play a part in shaping the movie’s setting, as while he may not firmly believe in ghosts or spirits, he has some hotel-centric, spooky experiences to recount. “I saw a cup move once in a hotel, which was quite frightening,” he told Script Magazine, adding that he has “stayed in a few hotels where there was a strange feeling in the room.” It is very possible that some of the haunting images in the movie find their origins in McCarthy’s own brushes with the inexplicable. However, the driving force behind Bilberry Woods being the main stage can be found in the plot of ‘Hokum’ itself. In it, the hotel is depicted as the place where the protagonist’s parents stayed for their honeymoon, and this specific beat appears to be wholly invented for the screen.
Damian McCarthy’s Fictional Creation is Distinct From The Shining’s Iconic Hotel
When it comes to discussing the sub-genre of haunted hotels, one simply cannot look over the classic that is ‘The Shining,’ with The Overlook Hotel effectively setting the benchmark for all the movies to come. While the Bilberry Woods Hotel shares some vague characteristics with its iconic predecessor, be it the isolated, foggy forest or the forbidden corners, Damian McCarthy made sure to make his creation as original as possible. In an issue of SFX Magazine, the writer-director opened up about almost feeling tempted to reference certain scenes from the Stanley Kubrick movie. “It was almost like, ‘We really can’t do anything that was done in that because it’s been done,” McCarthy added, noting how it was uniquely challenging to carve out a unique space within the realm of haunted hotel storytelling.
While McCarthy and his team have not spoken about any real-life hotels or locations that may have inspired the Bilberry Woods Hotel, there are still some loose parallels that stand out. A piece by Folklore in Film theorizes that the fictional hotel might be a nod to the real-life Ballygally Castle Hotel, located at 274 Coast Road, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Formerly known as the Ballygally Castle, the place has been at the center of various folk and rural myths of the supernatural variety, with some anecdotes also mentioning a specific ghost room, not unlike what we see in the case of the Bilberry Woods. However, it should be noted that these comparisons are superficial at best, and McCarthy most likely based his creation on the larger archetype of haunted spaces.
Given the writer-director’s personal familiarity with the West Cork region of Ireland, it makes sense that the fictional Bilberry Woods Hotels is brought to life in the same region. While McCarthy has not confirmed the exact filming details as of writing, it is likely that the sprawling Bantry House, located in the Seafield region of Bantry Bay, helped shape the exteriors of the on-screen inn. The crew also likely relied on West Cork Film Studios, located on Baltimore Road, in Skibbereen’s Coronea Drive, for most of the tricky interior shots, all of which come together to make the Bilberry Woods Hotel feel hauntingly real.
Read More: Hokum Ending Explained: Is the Witch Real? Did Ohm Hallucinate it All?
