FactSentinel

"The Blair Witch Project" is entirely fictional, despite the filmmakers' deliberate efforts to blur the line between reality and fiction. The 1999 horror film was created by directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez as a work of pure fiction, using a found-footage style to create an immersive experience. The Blair Witch legend itself was invented specifically for the movie, with no historical basis in Maryland folklore prior to the film's production.

The confusion stems from an innovative marketing campaign that treated the fictional events as real. The filmmakers created fake documentary footage, missing person posters, and a website presenting the Blair Witch mythology as authentic history. They even listed the actors as "missing" rather than crediting them traditionally. This guerrilla marketing approach was groundbreaking for its time and successfully convinced many viewers that they were watching real recovered footage from a tragic disappearance.

The town of Burkittsville, Maryland, where the film is set, is real, but it has no actual connection to witch legends or the events depicted in the movie. The actors—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard—are alive and have discussed their experiences making the film in numerous interviews. While the movie drew inspiration from various folklore traditions and urban legends, the specific story of the Blair Witch and the three student filmmakers was entirely fabricated for entertainment purposes.