Downingtown is an actual location and is a borough of Chester County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in the northern central region of the state and was first established in 1718. It was named Downingtown in 1812 and became an incorporated borough on May 12th, 1859. Its total land area is 2.19 square miles and has a population of approximately 7,900 people. The borough was settled in the early 18th century and was named for a Quaker immigrant and businessman named Thomas Downing. A fictionalized version of Downingtown served as the principal setting for the 1958 sci-fi/horror film The Blob.
The Colonial Theater was a standard movie house located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. In hosted regular "Spooky" midnight events. In July of 1958, it showed a screening of the 1952 film Mother Riley Meets the Vampire. The show was attended by Tony Gressette, Mooch Miller and Al, among many others. During the screening, the theater was attacked by a giant blob creature that could absorb and disintegrate victims upon contact. The entity first seeped into the projection booth, killing the projectionist before spilling out in the actual theater. The patrons reacted in a mass panic and ran out through the lobby in droves. Several fleeing movie goers fell, and some may have even been trampled. It was reported that the blob killed anywhere between 40 to 50 people.
The Downingtown Diner was a business located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It was a small structure with limited seating and patterned in the style of an old-fashioned train dining car. The proprietor of the diner was an Italian immigrant named George and a woman named Sally worked there as a waitress. In July of 1958, the town of Downingtown was attacked by a giant alien blob monster. Two individuals named Steve Andrews and Jane Martin, along with Jane's kid brother Danny sought refuge inside the diner. George wanted to escape out the front, but Steve held him back as the blob began covering the outside of the establishment. They retreated into the cellar where Steve discovered that the creature reacted harshly to cold temperatures. Taking up a CO-2 fire extinguisher, Steve was able to drive the blob back enough so that they could escape out the cellar window.
Downingtown High School was a public high school located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. In the 1950s, the principal of the school was a middle-aged man named Henry Martin. In 1958, an alien blob monster began attacking the town of Downingtown. A young man named Steve Andrews discovered that the creature was vulnerable to extreme cold and that CO-2 fire extinguishers could cause it harm. Henry Martin and a group of students went to the school late at night. The doors were locked, so Mister Martin picked up a rock and smashed the glass panes on the door to gain entry. They scooped up every fire extinguisher they could find to drive the creature back.
Jerry's Market was a grocery store supermarket located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Late on an evening in 1958, after the store had been closed, Steve Andrews and Jane Martin found the dog that had been belonged to a deceased old man outside the market. As they scooped up the dog, they noticed that the doors were unlocked. Entering the building, Steve called out to the proprietor, but there was no answer. A gigantic blob monster attacked the building and began seeping in through the front door. The sight of this startled Jane, who dropped the dog, then fell backwards, knocking over a stack of canned items. Steve climbed over one of the grocery shelves, scooped up Jane and hid inside of a meat locker.
