Although this was essentially a low budget independent movie, John Carpenter chose to shoot the movie in anamorphic widescreen Panavision. This decision gave the movie a grander feel for the viewer so this didn't seem like a low budget horror movie.

After a rough cut appeared to be much too short for a theatrical release (about 80 minutes), John Carpenter subsequently added more scenes. Among these was the prologue with the elderly captain telling ghost stories to fascinated children by a campfire.

Adrienne Barbeau patterned her voice after Alison Steele (1937-1995), a female disc jockey from New York City, who was known as "The Nightbird". Steele was the night shift DJ of the radio station WNEW-FM and had her own popular radio show from 1968 to 1979. She entertained listeners with "mellow DJ patter, peppered with poetry and mysticism".

Jazz music was used for Stevie Wayne's radio station because the royalties were more affordable than royalties for rock music.

Actress Adrienne Barbeau and director John Carpenter were married at the time this movie was made and released. He wrote the role of Stevie Wayne for her specifically.

John Carpenter: [names] Characters Nick Castle, Dan O'Bannon, Tommy Wallace are all named after Carpenter's real-life collaborators from his previous movies. Mrs. Kobritz was named after Richard Kobritz, Carpenter's producer on Someone's Watching Me! (1978).