Poltergeist was one of a handful of films that Steven Spielberg conceptualized but didn’t end up directing due to contractual obligations to another film in this case, E.T. Spielberg had written the story idea and drafted out a script with three other writers for a horror film that combined his love of suburban Americana with a supernatural horror. Spielberg was still a producer on the film and settled on horror master Tobe Hooper, famous for his film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to direct. While Spielberg’s original concept was more science fiction, Hooper’s influence steered the film towards being a ghost story.