Initially conceived by writer Lee Kalcheim as a satirical horror film about a group of hippies preyed upon by a monster in a lake, the screenplay was significantly reworked after director Hancock signed on to the project. Hancock took certain elements from Kalcheim's script, but opted to write a straightforward horror film set at a remote farmhouse. Inspired by the psychological implications of Henry James' novella "The Turn of the Screw" and Robert Wise's film "The Haunting" (1963), Hancock wanted to center the screenplay on a protagonist whose credibility interpreting events could be questioned by the audience so they could use their imagination. Filming of "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" took place in various towns and villages in Connecticut, largely in Middlesex County.