He is a big fan of The Beach Boys.

Considers it bad luck to wear the hat of the show he's working on. Will not wear a crew cap until the film is over.

Is a fan of the Quartermass movies (The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass and the Pit (1967)), wrote Prince of Darkness (1987) under the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass, and the village in In the Mouth of Madness (1995) is named after a rail station in "Quatermass and the Pit".

Turned down the chance to direct Top Gun (1986).

With the exception of Escape from L.A. (1996), he has rarely made a sequel to any of his films.

Praised longtime friend and frequent collaborator Kurt Russell for being a hard-working, professional actor who isn't afraid to take on roles that might hurt his image or make him look like a fool.

Was offered the chance to direct "Armed and Dangerous" (1986) but turned it down. Job went to Mark L. Lester who also directed "Firestarter" (1984) which was offered to Carpenter.

Turned down the chance to direct Fatal Attraction (1987).

Was given the chance to direct The Mutant Chronicles (2008).

He has a son named Cody (b. 1984) with Adrienne Barbeau.

Is a major NBA fan and has a satellite dish installed on his location trailer to keep up with the games. Always has a portable basketball hoop on location.

Biography in the following: John Wakeman, editor. World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985. pp. 184-189. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

Was offered a chance to direct the Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child (1986), but turned it down.

Carpenter's character Snake Plissken (of Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996)) is about to become a comic book. Published by theCrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as "John Carpenter's The Snake Plissken Chronicles". It is set for publication beginning in 2003.

Is a great fan of Sergio Leone and cast Lee Van Cleef in Escape from New York (1981) because of his work with Leone.

Appears in his own films under the name Rip Haight, appearing in in The Fog (1980), Starman (1984), Body Bags (1993) (TV), and Village of the Damned (1995).

Is an avid fan of the Godzilla films. He considers the first Godzilla movie (Gojira) to be an inspiration for him.

Favorite meal of the day is breakfast - any time of day.

In the movie Change of Habit (1969) Elvis Presley plays a character named John Carpenter. In 1979 Carpenter directed the TV movie Elvis (1979/I) (TV) starring his good friend Kurt Russell.

Said in a 1982 interview that he thought the R rating for Halloween (1978) was justifiable, but The Fog (1980) should've been rated PG.

Loves Elvis Presley and old Cadillacs.

Is a big fan of Howard Hawks.

Was originally supposed to direct Firestarter (1984), and even had a screenplay written by Bill Lancaster. Both were replaced when The Thing (1982), a film on which they both collaborated, did poorly at the box office.