Often, it starts with a good idea. Build a luxury resort or formidable prison. Race to a gold-mining boom town or bankroll an amusement park. But then the troubles start, sometimes all at once, with war or a natural disaster, and sometimes more slowly, due to economic decline or changing social forces. And sometimes somebody just does something plain stupid. The result is the haunting locations found in these pages, the abandoned towns, castles, hospitals, mansions, penitentiaries, theme parks, hotels and military bases. They all exist in that haunting dual realm of what once was and what will never be, of dreams dashed and hopes never to be realized. These desolate, forgotten places force us to take stock: to confront personal and institutional failures, poor decision-making, unforeseen complications, sudden catastrophe, slow deterioration and plain bad luck. They are empty yet bursting with memories, the happiest of which somehow leave us feeling the saddest. They force us to look at ourselves.
WORLD’S CREEPIEST ABANDONED PLACES
HAUNTING BEAUTY • These desolate places may have been left to rot, but they have a mysterious allure.
GHOST TOWNS • Bitter reminders of better times hang over these empty homes and businesses.
Does a Curse Befall Visitors Who BREAK THE RULES?
A Town Battered by NUCLEAR DISASTER & NOW WAR
Ruins Stand as a Stark Reminder of the Horrors of WORLD WAR II
A Coal-Mining Island With a BRUTAL PAST
A Medieval Village TEETERS ON A CLIFFTOP
Weapons of World War I Still Plague the DEVASTATED COUNTRYSIDE
Romance and Intrigue Linger in an Ancient PLEASURE PALACE
The ‘Paradise’ That Became a Scene of MASS DEATH
Shifting Sands Invade a Desert MINING TOWN
A Volcano Encases a Caribbean Capital in ASH & LAVA
Everything Is Green in This Village Out of a FAIRY TALE
The Decaying Reminders of a COLONIAL PAST
LOST CITIES • They were part of ancient civilizations, but their place in history has not been forgotten.
DECAYING PALACES • Money once bought them everything except permanence.
The Real Frankenstein Castle Had a REAL MAD SCIENTIST
A Secret Passage Reveals a Dungeon FULL OF BONES
Spirits Cry Out in THE FORTRESS DUNGEON
Crumbling Palace With a Personal Link to KING CHARLES
Get a Bang Out of This Weapons Depot DISGUISED AS A CASTLE
A Mansion Spurned BY A PRINCESS
Looking for a New Home Upgrade? THIS CASTLE NEEDS A KING
Did Ghosts Save This Villa From DESTRUCTION?
Waiting for a DIYer With Disney Princess DREAMS
The Babylonian Showplace Saddam HUSSEIN BUILT
Mystery and Neglect Surround A FRENCH MANSION
The Love Story Behind a WORLD WAR II SACRIFICE
HAUNTED CASTLES • Horrific pasts have left their mark on these historic bastions.
EERIE INSTITUTIONS • Where worshippers prayed and inmates and patients suffered, now only silence remains.
A Massive Midwest Church Now STANDS IN RUINS
Come for the History, STAY FOR THE BEER
Will a Religious Sanctuary Get New Life as AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
A Country Music Star Paid His Dues at This REFORM SCHOOL
A Landmark Wood Building Teeters ON THE BRINK
Alone With Their Thoughts, MANY WENT MAD
Wild West Outlaws Sweated It Out in a NOTORIOUS PRISON
The Brutal Prison Where Fidel Castro Plotted a REVOLUTION
An Old Prison With a Bloody and Ghostly HISTORY
Doin’ Spooky Time ON THE ROCK
The Haunting Remains of HITLER’S HOSPITAL
A Sanatorium for TROUBLED CELEBRITIES
So Much Pain Was Spared BECAUSE OF THIS HOSPITAL
Empty Mental Asylum Inspires a Scary...
