September’s topic is about abandoned places. Do you have abandoned places near you that itch your curiosity about what happened and why? Does your imagination take over? Are these places haunted? What stories do you imagine?
Not far from where I lived as a child stood an abandoned barn. Well, growing up out in the country, there were many abandoned barns, but this one inspired the imaginations of the local populace Every time my dad, or mom, drove past it, I wondered about the people who once owned it. Perhaps this abandoned barn ghost story was inspired by the local legend of the Witch of Snake Road. (By the way, I copy and pasted the link in only to have it disappear. I had to do it again.)
That vivid imagination hasn’t changed much. In Los Angeles, there aren’t many abandoned places. There are some office buildings with vacant spaces, but the land is too valuable for anything to stay vacant for long, even haunted places.
So, what do I do in lieu of such places? Well, there are many inhabited houses and buildings with a vibe that makes one’s skin crawl. For instance, there is an office building on the way to Costco that, every time we pass it, I shudder. No real reason for it other than I feel like I’m being watched every time I drive by it.
Then there are places like the Culver Hotel, rich in Hollywood history and full of ghost stories. Such places pepper Los Angeles. Anywhere the rich and famous stayed you will find a ghost connected to it. (Roosevelt Hotel supposedly is haunted by both Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift.)
If you want a real creep fest, try the Hollywood sign. Originally Hollywoodland, the sign in its original incarnation, had a reputation for suicide, although only one has ever been documented. (Peg Entwistle ) Many years ago, I read a book that said the reason the city removed “land” from the sign was because woebegone wannabe actors/actresses inspired by Entwistle were throwing themselves off it. (There are thirteen letters in Hollywoodland.)
Perhaps one of these days, I will write a story based on that sign. Plot bunnies are forming already. LOL
Please visit the other Round Robin authors:
Skye Taylor
Helena Fairfax
Connie Vines
Rachael Kosnski
Anne Stenhouse
Judith Copek
A.J. Maguire
Ginger Simpson
Beverley Bateman
Rhobin Courtright
There are inhabited places I pass even here on the backside of nowhere Michigan that make me shudder. I always wonder what gives off this vibe, because some of them aren’t ill kept. They, like your said, just seem to stare back. Abandoned barns intrigue me too. I always think about the animals I could have if I had that barn, but I also know keeping up a barn is a very expensive proposition.
Did you ever see that movie The Entity, Robin? This woman was attacked by this entity for years in a house about a mile away from us. People live there now, but the entity doesn’t. Apparently, it followed her around. Creepy.
After over the 30 years, the dilapidated barn finally disintegrated a few years ago.
A new four-lane highway slices through a once productive field. A Lawn Chair sits in the open, fallow field, prairie grass and thistle hugging legs, arms and back. I zoom by it every day on my way to work. I’ve never seen anyone sitting in that chair, placed just so, facing the mountain view, the setting sun. A farmhouse stands off in the distance, down a lane. But no farmer works the field where the lawn chair sits, abandoned, forgotten? Who placed you in your perfect spot? Do you wait for someone who will never return? Are you a shrine to their memory? Aren’t you needed up at the house? Is your purpose to remind us busy travelers that we should take time to sit, marvel at the sunset, gaze at the beauty of the mountains? I don’t know, but year in and year out, you catch my eye, and spur my imagination. That chair beckons, waits to welcome, offering a place to sit and watch the world go by. By Dorothy A. Bell
That could be the beginning of a story, Dorothy. Who was that person? Why did they disappear? Why did they never return? Questions and more questions. LOL
There is a stone chimney that sits in the middle of a field next to a highway. It’s the remains of a house burnt down long before I was born. It certainly invokes all kinds of stories. 😀
Thanks for stopping by.