Creepiest, bleakest places you've ever been to

[Anonymous]

Eureka, California, I drove through here on a trip up the coast from San Francisco. The Main Street was littered with young, scary looking homeless people.

[Anonymous]

Ooh, give Eureka another chance! We went to a jazz & blues festival there and loved it.

Wonderful architecture, cute cafes, a really nice vibe, and the redwoods and ocean right there.

Granted, I turned down Humboldt State in neighboring Arcata because I was afraid that I'd find hiking in the redwoods too distracting, and would become a slacker hippie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was younger, I remember being scared of the buildings at Sheppard Pratt mental hospital in Towson, MD. They just looked old and creepy. I still live in the area and drove through the campus last week and loved the beautiful architecture. I guess age changes your perspective.

PP, for creepy factor, check out the abandoned Crownsville Hospital in Anne Arundel County. I drive by it frequently. Sometimes, there are vultures lined up on the edges of the buildings. Chills me to the core.

Oh my goodness - yes! There's a fantastic organization called Blue Ribbon Project that operates out there and I've dropped things off for them. TOTALLY creepy. And absolutely haunted.

[Anonymous]

Um, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, uggghhh. A city of 10 million plus people (no one knows for sure) full of impoverished and war-weary people. Crowds of people in the street and it seems like every 20th person is missing a limb or has a terrifying scar, including children. There are no wheelchairs and instead people are using homemade contraptions made of bike parts. Crushing poverty. I've traveled a lot in Africa (mainly for work) and this is the one place that haunts me and I have no desire to ever return to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore in the years between the Freddie Gray riots and the pandemic. Just a constant air of menace and lawlessness at night, even in the parts of the city that were considered safe.

West Baltimore hasn't been safe in a looooooooooong time.

East Baltimore that they cleared for the Biotech park that never happened (at least while I was living there). I imagine that was what it was like living in London after the Blitz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama, Ohio, Mississippi, North Dakoka, Colorado Springs, Cumberland MD, Many parts of Florida.

You obviously don’t understand the post...name a specific town, not an entire state. You look kind of stupid.

You’ve never been black driving through these places.

I'm glad I'm not the only one completely creeped out by Colorado Springs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baltimore in the years between the Freddie Gray riots and the pandemic. Just a constant air of menace and lawlessness at night, even in the parts of the city that were considered safe.

West Baltimore hasn't been safe in a looooooooooong time.

East Baltimore that they cleared for the Biotech park that never happened (at least while I was living there). I imagine that was what it was like living in London after the Blitz.

And generally, I find Baltimore architecturally beautiful and the people warmer than anywhere else I've lived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like bleak and creepy are very different vibes from reading these answers. They sometimes overlap but often not.

I think you're right. I posted about Cumberland and Queenstown, Tas, and to me, those are both creepy places (that also happen to be fairly bleak). But places like Scranton and Sandusky are bleak but not particularly creepy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama, Ohio, Mississippi, North Dakoka, Colorado Springs, Cumberland MD, Many parts of Florida.

You obviously don’t understand the post...name a specific town, not an entire state. You look kind of stupid.

You’ve never been black driving through these places.

I kind of see your point but driving through these entire states while black would be an entirely different topic though.

It’s a valid point though that vast portions of the country are “creepy” or inhospitable for some people. Hard to even adequately wrap your head around as a white person really

[Anonymous]

Bratislava. Such a bizarre feeling there.

[Anonymous]

Twentynine Palms, CA. Creepy desert town.

[Anonymous]

I’m not creeped out by Colorado Springs, but I will say it’s “interesting.”

Saw Utica, NY listed a couple times. I’ve been twice and always enjoyed it. Close to some nice lakes and parks, nice downtown...

While I enjoy Las Vegas, I find it kind of depressing. Ditto for Albuquerque.

[Anonymous]

Walpole Prison, Mass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twentynine Palms, CA. Creepy desert town.

Came here so say this. Twentynine Palms is literally The Hills Have Eyes.

[Anonymous]

Unadilla, NY