Haunted Regions

[j d worthington]

Prompted in part by some of what I've been reading lately, I thought I'd start a thread on the subject of what might be called "haunted regionalism" in fiction. This, it seems to me, is a very common idea with weird fiction, and may feature fictional locales such as Lovecraft's Arkham, Dunwich, Innsmouth, and Kingsport; Charlie Grant's Oxrun Station; Sarrantonio's Orangefield, etc.; or it may concern the shadowy side of very real places, such as Dickens' London, various portions of Maine in the works of King, or other portions of New England in Jackson or Hawthorne.

What I am curious about is what are some of the favorite such locales of other readers? Do you have a writer who consistently or frequently uses a particular locale, giving it a haunted history? And, if so, which writer/locale? Do you think it works well, or does it falter -- or even fail altogether for some of you? I'd be interested in hearing others thoughts on this one....

 

[dask]

The Deep South. Specifically Alabama in "a subdivision of Barrimore county called Essex." This is where Robert R. McCammon's "He'll Come Knocking At Your Door" takes place. Only been there the one time and would like to visit again should McCammon ever decide to go back. But only vicariously on the printed page, not in person --- NO WAY!

 

[J Riff]

Up north, here... in the deep woods of the mountains...are places where nobody has ever lived. Huge tracts of empty, fungusy forest...I reckon that's where some of them are hiding. A lot of the entities from HPLs world moved up here when it got crowded and too many people started hunting them.
So we have a surplus of elder gods, fungus-beings and others lurking around here and of course no-one suspects, or believes it. I'm trying to write it all up, so that people will understand that is isn't over, they aren't all dead, but strange things keep happening at the strangest times, and- *

 

[Pyan]

Does Jim Butcher's Chicago count? I've always thought he brings out the contrast between the city of millions of unknowing normals, and the dark side that only a few special entities keep from overrunning it.

On a lighter note, the Buffyverse's Sunnydale...

 

[j d worthington]

Up north, here... in the deep woods of the mountains...are places where nobody has ever lived. Huge tracts of empty, fungusy forest...I reckon that's where some of them are hiding. A lot of the entities from HPLs world moved up here when it got crowded and too many people started hunting them.
So we have a surplus of elder gods, fungus-beings and others lurking around here and of course no-one suspects, or believes it. I'm trying to write it all up, so that people will understand that is isn't over, they aren't all dead, but strange things keep happening at the strangest times, and- *

Some good comments there, and it makes me curious about where you're writing about specifically. However, in connection to the thread, I was more asking about literary uses of sites, real or fictional. Which of those has particularly caught your imagination -- or repulsed it?

Does Jim Butcher's Chicago count?

I don't see why not. I've not read Butcher's work, but I'm familiar with it by reputation (and various comments), and from those it would seem applicable.

On a lighter note, the Buffyverse's Sunnydale...

Ummm... not always on a lighter note....

 

[blacknorth]

I picked up a little volume titled The Tell-Tale Lilac Bush & Other West Virginia Ghost Tales, edited by Ruth Ann Musick. A prolific sort of place for strange happenings, my favourite story was Vision in a Field, about a typhoid victim and a long cool drink from a stream - as non-linear a ghost as I've ever read.

 

[J Riff]

North being North of Seattle here, up in Hongcouver specifically. I'm trapped up here and so I wander into the woods when I can get out of town, which is not easy as there are heavy restrictions on everything until one gets into the mountains. It gets dark very early and there are thousands of square miles of empty, wet, fungus forest. Bears, cougars, moose but no people. Anything could be going on in there and nobody would know, or even be able to see it from an aircraft, and there is absolutely no reason for anyone to venture very far in because it is all exactly the same - trees and fungus and nothing else. A lot of BC and Ontario are this way- empty, cold and uninhabitable.
Bigfoot and Ogopogo are scams but there could be something in there... something ancient and evil. It's probably hiding from the Govt.

 

[j d worthington]

North being North of Seattle here, up in Hongcouver specifically. I'm trapped up here and so I wander into the woods when I can get out of town, which is not easy as there are heavy restrictions on everything until one gets into the mountains. It gets dark very early and there are thousands of square miles of empty, wet, fungus forest. Bears, cougars, moose but no people. Anything could be going on in there and nobody would know, or even be able to see it from an aircraft, and there is absolutely no reason for anyone to venture very far in because it is all exactly the same - trees and fungus and nothing else. A lot of BC and Ontario are this way- empty, cold and uninhabitable.
Bigfoot and Ogopogo are scams but there could be something in there... something ancient and evil. It's probably hiding from the Govt.

Again, the comments themselves are quite interesting... but I'm afraid they aren't addressing anything near what the thread is about. This is what I said earlier:

Some good comments there, and it makes me curious about where you're writing about specifically. However, in connection to the thread, I was more asking about literary uses of sites, real or fictional. Which of those has particularly caught your imagination -- or repulsed it?

So... to get back on track... are there any literary "haunted regions" which have particularly caught your attention or which you think are well handled, rounded, etc.? And, if so, which are they, and what draws you to them?

 

[J Riff]

Oh. OK. I am writing about this Northern area, and it connects vaguely to south of here, which is where Mr. Pugmire and others have explored in great detail.
Literary ....geeeee, gotta be the Sargasso Sea. Weed-choked....ancient moldering ships just floating for centuries,,,, Brrrr!

 

[j d worthington]

Thanks. Yes, we've not seen anything mentioned of that, have we? Yet there are quite a few tales centering around it, ghostly and otherwise. (As an example of the latter, the Doc Savage adventure, The Sargasso Ogre, which is a great deal of fun.)

As for the northern region you were referring to... I was wondering if you might also have in mind that portion of the Northwest which serves as the locale for Blackwood's "The Wendigo"....

 

[clovis-man]

This may not be terribly helpful, but the "Faultline" series by Tim Powers focuses on Hollywood/Los Angeles to a large extent and was more enjoyable to me as a result. I could certainly relate to the locale, being a California native. Besides, the concept of Hollywood ghosts is fun.

 

[J Riff]

I read 'The Wendigo' but can't remember detail .... it shrieks like the polar wind from Hell, I know that.
'The Thing' was set in Antarctica. Cut off, isolated places were much scarier in the days before cellphones and satellites.
But the Sargasso Sea was the worst. Weed-creatures crawling on hundred-year old wrecks...
If you look at the side of large mountains... they are absolutely covered with big fir trees, but nobody ever, ever goes up there. And there's hundreds of miles of this kind of terrain.. anything could be living there and never be seen, but it would be very boring and get dark early.\)
Loch Ness Monster at SeaWorld? BigFoot at K-Mart. Not so scary. But a bunch of Willow trees and swirling sand on a remote river bank somewhere in the forties? Scary.

 

[J Riff]

London? ..has a history, besides J the Ripper... I remember wandering about my one visit there, and it were pretty spooky and deserted round some of the Whitechapel neighborhoods.
It's hard to think of a spooky setting anywhere up here in the north... other than the woods.
How about .. boats, ships on the open sea. Dracula had scenes..and I remember a story called The Upper Berth, where this dead sailor-thing kept climbing back on board.
Anything set in Romania or Transylvania is automatically creepy.

 

[dlsevern]

Stephen King's Derry, Maine; Lovecraft's Innsmouth; Rice's New Orleans; Grant's Oxrun Station. That's all I got for now.