Centralia

The inspiration for the horror video game Silent Hill as well its film adaption, Centralia, Pennsylvania is one very unique abandoned town all because of an underground coal mine fire that started on 27 May 1962 and has been burning ever since. This coal mine fire that may burn for 250 more years started all because the landfill had to be cleaned with burning the rubbish being the chosen method. All excavation attempts were abandoned the high rescue cost and risk of loss of life and eventually the residents had to leave the town that had been inhabited since 1841 as a mining town. How is it the inspiration of a horror game you ask?

The ever present fog in the game was used to save graphical memory on the early consoles it was released on was similar to the smokey air in Centralia. In fact, the intense and foreboding atmosphere drew screen writer John Avery to Centralia when it came to writing the 2006 film adaption of Silent Hill as it resembled the video game so much. Centralia seemed purpose made for a horror movie. Like Centralia, the abandoned town in Silent Hill was abandoned due a coal seam fire, something John Avery added to the film. Since then, Centralia became one of America’s most visited abandoned towns.