Filming at Riverview Mental Institution
When I was in film school, we shot a short film at Riverview and it was everything we thought it would be. Everyone we knew who was working in the local film industry had a story about that place. When we shot there, it was great; creepy as expected and the perfect setting for our short.
When the time came to leave the building, we did a thorough pass at the premise and locked it down; when walking away we looked back and we so someone on the second floor looking down at us. So we went back inside thinking we locked someone in but didn’t found anyone.
Celebrating the Venetian Carnival at Midnight
Venice is an amazing city with which I feel deeply connected. I took a very special person there for Valentine’s Day a few years ago and that is the same time as the carnival happens.
I love walking in the city at night or in the early morning when there are very few tourists; the atmosphere changes and in many ways the sinking city becomes a place out of time where you’re never sure what year you are in and who is hiding behind the masked person you have in front of you or following you. And when the acqua alta kicks in and San Marco is under a couple of feet of water; it truly is something special.
Exploring the Catacombs of Paris
Paris is undoubtedly the most beautiful city in the world; underneath the city of lights, lay an underground metropolis that very few dare to explore.
Studying in Paris, you ought to explore the catacombs and if there’s an entrance in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, it’s when you explore the out of bound paths that the oppressive nature of the city of the dead reveals itself; it’s not uncommon to hear voices or chants. It’s a maddening experience where you’re sharing the space with thousands of ghosts and the deeper you get, the less oxygen is available. I don’t want to elaborate too much but I saw things in these catacombs that led me to believe there are still being used by secret religious cults.
Spending Halloween in the Ring’s Cabin
The American version of The Ring came out when I was in University in Seattle; and the film did take place in Washington state; so my girlfriend at the time and I decided to spend Halloween in the same cabin that is home to the well were Samara is drowned in the movie.
We did have a spooky good time celebrating Halloween by watching scary movies but when we come up in the middle of the night we were freezing cold and the wooden walls were wet as if the whole cabin was drowning. It was quite spooky.
Volunteering in the Lower 9th Ward after Katrina
After Katrina hit New Orleans, I went volunteering there for a few weeks; the place was very nightmarish with bodies still floating around and the desolation being everywhere but especially in the Ninth ward.
One of the most terrifying sights would be the signs left on the door of homes by rescue teams; especially the bottom part letting you know how many dead bodies were recovered and the right side telling you what dangers were present.
Drowning in the Salton Sea’s Desolation
This is the youngest place on this list yet it’s the only one I would call cursed: there is something wrong with this place and anyone who’s been there has felt the hills have eyes and you’re being observed by a malevolent presence.
The Salton Sea looks like our future; a world in which humanity is gone and nature has taken back its place but it’s not a verdant, luxurious, benevolent Earth; it’s a post-apocalyptic landscape what you’d expect from a nuclear holocaust.
