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Visited Centralia, The Ghost Town That Inspired Silent Hill

posted 11 years ago by brettjtalley
17 replies | jump to latest

Hey guys. I went up to Centralia, Pennsylvania recently to check out the ghost town that inspired Silent Hill. Like in the games and movie, there was a mine fire underneath the town that forced the residents to abandon it. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are gone, but I took some pictures and put them up on my blog along with more of the story. Wanted to share them here in case anybody was interested.

http://brettjtalley.com/2013/07/10/my-journey-to-centralia-the-america n-ghost-town-that-inspired-the-silent-hill-franchise

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] brettjtalley 11 years ago

Seems like too strange a name for there NOT to be a connection, don't you think?

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] SnakeyJ 11 years ago

In the games there was no mine fire at all, it was completely made up in the movies for the sake of a plot device. Anyway I love the pictures, the place looks so desolate and haunting, there is a kind of beauty about it though.

[–] brettjtalley 11 years ago

Really. Never played the game and just assumed that they had based the movie device off of that. But it turns out you are absolutely right. From Wikipedia:

Silent Hill's screenwriter, Roger Avary, used the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania as an inspiration for the town of Silent Hill; Avary commented that as a boy, his father, who was a mining engineer, used to tell him stories about Centralia, where coal deposits from the local mine caught fire and released toxic gases into the town, as well as creating sinkholes when the abandoned mineshafts and coal seams began to collapse. This forced the town to evacuate forever. Avary was fascinated since childhood by the idea that fires underneath the town would be burning for such a long time.

[–] LaraCroftLegacy 11 years ago

Brettjtalley you alt to play first three silent hill games and silent hill games have great soundtrack

D.H.F.F
Now is the end of days and I am the Reaper:Silent hill

[–] Xcalat3 11 years ago

Nice!

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] summerishere77 11 years ago

Didn't I look at pics you took of Chernobyl and posted on the Chernobyl Diaries board? Those were stunning pics, these are just as awesome. Great job :)

[–] brettjtalley 11 years ago

I like going to abandoned places. :-)

[–] genevaporter 11 years ago

A wonderful blog. The words that captioned the photos were amazing.

[–] MaximumMadness 10 years ago

I went there with a friend last year during a night-trip, and I do have to admit, it was sadly underwhelming due to many things having been torn down and it looking otherwise like any old stretch of road. Although we would like to return during the winter when there is snow on the ground, as we hear there are patches of ground that will steam from the moisture.

And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point?

[–] brettjtalley 10 years ago

Yeah, with everything destroyed, the abandoned highway really is the best part.

[–] psdhart 10 years ago

great blog, brett

[–] tuimjedi 9 years ago

Fantastic man, thanks for sharing!

[–] iori-3 8 years ago

I don't get it, why buildings vanished? Or did the local pick them apart brick by brick? Chernobyl still stands, rusty and moldy.

[–] Strazdas (2328) 5 years ago

Chernobyl is a no-go zone with minimal tourist intervention. Centralia probably has a lot of shit like local kids going there to shoot the shit.