Calico Ghost Town
In Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts, our dashing (probably more sprinting) old hero enters a burned out husk of a town. He faces monsters and uses his keen wits to get out alive. Well, that’s not exactly what this post is about. Still it’s a short for 99 cents, so give it a look.
A strange thought came to my mind that connected to Ichabod’s adventure. It happened when I took a walk to get groceries and saw that a store had closed up. A big hiring sign was in the Taco Bell next to it. It made me think of all the places that were around here when I was a kid and how many of them are gone. Not saying this place is a ghost town, but there a bunch of closed stores and foreclosed homes. It made me wonder what it would be like to live in a place that is steadily dying. Sadly, this is a reality for many people around the world. The town economically dries up for one reason or another, people leave, and human life fades away from the area.
In fantasy, the abandoned town is a very popular setting. Even as a pause between major locations, it’s fairly common to find these places. Maybe something poisoned the water, monsters overran the townsfolk, mass kidnappings, curses, or any number of reasons for the town being left to rot. Most times these are fantastical reasons, but you do get more realistic explanations. Still, it’s a setting that turns up more often as a side-quest than a major tale in fantasy. The ghost town is probably more popular in Westerns, Science Fiction (ghost space station?), and Horror. I can think of more from those genres that focus on such a place.
It is a fascinating location if you let your mind wander. Unless somebody mentions it, you won’t know what caused the abandonment. So you find yourself wandering through this forgotten place and searching for clues. It really does play at the imagination, which is what you should try to do with characters who find these places. Tension and fear can ooze out of the page when you work with a ghost town. Did the people leave willingly? Is it really abandoned? Will you be able to leave or suffer the same fate as those who never escaped? What made that noise?
Aside from Ichabod Brooks, I have a few ‘ghost town’ situations turning up in The Mercenary Prince, which will come out later this year. Have to edit and release The Merchant of Nevra Coil first. That’s enough book pitching. So, have you ever written anything with a ghost town? Do you have a favorite story with one? Have you ever been to one or stumbled onto an abandoned area?
Legends of Windemere 
Grew up in Nevada, moved to Idaho about 15 years ago. I’ve been to many of them, and they are pretty cool.
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I’m really curious about them. Maybe I’ll check one out some day.
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There is bound to be something around your area. I have something ready for the Idea Mill that includes some New York islands.
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Interesting. Which islands?
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I used Hart Island in The Playground. I don’t remember the other one’s name. I’ll try to get the post out later this week.
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Never heard of it, so I’ll have to look it up at some point.
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Once again, I learned something from you, Charles. In a nonfiction book, I wrote about this town (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania), but I haven’t written anything in my fiction stories about a ghost town. And you are so right. An abandoned area is a good staple of fantasy. When I return to my young adult fantasy series, I’ll have to think about that notion. I love that aspect in Ichabod’s story. Finnikin of the Rock, a young adult fantasy by Melina Marchetta, also touches on that aspect. Sabriel, one of my favorite books by Garth Nix, also deals with towns haunted by the dead.
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I think Sabriel is somewhere in my library. Sounds very familiar.
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Part of the Old Kingdom series. Sabriel is book 1. I’ve probably read that book ten times.
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I’ll hunt for it one day. Library is hard to access at times.
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I don’t think I’ve been in ghost town as in a deserted town of boarded up stores and things, but I have been to Pompeii and Herculaneum. I guess those are really ghost towns!
The town near where I live always seems to have stores and restaurants closing. They keep trying to revitalize the area, but so far it’s not working too well. It’s sad when you see businesses fail.
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I wonder if there is a difference between a ghost town and ruins. Maybe the age if there’s anything at all. I’m seeing the same thing happen in my area and it might be getting worse soon. We have a nearby sports arena that gets used for other events and they’re closing it for renovations. Not sure how long the area can last without that draw.
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I imagine there are ghosts in both sorts of places. 🙂
Closing a sports arena seems like it could have a major impact on your area.
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Yeah. Not looking forward to the ensuing fallout.
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I read and reviewed the book and enjoyed it very much, Charles! Look forward to the next one! I also put it on Goodreads!
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Thanks. I really appreciate it.
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I visited the Calico ghost town as a kid in the southwest.
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How was it?
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It was interesting. It reminded me of old west towns from movies. I was busy wondering what had happened to everyone.
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Maybe a well dried up and they had to leave?
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It was pretty small, which probably makes a town vulnerable to many problems.
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Loved this post. It reminded me when I was back at school learning about the Mayans and the abandoned cities. I always used to try and imagine what kind of scenario would make people abandon their city. Let’s just say that some scenarios were more outlandish than others… 🙂
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I’ve wondered that too. Diseases and invaders were always the mundane ones. Transforming into the local animals due to a curse is a lot more interesting. 🙂
From an earlier comment, I’ve been thinking about ghost towns and ruins. They seem to be two different things for some reason. Maybe ruins begin as ghost towns and get the newer title when the associated culture no longer exists. Or maybe it’s time related.
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I’d never thought of that!
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It’s a fairly new thought that I’m still tinkering with. Makes me curious to know if the cities we live in now will go through the cycles one day.
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Oh, absolutely: https://www.google.com/search?q=new+york+ruins&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:%7Breferrer:source%3F%7D&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI_pGMx_-TxgIVQ7UUCh0JGgCK&biw=1866&bih=1072&dpr=0.9#imgrc=okUv4elwIttHDM%253A%3B0hbZjoYo5KBoEM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimg02.deviantart.net%252Fa1f2%252Fi%252F2010%252F303%252Fe%252Fe%252Ftaipei_ruins_by_jenovah_art-d31tl80.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fjonasdero.deviantart.com%252Fart%252FNew-York-Ruins-190388716%3B1024%3B545
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That’s a lot of ‘%’ in there. I remember a show a while back that was about how Earth would change after humans vanished. Forgot the name of it.
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There’s always a lot of % when you click on the Images tab on Google 🙂
Here’s the bitly version of it:
http://bit.ly/1ejVhFl
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Wonder why that is.
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Google works in mysterious ways… 😀
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And they ‘remove’ anyone who figures those ways out. 🙂
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Some of the most haunting and lovely photos I’ve ever seen are of cities etc. that have been reclaimed by nature.
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I agree. Haunting and lovely are definitely the words that come to mind.
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Ghosts towns rock. They have the allure of fantasy and horror that would let an imagination run wild. I enjoy the mystery behind it all. How did it become a ghost town? What happened to all the people? What started the desertion? Great location for that pause between locations.
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Makes for a really fun mid-story adventure. Sometimes it can even lead to another book once you ask those questions.
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