Subscribe to Listverse
I have always been quite fascinated by abandoned buildings and places – there is something sad and eerie about them. Therefore, I decided to put together a list of good images of abandoned buildings that I have found around the net. So, in no special order, here they are:
10. Farm Interior Ashcroft, Colorado, Declan McCullagh Source
9. Mental Hospital Whitby, Ontario, Kevin Lamb Source
8. Log Cabin Okanogan County, Rob Stone Source
7. Commercial Building Bermuda, Charles D. Mercadal Source
6. Mill Southern USA, Tim Bratcher Source
5. Building Luzurne County, PA, Brad Troy Source
4. House Missouri, Ken Dewey Source
3. Mental Hospital Westpark, UK Source
2. Lunatic Asylum Georgia, USA, Asylum Eclectica Source
1. Carnival Pripyat, Ukraine, Mark Nelson Source
A lot of people and a lot of joy and sorrow have passed through these buildings.
Technorati Tags: photos
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:33 am
You’re right, there is something sad and melancholic about all these places… and a bit scary, too, it seems a ghost is about to appear from any of those corners
, but this is a weblog I visit almost daily, which has amazing and interesting articles about almost everything. This section is specially dedicated to abandoned places:
And, I don’t know why, abandoned funfairs or things related to children always make us shudder, more than any other abandoned place.
Once again, I’m sorry to link a spanish page
http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2003/09/abandonos.html
If you search through the page, it has some articles translated to english, hope you like it
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:56 am
Morgaine: great page – thanks for mentioning it.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 am
Yeah these are great for urban spelunking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:32 am
Andre: That looks like a lot of fun!
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:14 am
that doll on the floor in #3…eerie and very sad.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:05 am
Cyn: I agree – it is.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:20 am
You would walk around those buildings expecting to see a ghost around ever corner. Imagine the stories they could tell.
You should see some images of the abandoned houses in a town called Kolmanskop near Luderitz in Namibia.
http://www.camelworld.com/images/PICT1505.JPG
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:25 am
#4 is my fave. Great list, j!
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:27 am
mills: thanks – #4 is quite an attractive house – it just needs a good lick of paint.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:27 am
Wow, those pictures are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
This list reminds me of the pictures from a visit to the Chernobyl radioactive zone. These are some of the most haunting images of life interrupted that I’ve ever seen:
http://www.kiddofspeed.com/
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:48 am
Bonnie: Thanks – image 1 is from Pripyat which is part of the abandoned radioactive zone of Chernobyl.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:48 am
I love this stuff, man if the walls could tell stories.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 am
Joe: yeah – especially the asylums!
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:40 am
This is awesome. One of my hobbies is actually exploring abandoned houses. Here are some pics of a trip I took to Corfu, where I went exploring.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa181/Juggertrout/P1000100.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa181/Juggertrout/P1000126.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa181/Juggertrout/P1000102.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa181/Juggertrout/P1000121.jpg
This was the house of what looked like an entertainer. What really disturbed me was the child’s doll holding a handkerchief of what looked like blood…
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:43 am
JT: they are great photos! The bottle of sauce on the table in the last one makes for a very eerie image – I wonder what made them leave.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:47 am
I like the shot of the Dodgem cars. Very emotional.
The shot of the mental hospital that shows the doll… for some reason I can’t help feeling that’s a “plant”. A prop put there for the shot.
Dunno why… just a gut feeling.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
jfrater: The village was ravaged during World War II, then in the 50s, there was a huge rockslide, and the villagers all decided ‘right, thats enough’ and lft. It’s been untouched since then, and is absolutely beutiful to walk through. Although now they’re demolishing it to make way for luxury villas for billionaire Russians
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
Rob: It could well be, though I thought it seemed real.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:18 am
These abandoned amusement park pictures are some of the most eery I have seen. Sorry the link is japanese.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 am
Bob: those are fantastic photos – thanks for sharing. The mist takes it to a whole new level.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:23 am
I definately think this picture should be on there.
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs12/i/2006/329/e/f/The_Window_by_paperflowers11.jpg
;]
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
Kelsi: that is a really well taken photo – thanks for including it.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
My friend had a little stay at #9 after going a bit squirrely, at least the new version of it.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:16 am
trebek: I would hope they don’t put people in the burnt out bit
October 4th, 2007 at 10:25 am
#4 reminds me of Jenny’s house from Forrest Gump
October 4th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I highly recommend tracking down Ghosts Along The Mississippi. It’s photographs (taken mainly in the ’40’s) of antebellum plantation houses, with accompanying descriptions. Apparently some of the houses were restored, but sadly, many literally crumbled away or were swallowed up by the changing course of the Mississippi River. It’s such a strange feeling to view such incredibly beautiful, yet disintegrating and abandoned, houses.
Also, here’s a fascinating collection of photos of entire Lost Cities.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:53 am
http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/
Get your fill of this wonderful art form here.
Im not sure why but the abandoned institutions are always the most interesting to look at
October 8th, 2007 at 9:56 am
mathilda: thanks for the link – I will put it on my wishlist
And there are some amazing photos on the second link.
Shimmy3003: Thanks – you could get lost for a day on that site!
October 10th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I’m fascinated by old, abandoned buildings too. I always wonder what their story was and how they came to be all alone like that.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Have a proper look around the internet and you’ll find much, much superior pictures than these. I’d say some of my own pictures are better than these (I’ve certainly been to #3 myself) and they pale in comparison with what others have achieved.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Ooh, aren’t hospitals creepy? That’s why they’re in so many horror movies and games. Abandoned mental hospitals even more so; though I can’t help but share RobS’ gut feeing about the doll in #3. One does hear of unscrupulous papparazi carrying such things around to ‘garnish’ accident scenes, etc. There’s something poignant about industrial vehicle dump sites, too. All that rusting metal and perishing rubber…
January 4th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hah! I’ve been to #2! It’s creepy.
January 6th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Yeah… I also find abandoned or old buildings interesting… There’s this air around them that makes you think about them.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I just saw the History channel’s Life After People and it stated that the amusement park from #1 was never even used
Was slated to open four days before the Chernobyl meltdown.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/
this is a really cool site if you like abandoned buildings
January 31st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
The Mental Asylums and the carnival were very eerie, especially the doll on the floor of the asylum.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Cedestra, I saw that program too! The amusement park was probably the saddest thing I saw.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but abandoned-places.com is a good website with some amazing pictures as well.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
It is interesting that I clicked on view a random list and this popped up. I was looking through the January 2008 National Geographic and it has an article about The Emptied Prairie North Dakota ghost towns speak of an irreversible decline. Beautiful pictures there. I found them on the website.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-01/emptied-north-dakota/richards-photography.html
February 9th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
If I could, I would do my apartment in the style of .9 and .3. Makes me shiver, I love it.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:36 am
The carnival looks more spooky than the mental hospital ones!
May 1st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
haha yeah kind of. Sometimes abandoned buildings look like they’re waiting for the people who used to use them to come back, to bring them back to life. they resonate with the memories of the past. It’s sad, spooky and beautiful at the same time.
It’s things like that one doll on the floor of the hospital in picture number 3. *shudder* halloween time! haha.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I just saw Cyn’s comment in 5. +1! heh.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
ooooh…spooky!
May 10th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
What about Cheronybl?
July 1st, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Nice set – I take similar shots
July 1st, 2008 at 8:59 pm
#10 Bonnie I have a neighbor fron Chernobyl. He is very close–mouthed about what happened there. Can’t blame him.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I think that the amusement park picture was used in a user- produced music video for Metallica’s “Sanitarium” on Youtube.
July 16th, 2008 at 4:47 am
hey jamie
Have you ever seen Life After People? a doccie on what happens to the planet of humans left it?
its amazing, how quickly nature reclaims the earth and wipes out all traces of our existence. I mention it, because they visit a town near Chernobyl, 20 years after it was evacuated and its incredible to see what just 20 years can do…
Theres an article on Wikipedia about it:)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_After_People
Of course, you probably already know all this…
July 16th, 2008 at 4:49 am
hey colin – I haven’t seen it but I have heard about it and seen pictures taken from it for BBC news – I would definitely like to see it – thanks for the link
July 16th, 2008 at 4:49 am
meant “the planet after humans (leave/die off)”
July 16th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Pleasure
its awesome, mind altering i’d say, because you end up thinking things you wouldn’t ordinarily think about.
thanks for answering so quickly:)
July 16th, 2008 at 5:11 am
colin, anything that makes me think of something new is a good thing
July 16th, 2008 at 5:17 am
theres another similar doccie, this time by National Geographic – its similar to Life After People, except they include a few other things, and focus a wee bit more on nature than people. Theres a link in the Life After People article for it:)
summin new… how about top ten spoonerisms?
will find some links and send them in a bit…
August 8th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I like the pictures, but I didn’t learn anything here… Well, that’s what I’m at Listverse for! Still, great pictures!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I agree with the doll looking like a plant. My gut said the same thing. I work for the Maryland Stadium Authority and was involved with preserving some of the history from the old Memorial Stadium where the Colts and the Orioles use to play. It was very eerie in some of the deep corridors and very sad to see the great field disintegrate. They did a photo shoot with Johnny Unitas where he walked out onto the field on a strip of perfect grass among the ruins. Very emotional for everyone involved. I have pictures somewhere…
September 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
http://nysasylum.com/bpc/bpcpic.htm
http://www.opacity.us/image2151_dark_asylum.htm
^ all photo galleries of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center; Buffalo, NY. It’s been vacant since the mid 1970s. Here’s the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Richardson_Complex
September 25th, 2008 at 4:57 am
I actually saw a documentary about pic 1. Very creepy..
October 13th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
#1 was creepy im scared now
October 26th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
A second one please? I can send in pics for it.
November 26th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I’ve got thousands of pictures like these from a semi ghost town 3 hours away from my city…
And some of them are creepier.
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
You can actually go to and visit that Dodgems attraction in #1. Just play Call of Duty 4. In the mission “One Shot, One Kill”.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am
http://home.comcast.net/~tecsite/Index/abandon.htm
March 28th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Chernobyl is just awesome. Its amazing what happens to a city after being completely abandoned.
April 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I think number two is actually haunted. One of those ghost shows peeps went there or something.
April 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
There’s a whole island that was abandoned in Japan. Its called Hashima – I saw a few pictures of it a few months back and thought it looked eerily awesome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashima_Island
May 6th, 2009 at 11:37 am
For the people who were wondering about a picture of Chernobyl, Pripyat (#1) was the neighbouring city to Chernobyl, and is known to be a massive ghost town, as it was completely abandoned after the Chernobyl disaster.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Actually, I think the only place never had people (mass people) through was the Chernobyl theme park.
Don’t ask my why I know this
I have too much free time. But the nuclear reaction problem, which wiped out many and lead more to high-tail it before anyone could enjoy the theme park, which was made only days before the reactor problem.
If you look it up, its really a nifty and depressing story. There’s lots of pictures of it on the net, there’s still LOTS of radio-activeness there, I’ve read.
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
umm… is it just me or is the doll in #3 wearing a straitjacket? o_O
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I’m not sure if this will work since it’s a link from my myspace which is private but I’ll give it a try.
This is my sister and me in an abandoned mansion in the old town of Animas Forks in the Silverton-Ouray area in Colorado.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=28026914&albumID=2802059&imageID=62297830
September 30th, 2009 at 8:23 am
i love the lists to do with photo’s! these ones are a great collection.
i too find abandoned buildings eerie places,yet somewhat fascinting. to imagine all the people who have passed thru these buildings is great. i loved photo number 2, beautiful building.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:36 am
How about http://www.opacity.us?
November 5th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
The one in Whitby is now gone.
I live in Whitby ON.