History Main / AbandonedArea

Abandoned places make good settings for fiction because the empty, unused space evokes an unnerving feeling in the viewer and a sense of mystery. There are many types of abandoned places, and they may have been left five years ago or five centuries ago. Or even five minutes ago, so that the coffee cups are still warm. Was the place shuttered in a systematic way, or are there signs that everyone cleared out in a hurry?

Abandoned areas can be considered an example of a small scale AfterTheEnd scenario, especially if the area in question is trashed and buildings are in ruins. Depending on the state of the location, it may give a justified example of NoOSHACompliance, because, really, would you be bothered with health and safety in buildings you've abandoned?

The AbandonedWarehouse is a popular setting for crime drama, as robbers can plan their crime and store items that FellOffTheBackOfATruck there. Warehouses are also a location used in science fiction, as rows of crates are an inexpensive set dressing, plus they give lots of places for aliens to hide. The abandoned location's emptiness may be a surprise to the characters if it's a mystery story or detective story, in which case they set about looking for clues.

* ''Literature/GarfieldAndTheTeacherCreature'': After running away from home, Garfield and Odie find themselves in a neighbourhood nobody's lived in for years. All the signs are faded, and the grass is overgrown.

* More than a dozen UsefulNotes/NewYorkCitySubway stations and portions of existing stations were closed down for several reasons, including an unwillingness to maintain the station, low patronage, and track alterations that rendered portions of a line unusable. Urban planners state that the city-owned Independent Subway System was built with redundant exits and mezzanines, though some of them were built for future expansions that never came to light. Many of the old elevateds were removed because a nearby subway line essentially duplicated their route and/or were seen as blighted. While discussion remains strong to this day for the subway's expansion, they are largely ignored due to funding problems or political bickering.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Darkwood}}'' a forest in Poland has grown out of control due to a [[ThePlague supernatural plague]] that made trees grow and spread fast, so when combined with the plague mutated wildlife becoming violent the situation led to the Polish military forcing people in nearby towns to abandon the area. This has led to many derelict towns becoming part of the forest with the green taking over several buildings; only one populated town remains and it’s cut off from the rest of the world, soon to join the fate of the other towns.

** "Discovery Island", a small inlet just across the river from the Magic Kingdom, opened in 1974 and housed a wide selection of exotic animals and birds. When the animals were moved to Animal Kingdom in 1999, the island was shuttered and sits abandoned and overgrown with various plant species. It has also been [[http://shaneperez.blogspot.ca/2009/12/discovery-island.html rumored]] that the park was closed because the water around the island was contaminated with ''brain-eating amoeba''.

** One of the most extreme versions of this is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_China_Mall New South China Mall]]. It's one of the largest malls in the entire world, with 2300 store spaces and amusement park-like attractions such as a roller coaster and a replica of UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}...yet fewer than 20 store spaces are in use and patronage is abysmal to the point where photos of it give the impression that the mall is closed for good.

* In ''VideoGame/FableII'' you travel through Wraithmarsh which was once a pleasant little village before everybody was killed so one villager could become immortal. The surrounding marsh has recovered much of the village and it's populated by all manner of foul things. It also has many other examples like the heroes guild, the temple of Light/Shadows, and the forsaken fortress.

* The {{creepypasta}} ''WebOriginal/AbandonedByDisney'' documents an exploration of a fictional Disney resort known as ''Mowgli's Palace'' (inspired by the real-life abandoned ''Treasure Island'' Bahamas resort, see real-life section below), with the CruelTwistEnding of the park being haunted.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Bronwyn is shocked to find Hordern, her place of birth, completely destroyed with both humans and animals completely missing simply because of what looks to be a ground sake. Turns our Hordern was attacked by Orcs.

** And in the sequel, the penguin's home base is the abandoned Gotham City Zoo.

* Frederik Pohl's novel ''Literature/{{Gateway}}'' was about, obviously, Gateway, an abandoned alien space port.

* The Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel ''Literature/IWillFearNoEvil'' portrays the future United States as being filled with "AA's," i.e. Abandoned Areas, which are [[TheCityNarrows lawless no-man's lands]] that one doesn't travel through except in an armored vehicle.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania Centralia, Pennsylvania]], evacuated due to a massive underground coal fire, which has been described as "the real-life ''Franchise/SilentHill''".

'''Kathy Nightingale:''' What's good about feeling sad?\\
'''Sally:''' It's like happy for deep people.

** The Cabbie Killer from late in Season 4 lives in an abandoned firehouse and "works" in an abandoned brewery.

** "Death House" centers around a penthouse that has been unoccupied for 80+ years. As the investigators puzzle through various booby traps, they find two corpses (one recent, one from back in the day) and rescue an almost drowned woman.
** One perp takes a hostage to a now-abandoned hospital where his mother, a nurse, used to take him to work with her when she couldn't find a sitter.

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]]

* Since 2014, the town of Picher, Oklahoma has been officially classified as an abandoned town. Due to a half-century's worth of devastating natural incidents (including, but not limited to, mine cave-ins, toxic contaminants that were kept in piles next to public spaces, groundwater contamination, a massive spike in negative health effects, possible permanent damage due to long-term lead inhalation, and ''a tornado''), the city underwent a forced evacuation in 2006, with most of the remaining residents fleeing after said tornado touched down in 2008. The last surviving resident (and town pharmacist), Gary Linderman, passed away in 2015, and the site has been officially earmarked for future cleanup by the Environmental Protection Association. As it currently stands, though, Picher is uninhabitable and many of its buildings are left in serious disrepair.

* ''Film/Batman'': Gotham City Cathedral in the climax is clearly abandoned, the building's decrepit state factors heavily in the climax, with crumbling parts of the structure causing several people to fall.