When exploring abandoned places is your passion, you need to be ready for the unexpected to happen at pretty much any moment. Seasoned urban explorers all have their own kind of rituals and safety precautions when they’re on the job. For example, in interviews with urban explorer Seph Lawless, he said that he occasionally carries a gun with him while exploring certain places. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); However, for photographer and urban explorer Freaktography, nothing could have prepared him for what some believe he encountered inside this beautiful abandoned home in Ontario, Canada. Freaktography googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); }); The old stone house, which stood not far from the shores of Lake Michigan, was beginning to collapse in on itself. Freaktography Freaktography Just imagine how beautiful this home must have been before it was abandoned. Freaktography googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’); }); Freaktography Old wallpaper still hangs in some of the rooms. Freaktography A dizzying view of the grand staircase. Freaktography While these pictures make the house look very abandoned, Freaktography was possibly not the only being inside the house on this particular day. Freaktography In addition to the photos, he also took some video. While he doesn’t remember anything weird happening, reviewing the footage later he spotted something weird dart across the camera at about the 1:25 mark. Could this house be haunted? Looks like it. (source Freaktopgraphy) Whoa. Alright, that was freaky as hell. For more photos like these, make sure to follow Freaktography on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/ghost-house/
Urban Explorer Seph Lawless is known for exploring empty, eerie places — and Picher, Oklahoma, is definitely one of the most unsettling. Picher started out as a promising mining town in 1918, but today, it is known as the most toxic city in America. After years of water contamination and sludge buildup, the whole town was evacuated. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); For his latest project, Lawless journeyed to this foreboding town and walked its silent streets. There is nothing safe about being inside Picher’s city limits, but that definitely wasn’t enough to extinguish his curiosity. Abandoned for over a decade, this city once thrived with a booming mining industry in the early 20th century. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); }); During Oklahoma’s expansion in 1913, huge amounts of lead and zinc were found in the area. Being at the center of all this new mining work, a settlement was formed and its population had reached nearly 10,000 people by 1920. Seph Lawless It was named after Oliver Picher, owner of the Picher Lead Company. Seph Lawless It became so successful that at one point, it was producing over $20 billion of ore, quickly making it the most lucrative mining settlement in the state. Seph Lawless Over half of the lead and zinc used by the U.S. military during World War I came from the city. Seph Lawless But everything changed after mining stopped in 1967. Hazardous waste and contaminated water from mine shafts created a toxic environment. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’); }); The situation got so bad that the U.S. government designated it as a Superfund site, which identified it as a candidate for cleanup because of the dangerous risk that was posed to people living there. Seph Lawless Unfortunately, Picher couldn’t be salvaged. Officials evacuated the area in 2009 and classified it as the most toxic city in America. Seph Lawless Residents were forced out of their homes and relocated. They left many of their possessions behind, which turned their houses into chilling time capsules that now commemorate an awful point in Oklahoma’s history. Seph Lawless Lawless noticed when he started exploring that people’s clothes were still hanging in their closets as if they’d only just left. Seph Lawless Because of extensive mining, the ground beneath the explorer’s feet could have given way at any time. Seph Lawless As Lawless walked through the streets, he feared that he would fall to his death. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI2_BTF’); }); Mining also left behind huge piles of siliceous rock and dolomite waste called “chat.” The mounds are so large that they look like mountains surrounding the city. Seph Lawless Approximately 34 percent of children from Picher were found to be suffering from lead poisoning by the time 1996 rolled around. Seph Lawless In the short amount of time that Lawless spent on one of the hills, he reported feeling nauseous and very uneasy. Seph Lawless But despite all of the dangers, the city’s pharmacist, Gary Linderman, refused to leave […]
