I’ve been going back and forth over where I should set the novel I am working on. I’m still in the planning stages — writing out character sketches and scene sketches and charting the, hopefully, rip-roaring roller coaster of a plot that will leave millions and millions of readers turning pages until the wee hours. But the setting is giving me a hard time. It’s poking me in the forehead, it’s ripping off my sheets in the middle of the night, it is rousing me from my other work.
It is by all accounts a glorious little bugger that won’t sit still and hasn’t gelled in any meaningful way.
See, I have a big problem. I have been thinking a lot about place over the past half year (obviously) and how place informs character, and much as I would like to set a novel in Salem, I haven’t found the right real-life locations to make the book gratifying. You know, toothy in the way that real places are, but fascinating enough to inspire some major imaginative leaps (don’t tell me the fault could be my own, I’ve already gone there).
A note about the novel: It’s post-apocalyptic. That’s all I’m saying at this point.
So, a request. I am asking you to tell me about the greatest unsung places in Salem. The best dark alleys, the scariest chambers, the brightest spots, the most mysterious corners. With so many people out hailing Salem — and acting as the city’s PR agents — I’m getting a little bogged down in waves of “Salem’s an undiscovered gem” nonsense. I’m convinced that people won’t think Salem’s interesting until it is shown to be interesting.
I’m going to try to do that.
By the way, get a load of this pic of Salem circa 1900. [Sigh]. Now that’s a city I can see being torn apart by the warring factions of the post-apocalypse!
Emily…did you know there’s a Borders on Lancaster?
Not helpful, man. I can never find anything good in that place. They are always trying to sell me Twilight or Outliers.
Too bad Mahonia Hall or the train depot don’t have underground labyrinths!
The one thing that’s definitely caught my eye in Salem is the Cheetah Club on Silverton just east of Hawthorne. There’s a roving mexican cantina that sets up there daily–there’s sort of permanent picnic set up with overhand in front of the club–and if you time it right you can see entertainers hunched over the tables eating burritos while all the traffic on the highway zips by. No matter how hard I try to see the “charming” in that, the whole thing seems unsavory on so many levels that it makes me feel sorry for the whole world. I have no problem with the entertainment or the food per se, it’s just the coming-together of all of it in that location . . .
The eerily, unnnaturally spaced trees at Bush Park, and the very seldom unlocked greenhouse there, as well.
Mission Mill and Willamette’s Lausanne (residence) hall for all the ghosties and ghoulies.
State Street, and the bizarre range of landmarks that speckle it. “The first University in the West,” a few state agencies, a prison, the Capitol, tattoo shops, gas stations, homes and individuals associated with all of the above.
Salem has no shortage of creepy places. My favorites include:
http://www.salemhistory.net/places/fairview_training_center.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Hospital
http://www.oregonpioneers.com/marion/LeeHistory1.htm
The alleys of downtown, with an odd painting here and a weird insect sculpture there, especially all the door leading into (and out of) the Reed Opera House. don’t forget the Elsinore! when I enter it I feel like I entered a whole different time. The city hall and the weird modern courtyard near the library have always seemed otherworldly to me. I think its all the concrete, abstract art, and their use of multiple rectangles in the design. Libraries are often used in post-apocolyptic stories, so that might be a good twist to add the indoor/outdoor city hall with its may eleveators and stair cases.
Now that someone mentioned Lancaster I can’t help but think Lancaster already looks post-apocalyptic.
These aren’t unsung gems, but they are sites of horror & enduring grief, the real scary chambers, and people who should be remembered in art and in life.
David Maisel – “Library of Dust” -
http://www.amazon.com/Library-Dust-David-Maisel/dp/0811863336
(google warns the Maisel website itself – not amazon – may be infected with malware)
Michael Franke case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Francke
Brown Island Road
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/december182007/eyerly_arrest_121807.php
Great. Reason #5,639,042 while I will never take a job as a pizza delivery girl (though our current one is pretty dang cute).
Oh man! I have a ton more places to scout out now! Thanks so much!
For the record, I always pictured MY next post-apocalyptic story taking place in Iowa City. Those underground tunnels between university buildings are SOOO creepy. Every time I would cross between Burge and Daum I felt that it would be completely plausible for a werewolf or zombie or something-else-that-goes-bump-in-the-night to jump out at me from some poorly-lit corner or hidden passageway.
Here’s something that caught my eye this morning–
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_trees/salem_oregon_tree.html
I’ll have to take the husband past that tree. We’ve already been to the Cottonwood (he wants to give our kids tree names…)
Have you checked out the tunnels that run between state offices downtown? They’re kinda creepy and weird with paintings by inmates (anyway, I believe that’s true. Someone else can probably tell you for sure).
That’s actually one thing that I need: Tunnels. Thanks for that!
Two creepily cool places in Salem:
1. Conference Room A of the old post-office (now the Executive Building) which has a great Depression-era WPA mural preserved in it.
2. Room 201 of Eaton Hall at W.U.
Thanks for the great 1900 picture of Salem with the old City Hall and the old County Courthouse. What a colossal mistake it was to tear down both buildings and replace them with modernist monstrosities. Yes the County Courthouse is a Pietro Belluschi building (big name Oregon architect). But let’s face it, it’s ugly. And City Hall and the Public Library are even worse … 1970′s concrete architecture (I think is is actually called “brutalism”). Salem would be a much better place if we had started preserving our old buildings in the 1960′s and 70′s instead of tearing them down. Corvallis did much better. Their old county courthouse is a jewel.
I find the Willamette River a little creepy.. I never gave it too much thought, only that it is one of the main things going thru town.. and has been there forever. I hardly ever go down by it or even want to . Living in West Salem I go over it …sometime multiple times a day. A few years ago I had the experience of going down the river in the Willamette Queen, that big boat. I realized on that trip how creepy and unattractive the river and river bank really is.
In Salem the river was once regarded as an asset but now, I think not….Maybe in the future it too will be revitalized.
You need to get in touch with Sam Skillern, Executive Director of the Salem Leadership Foundation. I have his contact information at my office, but you could probably google him before I can get it to you.
Sam is a massive Salem history buff, he knows more than you can imagine about salem, it’s past, and how it came to be. So I bet he could give you some great information on locations, and probably help you paint some background in your story.
Do an article on his Salem Leadership Foundation in return.
That’s a nice idea, but Mr. Skillern would have to help me of his own volition. I may blog about Salem, but I’m also a professional journalist. I think my M.A. would fall off the wall if I offered an exchange for coverage (ethical no-no).
(1) For slightly creepy: The tunnel that runs from the capitol to the underground parking near Chemeketa Street. (2) For beauty in an unexpected location: The nature trail that runs along the ridge above Croisan Rd. (below Belcrest Mem’l Cemetary).
Speaking of tunnels, there are many running all underneath downtown. I think the random squares of glass blocks on some of the sidewalks/ alleys were to let light into said tunnels.