Why do malls die? Sometimes it's due to outmoded business models. Other times, it's caused by economic downturn or extreme changes in demographics or fashions. Or grandiose ideas of development that can't possibly be realized. Or bad urban planning. Or even, say some critics, because American culture is, if not dying, then at least evolving dramatically.
Whatever the reason, malls in many parts of America and throughout the world, are being left empty and decaying, and whether they are eventually demolished or left to rot until the last beam falls, abandoned malls are haunting, romantic places that once teemed with retail commerce, family life and teenage intrigue, all happening at once amidst the trappings of popular culture.
With Halloween fast on its way, we're presenting 13 "dead malls," each one of them creepy, spooky, mysterious and/or kooky. Each departed mall's images and story have gone viral. And one of them may have a second chance at life. But there are many, many more ghostly malls that deserve recognition and memorializing, not to mention advocacy for refurbishment, or simply a clandestine visit, if you dare. Have you got a story about a dead mall anywhere in the world that we haven't mentioned here? Send it our way!
