Thursday, October 26, 2017

The Scariest Town Names in America


With Halloween approaching, our thoughts turn to horrible, scary things. I mean, other than the Trump presidency. We fall back on our age-old fears of darkness and the evil things that move in it, seeking to do us harm. We cower in the corners, turn on the lights, and whistle past the graveyards.

For some reason, we have decided to give some of our towns names that evoke fear and terror, and this article from HouseBeautiful.com lists 31* of the scariest town names in the country. I won't list all 31; you can read them for yourself at the linked article, but these few are the ones that most made me wonder what the person who named the town was thinking ...

Gnaw Bone, Indiana. Hungry? Somebody must have been.

Hell, Michigan. Everybody knows this one ... at least once each winter there's a news story about low temperatures here with the headline "Hell Freezes Over."

Dead Woman's Crossing, Oklahoma. I really don't want to know.

Frankenstein, Missouri. Do you suppose that the local high school pep rallies have the students bearing torches and pitchforks?

Slaughter Beach, Delaware. Umm ... I think I'll just keep going to Chincoteague.

Satan's Kingdom, Massachusetts (also one in Connecticut). One wonders why there's a town with a name like this at a time when lots of people are incensed over an imaginary "War on Christmas" ... you'd think they'd have mounted a campaign to rename it something like "Holier Than Thou."

and,

Screamer, Alabama. Contrary to what you may have heard, it was not named for the reaction of many people to the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore.

Any frightening town names near where you live? Leave a comment and help the rest of us get ready for Halloween, bwa-ha-HAAAAA!

Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for the latest collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

* Why 31? Why not 13, which seems like a more appropriate number? Discuss.

5 comments:

  1. Those are scary places. I wonder about Bay Minette, AL. What kind of cat?

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  2. Odd names, maybe to keep outsiders away.

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  3. I did not know there is a Frankenstein, Missouri.

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  4. It's not scary, but I've always liked Why, Arizona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why,_Arizona)

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  5. Dead Woman's Crossing - now that's a conversation-stopper if I ever heard of one!

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