You r so sensitive.. I am, I'm a machine..
In researching the different elements of Silent Hill, screenwriter Roger Avary (Killing Zoe, The Rules of Attraction) came across the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania (it's interesting that LA moviemakers look to the deep Midwest when they're looking for something "strange" or "different"). Centralia planted the seed for what developed into the cinematic version of the town of Silent Hill.
As recently as 1981, there were over 1,000 residents living in Centralia, although the population has now dwindled to 11 (we'll say that again: 11 people) as a result of a 40-year mine fire burning beneath the borough (we'll say that again: it's been burning for 40 years... underneath the town). This is certainly not unlike Silent Hill, which was left deserted since devastating coal fires ravaged the town and its people.
The inferno started when a trash fire was lit in an abandoned mine pit in Centralia in 1962. The fire ignited an exposed vein of coal and spread throughout the mines beneath the borough. Several attempts have been made and millions of dollars have been spent unsuccessfully to extinguish this fire that still burns today.
The "problem" wasn't really acknowledged until a series of accidents in the '70s and '80s, including the appearances of sinkholes hundreds of feet deep. In 1984, Congress allocated more than $40 million for relocation efforts, and most residents moved to nearby Mount Carmel and Ashland.
However, a very few families opted to stay, and they're still there, despite the fact that the state of Pennsylvania has condemned all the buildings in the borough and the US Postal Service has revoked its zip code of 17927. The 11 holdouts include the town's 89-year-old mayor, Lamar Mervine, who refuses to leave because "I like it here."
You can find more information on Centralia, Pennsylvania here. Or perhaps one day you will heed its call and find yourself exploring its deserted streets...
Disclaimer : someone blog about it. I thot I would share since its so interesting. Yea I know I copied it but he owes me! Alot more than this. I have the right to take his stuffs >.<I wanna go to the Singapore Arts Museum. Take me there please...