Silent Hill film inspired by Centralia, PA

by Christopher Grant { Apr 12th 2006 at 9:27PM }

In 1962 a trash fire accidentally ignited an exposed coal vein in the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. Over forty years later, the mines underneath the town are still on fire -- and will continue to be for at least another 100 years. The population has been reduced from over a thousand down to just eleven! Smoke and steam continue to pour out of the ground.

Sounds like a pretty creepy place? Silent Hill screenwriter (and gaming geek) Roger Avary agrees! He apparently researched Centralia while writing the screenplay; Silent Hill, in the film adaptation, is a West Virginia coal town with the trademark fog/smoke. For more images of Centralia, check out this site.

[Via Rotten Tomatoes]

Tags: Centralia, Movie, Movies, Silent HIll, SilentHill

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

had2comment @ Apr 12th 2006 9:54PM

I just went through a whole bunch of pictures at the linked site. Holy crap. That is seriously freaky stuff. I also feel bad for the people who refused to leave. :-(

Reminds me of The Hills Have Eyes.

eric @ Apr 12th 2006 9:59PM

I go through Centralia all the time. It really isn't that creepy or weird- it just smells of sulfur everywhere and all the plants are dead.

Fun fact: the Silent Hill movie used the codename "Centralia" for a while. Can you say plot point?

Jonn @ Apr 12th 2006 10:12PM

Anyone ever read Edward Bloor's "Tangerine"? Something like this was a minor background point.

Sabre @ Apr 12th 2006 10:22PM

I wonder if these people are waiting around until 2016 to open up the vault..if thats the case then (no offense) but these people are stupid.

Just open up the damn thing and move out of the town.

GamersGraveyard @ Apr 12th 2006 10:23PM

You know, Silent Hill is easily the best horror series in my opinion and Im freaking out from this, I live close to Centralia and my Aunt and Uncle lived there, hell they were one of the people that held out for more cash. Who would have known that the house that I remember playing in as a kid is part of the inspiration for the Silent Hill movie.

DigitalFirefly @ Apr 12th 2006 10:23PM

Wow, that's a few miles south of where I went to college.

Andrew @ Apr 12th 2006 11:10PM

I'm not denying the existance of Centralia, or the existance of a 150 year mine fire. What I will say is the second to last image on the website linked...is a really bad photoshop job

Eric @ Apr 13th 2006 12:46AM

People stayed?! (sigh) Idiotic...Clearly, only a small town, country po-dunk, GED education, thought process would tell someone that it is a Government conspiracy to steal their coal and thats why they should stay..."cuz duh gub'mint wants mah coal!" They don't seem to understand that if the fire never goes out, "their" coal will all be burned away.

Seriously, they are going to wish they took the money when their worthless shacks in their precious ghost town burns to the ground, or sinks into it.

The ZeroCorpse @ Apr 13th 2006 4:57AM

There's one of these underground mine fires in Michigan, though the mine fire is not as bad (now) it was enough to turn the place into a ghost town. Now, it's hard to find it, as the surrounding area is overgrown and the old 19th-century buildings have been pretty much destroyed.

I *was* writing a horror story about it, but I guess Silent Hill (the movie) will pretty much ruin any chance of it being published, as everyone will see it as a rip-off.

Man, that sucks.

WizarDru @ Apr 13th 2006 9:23AM

Like eric says, Centralia isn't creepy or scary at all. It also doesn't have a thick blanket of fog/smoke. There is some coming up out of the ground at points, but it's more of a 'that's odd' sort of thing. I remember when they had to reroute the main road around the town, since the old one was starting to MELT.

The people there aren't STUPID, they're STUBBORN. They don't want to be ordered out of the houses they've lived in for forty years or more. It's a Coal Region thing. They're also not exactly wealthy, either. They're not destitute, but the average family income is between $16-20K, which isn't that unusual for a small coal-cracker town that no longer has mining to fall back on. They're not waiting for 'their coal'....it was never THEIR coal to begin with. Active mining operations had stopped decades ago, and what few remain in operation are big conglomerates who didn't employ anyone in the town, anyways.

jeffx @ Apr 13th 2006 9:40AM

this is an awesome news post, very interesting thanks! My dad goes around the globe for his geocaching quests (he's a modern day adventurer) and I'll make sure to tell him to plant a cache or two in Centralia in honor of Silent Hill, the movie!

Rappateng @ Apr 13th 2006 10:10AM

Hey guys, I've been to Centralia before. It's definately an eeire sight. If you want to check out my photo gallery of it - click http://www.pbase.com/rappateng/centralia

Enjoy

JM @ Apr 13th 2006 1:20PM

I grew up near Centralia. To the people saying there is no smoke/fog coming up out of the ground, I definitely have seen it at times, so maybe it depends on surface conditions? Also, the ground is VERY hot, to the point that snow doesn't accumulate on it and as someone else said, they had to move the higway going through it because it was starting to melt. The town is still very creepy though since a few of the houses and buildings are still standing, and on some of them you can see where the foundation has shifted/sunk.

WizarDru @ Apr 13th 2006 1:33PM

JM, I didn't mean to imply that there wasn't ANY steam/fog...just that it's not Silent Hill-esque banks of the stuff. Rappateng's pictures are pretty much spot on. The snow DOES accumulate...but not on the hotspots. The trouble is that the vein runs pretty deep, and all attempts to extinguish it have failed. No one knows exactly how long it will burn, but it will be a long, LONG time.

We often pass through Centralia on our way to Knoebel's, and if it's eerie, it's because you have these huge swaths of land that are empty, except for a single house in the middle of an otherwise barren field. It's not a big, deserted town full of fog. The "town" is now 9 houses and a two municipal buildings, with fewer people each year, as the oldest residents (some in their late 70s/early 80s) pass on.

Shannon @ Apr 16th 2006 11:56AM

I wrote a song about Centralia from the point of view of one of the people who stayed in the town--I don't think they're stupid! Anyone who's interested in my interpretation of their point of view should check out my song, "Centralia" on www.myspace.com/shannonkealey

JW @ Apr 21st 2006 10:53PM

I saw Silent Hill tonight and had to chuckle at the obvious reference to Centralia, so much so that the friend that went with me (who's from California) asked if it really existed. Andrew, just to be clear, the fire's only been going since 1962 (not 150 yrs) and there are enough folks from Columbia and Northumberland Counties, PA that can attest to having driven to Knoebels, or been on their way to Pottsville, or to Reading and Philly that have had to travel through here. And yes, it gets increasingly more desolate as the years have gone on, though there are some that were born there, lived there and will die there, never having left.

Ch0023r @ Apr 22nd 2006 1:22AM

Centralia, not to far from where I live. I live in Mahanoy City PA, Beyond here is Ashland, then Centralia. I've been there. There is a population of 11...I'm just as puzzled as you are people, I've lived around this region for the longest time, and still can't undestand why they are staying in that wasteland. Anyway, it looks and feels like the movie, sadly, no monsters though. After seeing the movie, I'm thinking about going there to check it out again, just for kicks.

RushManZero @ Apr 22nd 2006 12:20PM

I was born in Pennsylvania,I've never heard about this place before. Well I grew up in Colorado, i'm 19 and silent hill has always been a favorite series of mine. I just happen to run across all this stuff while searching to see if there was such a place... (Silent Hill) It's kind of cool that there is a place with a similar story and background as the movie. Centralia Pennsylvania, that's gotta be an freaky place at night. It just looks abandoned and small in day, but I wonder about the night. There are no pics of it in the night wich sucks. Maybe I'll visit it one day... Most likely not.

amanda @ Apr 22nd 2006 12:22PM

my great grandmother used to live in centralia before the coal fire started. my mother and her sibs used to play in the coal fields up there before it started too. i still have a few relatives that live up there on the other side of centralia in catawisa. we drive threw when we go to visit and i have family in the cemetery in centralia. its really not to scary a place, its fun to wander and it looks awesome after a good rain when the steam rises quick. you gotta be very careful though, the ground is fragile and you could easily fall in a sink hole, that wouldnt be to pretty. wanna hear something creepy? my great grandfather always wanted to be cremated, but they just buried him. well the fire has since moved beneath the graveyard in centralia, so in the end, he got his wish XD. when i saw silent hill yesturday, all i could think about is "these people are in centralia" guess i was right XD
~amanda

Katie @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:55AM

That shows how much YOU know ERIC. Photoshop wasn't needed and coal in the minefire doesn't BURN. Coal needs oxygen to burn and there isn't enough underground for a coal fire to get started and continue to burn.

Why did people who lived there stay? Two reasons: Money and Nostalgia.

1. Oftentimes, The longer it took a family to accept the government's offer, the bigger it was.

People will wait a long time for money, but they will go to the grave for something they believe in. We live in the greatest and most powerful country in the world. The bureaucrats in Washington couln't find a way to put out a fire?

2. The community didn't want to be paid. They wanted a solution, so they wouldn't have to leave their homes.
How do you move an entire community? Hometowns all across the world allow people to have a starting point, a history. History helps people relate and form a community. The U.S government descimated the town of Centralia, silently and everyone is to blame, for being silent (Silent Hill).