» Creepy!

shit scary photography
One of my hobbies is 'urbexing' - taking photographs in abandoned buildings. These places are usually creepy at the best of times, your mind usually playing tricks on you, or old wodden doors banging in the wind, pigeons fluttering past your face whilst you are trying to take a shot - but the creepiest, most terrifying experiences are as follows:

I was photographing an abandoned RAF base, alone at 7 in the morning.

Having been there about an hour, it was quite peaceful - On the second floor I was taking a shot of a long corridor, when all of a sudden I could smell cigarette smoke. I was not alone anymore, I turned around and saw nothing. Creeping to the stairwell the smell was more intense. I quietly picked up my gear and sneaked out as quickly as I could, the smell got fainter as I left the building.

As I ran toward my car I turned and looked at a window of the building to see an old bloke, in a flatcap - fag in mouth staring at me. I think I broke the speed limit several times on the way home.

The other time was only about 2 weeks ago. This time an abandoned cinema. I had been let by someone I knew, who then locked me inside so I could be on my own and take all the time I needed. I just had to get out via the fire escape when I was done. The cinema had been stripped of the majority of its features, including the soundproofing - which meant it was not only freezing cold, fairly dark but every sound made inside the cinema was amplified and reverberated around the vast space of the cinema screens.

I was setting up some arty shot in the biggest of the screens, which was lit by two fire escapes with doors propped open. when all of a sudden a loud bang, it sounded like it was inside - then the sound of distant footsteps. I stood in a dark corner and waited for 5 or so minutes, breathing shallowly and trying to listen for any other sounds. Then, out of nowhere the sound of a little girl singing and skipping filled the space of the cinema.

I absolutely shit myself. I was literally shaking and could not wait to get out of there. I packed my gear and got the fuck out.

I realised, once I had left that any sound from outside the building traveled up the echoey fire escape and was then amplified in the cinema screen. The little girl was running past the fire escape outside, I saw her do the same thing as I was walking, shamefully to my car.
(Sun 10th Apr 2011, 9:49, More)