# Which real world locales would you use in sci-fi/fantasy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501 "2014-02-16T23:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/21 "2014-02-18T20:52:35Z")
How about a subset of Death Valley, the [Racetrack Playa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racetrack_Playa): a flat plain with a surface cracked into little tile-like segments, studded with boulders sitting at the end of movement tracks. The name would need some improvement, though–“Lake of the Sailing Stones”, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/22 "2014-02-18T20:54:28Z")
I offer [Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.](http://history.alberta.ca/headsmashedin/) Really. No, REALLY. 🙂 J. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/23 "2014-02-19T16:45:33Z")
The Great Dismal Swamp. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/24 "2014-02-19T19:18:02Z")
I just wrote (and submitted) a fantasy story for children set in the Dead Sea. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/25 "2014-02-21T05:01:35Z")
[The Wave](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+wave&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Rt0GU4frOpPioATkhILoAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1154&bih=966) would be an awesome place to film a science fiction movie. Good luck getting the permits, since they only allow a handful of people to visit each day. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/26 "2014-02-21T05:56:32Z")
Something about the name [Superstition Mountains, AZ](https://www.google.com/search?q=superstition+mountains&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_-kGU_P-OMXp0gHOxYHIBQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1096&bih=788) that seems like there’s some, otherworldly story around it. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/27 "2014-02-21T12:57:20Z")
[Yangykala](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=991&bih=506&q=yangykala&oq=yangykala&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l2.1017.2515.0.2722.9.6.0.3.3.0.67.348.6.6.0....0...1ac.1.35.img..0.9.359.Kr8hT5VD60M)and [Darvaza](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=991&bih=506&q=darvaza&oq=darvaza&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1123.2216.0.2310.7.7.0.0.0.0.78.401.7.7.0....0...1ac.1.35.img..0.7.400.fjUoPfln4u0)in Turkmenistan ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/28 "2014-02-21T13:43:42Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Which real place names conjure up sci-fi vistas or fantasy settings for you? > > My two favourites are: > [Uranium City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_City,_Saskatchewan), Saskatchewan, Canada. > [Blackskull](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackskull), Co Down, Ireland. > > Neither of these towns seem to be especially significant but their names bring to mind a futuristic dystopia and an evil wizard’s lair respectively. Hah! I’ve lived in Uranium City. Dystopia, perhaps. Futuristic? Never. There are something like 25 permanent residents, and most of the place is overgrown. There’s no fire department, so when something burns down the locals just gather to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/29 "2014-02-21T14:25:45Z")
io9 takes on the subject from time to time with articles such as [The Abandoned Spacecraft City of San Zhr](http://io9.com/5017771/the-abandoned-spacecraft-city-of-san-zhr), or if you want to live in Cruise’s house in Oblivion for real, [residences with a sci-fi look](http://io9.com/these-futuristic-houses-will-blow-your-mind-1514776181). That and the [bountiful subject of worldwide ghost towns](http://io9.com/5984277/some-of-the-worlds-spookiest-ghost-towns). ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/30 "2014-02-21T17:15:18Z")
Unlikely candidates would be: Luton, from a Space 1999 episode ‘The Rules of Luton’ Dunwich, an important British port before it was destroyed by coastal erosion, from H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Dunwich Horror’. That was probably before he turned his attentions to making Brown Sauce… (Sorry, no cite). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/31 "2014-02-21T17:24:00Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Unlikely candidates would be: > > Luton, from a Space 1999 episode ‘The Rules of Luton’ > > Dunwich, an important British port before it was destroyed by coastal erosion, from H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Dunwich Horror’. That was probably before he turned his attentions to making Brown Sauce… (Sorry, no cite). ?? Well, except Lovecraft’s Dunwich was in Massachusetts, and didn’t really exist. A number of folks have suggested what’s now called “America’s Stonehenge” 9originally “Mystery Hill”) in North Salem, NH as the inspiration for “THe Devil’s Hop-Yard” in _The Dunwich Horror_, and at least one has gone as far as drawing a map correlating scenes from the story with the site. Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi disagrees, saying Lovecraft hadn’t yet visited Mystery Hill before he wrote the story, but agrees that one of the stone structure complexes in New England – like Gungywamp – may have inspired the story. Properly shot, Mystery Hill/America’s Stonehenge _could_ be visually interesting for a movie. But it’s not really all that impressive, to tell the truth. > **[America's Stonehenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Stonehenge)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}42°50′35″N 71°12′25″W / 42.84306°N 71.20694°W / 42.84306; -71.20694 > America's Stonehenge is a privately owned tourist attraction and archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone st... > **[Gungywamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungywamp)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}41°23′N 72°04′W / 41.39°N 72.06°W / 41.39; -72.06 > Gungywamp /ˈɡʌndʒiwɒmp/ is an archaeological site in Groton, Connecticut, United States, consisting of artifacts dating from 2000-770 BC, a stone circle... ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/32 "2014-02-21T17:44:24Z")
> [@Hallucinex](#): > > [Yangykala](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=991&bih=506&q=yangykala&oq=yangykala&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l2.1017.2515.0.2722.9.6.0.3.3.0.67.348.6.6.0....0...1ac.1.35.img..0.9.359.Kr8hT5VD60M)and [Darvaza](https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=991&bih=506&q=darvaza&oq=darvaza&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1123.2216.0.2310.7.7.0.0.0.0.78.401.7.7.0....0...1ac.1.35.img..0.7.400.fjUoPfln4u0)in Turkmenistan Holy crap ! That crater in Darvaza is insane !!! I have never heard of such a place/thing. Hard to believe no one has included that in a movie yet. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/33 "2014-02-21T17:58:36Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > Holy crap ! That crater in Darvaza is insane !!! I have never heard of such a place/thing. Hard to believe no one has included that in a movie yet. Oh, there’s bigger craters than that. Here’s another good site in Arizona… [Meteor Crater.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mile+crater+arizona&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=YJMHU6LGB6PK0wGW7IDYDA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg&biw=1096&bih=788&dpr=2) It’s about a mile wide. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/34 "2014-02-21T18:09:22Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Oh, there’s bigger craters than that. Here’s another good site in Arizona… [Meteor Crater.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mile+crater+arizona&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=YJMHU6LGB6PK0wGW7IDYDA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg&biw=1096&bih=788&dpr=2) It’s about a mile wide. Yeah, but Meteor Crater hasn’t been _on fire_ for the past forty years. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/35 "2014-02-21T18:38:04Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Oh, there’s bigger craters than that. Here’s another good site in Arizona… [Meteor Crater.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mile+crater+arizona&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=YJMHU6LGB6PK0wGW7IDYDA&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg&biw=1096&bih=788&dpr=2) It’s about a mile wide. I’ve been to the Meteor crater outside Winslow. And though I thoroughly enjoyed/appreciated it, it would have been a LOT more impressive if it was on fire ! ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/36 "2014-02-21T19:58:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > ?? > > Well, except Lovecraft’s Dunwich was in Massachusetts, and didn’t really exist… Well, Luton, the planet in ‘The Rules of Luton’ doesn’t exist either. Unfortunately, Luton in South Bedfordshire does… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/37 "2014-02-21T20:42:34Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Well, Luton, the planet in ‘The Rules of Luton’ doesn’t exist either. > > … Precisely my point. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/38 "2014-02-21T21:46:47Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > It wasn’t until after I watched, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, as an adult that I realised Devil’s Tower, Wyoming was a real place. I completely thought it had been made up just for the movie. I climbed Devil’s Tower in 2012, and when I would tell people about it, they generally fell into two categories: - those too young to have seen the movie so they had never heard of it - those who had seen the movie but was convinced it was “created” (pre-CGI) for the movie (a prop). I was amazed how many people didn’t know it was a real structure. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/39 "2014-02-22T15:15:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Precisely my point. The title of the thread: “Which real world locales would you use in sci-fi/fantasy?” The first line of the thread: “Which real place names conjure up sci-fi vistas or fantasy settings for you?” Shall we call it a draw and blame **An Gadaí**? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501/40 "2014-02-22T15:45:58Z")
[Buzludzha](http://laughingsquid.com/buzludzha-monument-abandoned-saucer-shaped-communist-party-headquarters-on-a-bulgarian-mountaintop/). An abandoned mountaintop Communist Party headquarters in Bulgaria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-real-world-locales-would-you-use-in-sci-fi-fantasy/681501.md?page=3)