Abandoned amusement parks are eerie. But an abandoned park filled with fiberglass dinosaurs? Eerie as shit. In Irish Hills, Michigan, you can find one such saurian-filled ghost-town: The Prehistoric Forest. It's like Jurassic Park, but the T-Rex eats your soul.
The Prehistoric Forest reportedly opened in 1963 and closed in 1999. At one point, this eight-acre property had a waterfall, a smoking volcano, and a waterslide. Now it just has dilapidated dinosaurs by sculptor James Q. Sidwell, fences and motion sensors (to keep out vandals), and the ghostly laughter of unborn dinosaur babies lurking around every corner. This is definitely one of those places that's more unsettling in the daytime.
From the somewhat outdated information I've seen around the web, I'm guessing The Prehistoric Forest is still for sale. If I were an eccentric billionaire, I'd purchase the place, buy even more decaying dinosaurs, and just let nature run its course. Then I'd rent it to the producers of Syfy's Saturday night creature features and make a killing.
UPDATE 4/27/10: Good news everyone! For a cool $548,000, this Cenozoic creepshow could be yours! Invest now! Thanks to colormist for the tip!
[Via Quasi Interesting Paraphernalia Inc., Agilitynut, Vince Verna, and ErikaDotNet's Flickr]
[via Vince Verna]
[via Vince Verna]