💠 asher & dolly walsh
no one grew up in peculiar without hearing the old wive's tale about the 8 year old twins called asher and dolly walsh. the urban legend dates back to 1860 and tells the tale of both asher and dolly's disappearance. it is said that the children complained to their parents, abraham and sarah, that they were being visited by the boogeyman every sunday night. the fear they expressed grew as each sunday passed for six months straight. no action to investigate was taken by the walsh family and they dismissed asher and dolly's claims due to their age. on the final sunday they were to be seen, a loud crash sounded from their bedroom in the middle of the night. before abraham and sarah could intervene, asher and dolly were missing from their beds and never heard from or seen again. the walsh family in this story is said to be the same as the walsh family living in peculiar today. the walsh's claim they have never been able to confirm asher or dolly's existence, only abraham and sarah's. the historical society is always looking for concrete information on asher and dolly. some in peculiar believe that the walsh family is hiding the truth of the tale behind stored family documents they are unwilling to share. others believe the story grew as a concocted urban legend to caution adults in peculiar from dismissing what children are trying to tell them.

⚡ the bear tree
in the middle of the section of peculiar forest that lies in phantom point is the largest tree in the state. a very old douglas fir standing at 412 feet tall. the tree comes alongside a myth about a man named bear alderburg, one of the town's founders. in 1863 he was found dead at the foot of the tree, missing his feet and hands. in 1962, the then town mayor, thomas berry vowed to remove the tree from the forest, claiming its superstition led to the town's bad reputation. in a political show, he struck the tree with an ax four times. he then declared the tree would come down within the week. twenty four hours later, berry died under mysterious circumstances. locals now claim that he was cursed for trying to remove the tree. it is now a historic town landmark. locals and tourists alike have claimed that they have witnessed weird occurrences around the bear tree to this day and some claim they can hear the sound of someone chopping the closer they get to it.

⭐ the coven barn
the coven barn is a local landmark with magical history to boot. its historical presence has protected what's left of it from demolition. history says that the barn partially burnt down in the 1930s when a coven entrenched in dark magic raised evil spirits by accident. the local families of the four women in that coven are still live with the tainted reputation of their ancestor's actions to this day. they remain in peculiar but are rumored to still engage in the dark magic of their ancestors. those families go by the names of barnes, winnow, hunter and thorn. it is said even today, that stepping foot into this barn evokes unsettling thoughts in the minds of those who venture inside. every december, local magic users come together on 'coven day' to perform cleansing rituals around the barn as well as casting protective spells to avoid further tragedies at the site. the families of barnes, winnow, hunter and thorn are banned from participating.

🌑 the cursed well
this well was once a primary source of water in the early days of peculiar. the well is now a historic and mystical site due to its lore. it is said that charles ware built and installed the well in 1844. once it was up and running, he and his family were ran out of town by the goodale family because gregory goodale believed that charles was having an affair with his wife, clarice. charles was left destitute and died three years after his banishment. in 1874, the grandchildren of charles ware returned to peculiar under a false family name for revenge. they cursed the well, then framed several members of the goodale family for the murder of the mayor, isaac jones. the curse on the well left anyone who drank from it with nasty boils on their tongues, that refused to heal for half a year. witches in town could not figure out how to break the curse, so it remained. today, residents of peculiar use the well to cast coins in exchange for wishes. occasionally, a wish in this well comes true and it is said that the mystic forces carefully grant the wishes based on who has ancestors in the town that stood with the goodale family. when a wish is made from someone with ancestral blood that ran them out, the wish is granted but turns bad.

⭐ the hill house
the hill house may sound familiar to anyone who has watched the netflix show or read the book by shirley jackson, but this hill house is real and will make any skeptic a believer. the small three story mansion sits just at the northern edge of devil hills. it is a harrowing location shrouded in mystery and a gruesome history. in 1877 peculiar residents jeremiah & harriett hill found themselves entrenched in scandal when it was discovered that jeremiah had been having an affair and harriett had decided to leave him. she never got the chance, as harriett, jeremiah and their four children were found dead in the home on the eve it is said harriett was to leave. it was decided at the time that harriett had been the one to kill the family and herself, but recent theories claim that jeremiah was the culprit and peculiar city cops covered it up as to not besmerch jeremiah, whose family had help build peculiar from the ground up. the home is known to be quite similar to the cecil hotel as there has been documented deaths occurring there over the years, the most recent in 1996. the hill house was closed off since but has recently reopened under new ownership. warning to all that dare: booking a room at the newly renovated hill house is not for the faint of heart and only recommended for the most serious and brave ghost hunters that dare visit.

⚡ the keenan planetarium
formerly the peculiar planetarium, it was renamed in 1952 when 25 year old hunter keenan discovered a strange light flying through the peculiar skies. using the brand new telescope the planetarium had just installed, he spotted it and alerted the planetarium's owners. concerned by this unexplained light, they alerted authorities who then were able to follow the light through phantom point to where it presumably landed. authorities revealed nothing after this, but rumors took flight and over time legends grew bigger and bigger. the most popular being that the light was a malevolent alien force and authorities were only able to arrive and stop it because hunter keenan had spotted it. this legend stuck and made the planetarium a very popular business in peculiar and the keenan family, very popular for sharing hunter's name.

⚡ kristl
in 1952, adventurous baek jin-hee visited peculiar with her husband after reading about the town's reputation in a travel book. on a hike through peculiar forest she saw a small blue crystal sticking out from under some fallen leaves. upon touching it, she felt an immediate awakening of some sort of magic within her. she could suddenly see people's auras vividly and could tangibly feel amplified energy from those around her. she decided then and there she never wanted to leave peculiar and, after days of stubbornly pestering her husband, he agreed to move. in 1953 she opened kristl, a crystal magic shop that sells crystals, gems, rocks, and stones and promotes the power she believes them to possess. the town was surprisingly skeptic of the baek's but were soon won over by the family's talents. her gifts were passed down to her kids who remained in peculiar. kristl is still open in 2024 and has stayed in the baek family.

⚡ krueger farms
krueger farms is a farm that has existed within the krueger family since they immigrated to the united states in 1914 from germany. they raise livestock and grow fruit and vegetables to sell to local businesses. their apple orchard is a favorite among citizens in the autumn, who are invited out to pick their own apples from the trees to take home. outside of the orchard, however, the krueger farmhouse and barns are avoided due to a scarecrow that morton krueger put up shortly after building his farm. his wife, heidi krueger, had started dabbling in witchcraft when she arrived and she used an ill-advised spell on the scarecrow. her intent was to rid the farm from spirits but, instead, it backfired. since then, each spirit that once lingered on that farm is said to be trapped in the scarecrow. it is said now that touching the scarecrow will release one spirit into the body of anyone who touches it. the story claims that there is a fifty-fifty chance the spirit may be nice or not so nice. the scarecrow lore is unproven and those who have experienced it have spoken out, only to be doubted by peculiar residents. too many people convicted of violent crimes over the years have blamed the scarecrow's spirits for taking over their bodies. to date, not one jury has accepted their claims.

❄️️ peculiar public library
peculiar public library is located in one of the oldest buildings in downtown gothic. it closes before dark because, while it's ghost-free in the daytime, many odd things occur overnight. four high school students in the 70s disappeared after attempting a sleepover there on a dare, and now no one, not even ghost hunters, is permitted on the site after the sun goes down. many residents claim that they have seen one of the four missing teens staring out the library windows at night. this word of mouth has only influenced trespassers, and unfortunately, many disappearances associated with the library have occurred since.

⭐ the peculiar casino
the peculiar casino is owned and run by two very wealthy families, the langleys and the zimmermans. the peculiar casino can make members of the community very rich, but it doesn't happen very often because that's how the house likes it. when residents or tourists go on hot streaks, things can get dicey: in 2019, a string of disappearances happened exactly three months apart. in order, 27 year old troy pierce, 31 year old dudley west and 53 year old han stoll all went missing after hitting it big there. even the owners couldn't deny the three were last seen at the casino. the authorities were never able to find any trace of them again, and conspiracy theories about the langley and zimmerman families murdering them emerged as a result. other theories involved aliens, ghosts, and even a lake monster surfacing.

⭐ the peculiar cemetery
despite the town cemetery being well kept and dutifully maintained, it cannot escape the haunted and spooky reputation it holds. it is home to many myths surrounding the crypts and gravesites. some are simply spooky while others are more horrifying and send a cold chill down your spine. because of this, teens often use it as a place to hangout and party and brave locals trek through it nightly looking for ghosts. the town has long given up on trying to keep the cemetery properly policed but it is now under heavy survelliance. occasionally there are arrests and fines enforced for those who do damage. to the town's dismay, every so often survelliance cameras die all at once and headstones rearrange themselves in the cemetery when no one is around. the cemetery is a sore spot for many locals who argue passionately that it be moved to a different neighborhood so that their loved ones can properly rest in peace.

⚡phantom point
just beyond the redrum drive-in is phantom point, the cliff that overlooks the entire town below just at the edge of the peculiar forest. this is a popular spot for people to park their cars and makeout and hang out. residents attempt to throw massive parties on phantom point yearly even at the risk of someone having a bit too much to drink and falling over the edge. peculiar has hosted many weddings at the point that overlooks the town, with beautiful scenic backdrops of peculiar woods behind them.

☁️ puppy pizzeria
every single resident in peculiar believes that the hit game and movie, "friday night at freddy's" was based off of puppy pizzeria and not chuck-e-cheese. in 2002, the huang family opened a new pizzeria designed to be every single child's favorite place in town. the arcade room was filled with every game they could dream of! the prize booth had unique and special toys for both kids and adults to collect. taking a note from chuck-e-cheese, they had animatronic animals that sang and dance on stage for children who loved to sing along and dance with them. since peculiar was lacking a chuck-e-cheese, it became an instant hit. weekends booked up with birthday parties, college kids loved the arcade room, and adults enjoyed the opportunity to have an affordable place for their kids to kill some energy on rainy days. the business ran smoothly until 2009 when unsettling events started to occur at puppy pizzeria: the appearance of break ins and vandalism plagued the huang family, and the cops could not make heads or tails of what was going on. the situation escalated when two college students employed by the huangs were found dead inside the morning after a late shift. their deaths had been brutal and ruled a homicide. the case has never been solved, and puppy pizzeria was forced to close its doors. the huangs were never able to sell it and no one wanted to touch the merchandise inside of it, believing that the animatronics killed the teens. the huang family is still suspected of being involved in the death of the two college kids despite being cleared by the cops.

❄️ purgatory putt putt
owned by the byler family, purgatory putt putt is family friendly and a favorite activity among locals and tourists alike. every spring, purgatory putt putt hosts a tournament that widdles down putt putters to the final player. the winner has their picture hung in the main office, is able to play putt putt free for a year, and is known as peculiar's champion until a new one takes the title. despite the prestige being the purgatory putt putt champion awards, many winners find themselves dealing with bad luck in every other area of their life– two of whom have died. rumor is that 56 year old marlene jessup cursed the winner of the game in 2011 because she lost, and that curse stuck with every winner since. the curse lifts when a new winner takes over.

⚡ the sleepaway camp kids
before the kampground of america rolled in, peculiar had happy trails: a camp ground most popular for its sleepaway summer camp for kids. in july of 2005 a group of 7 kids aged 11 - 18 disappeared on a nature hike through phantom point for a total of 7 months. these kids come from the families barrett, tonkins, pérez, kimura, moore, lawson and elliot. they reappeared suddenly in late february of the next year, with no memory of what had happened to them.