@thoughtpunks St. Louis, MO, is working on revitalizing its downtown/urban area, but has a very long history that can be dredged up. Perhaps the renovations have stirred up an old horror that has been lying dormant.
Many of the bigger cities along the Mississippi River would have the same possibility. Lots of lore/legend up and down the river.
@thoughtpunks Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.
Relatively small, but large enough to be a city. it has under 100k people and is notable for having a railway museum. And that's it. Some years back in Vancouver I saw the city advertise as a good place to move to, amid extreme unaffordability of metro Vancouver. It is far up north enough that it is proper north Canada cold without getting all True Detective season 4 on you.
Horror prompt: They called for newcomers... what came?
@thoughtpunks Ottawa, ON. They even have a haunted walk to show locations with ghost stories. There’s the central experimental farm near doentown. There’s also seceral small towns and farms in the region. #ttrpg
@thoughtpunks Some cities that might fit the bill...
Portland, ME
Roanoke, VA
Syracuse, NY
Boise, ID
Ann Arbor, MI
Lexington, KY
Flagstaff, AZ
Waco, TX
Erie, PA
Anacortes, WA
@thoughtpunks I live in Ithaca, NY. Syracuse is the nearest mid-sized city, so I get up there pretty often. Syracuse is also home to the nearest commercial airport that has more than one flight a day... which is why I was there on Sunday morning. Syracuse has a great local theater company, and also has a bunch of nice restaurants! And it's host to the New York State Fair.
@thoughtpunks Well, Columbia, SC, US fits the bill - the rural areas are very close to the heart of the city, there are a good number of transplants from across the nation, but it is solid in traditions.
@BeefGriller Fort Jackson for secret experiments on recruits. [People do fail out of basic training for injuries and psychiatric reactions to the stress all the time, after all..] And I'd have whole pages about sand and fire ants.
@BeefGriller Let's just say I know what's like camping in a sandy area when someone pitches their tent in the WRONG™ spot. Not me, because the gods are kind sometimes. But I forever remember what "I'M BEING ATTACKED BY A SWARM OF FIRE ANTS" sounds like, because sometimes they're very much not. Straight horror. And just ants. But my teeth vibrate barely touching the memory of it.
@BeefGriller i'm also thinking people falling out while picking makes a convenient cover for why Billy went to the weirdo farm town and had a fainting spell. Ain't no magic. Just Billy tryna earn extra cash being a green fool out in the fields. [But, you know. Lot of the time it is magic [or blood theft or...]
@thoughtpunks Sacramento California has a lot of close old tiny towns within an hour or so drive that can have all kinds of hidden creepy histories. Plus K street has a lower level that is blocked off