Places Edited by Samir S. Patel

For a couple of months each year this Swedish city turns into a festive neon phantasmagoria.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

A crumbling wizard is one of the final reminders of a roadside Middle Earth.

A collision of human error and natural geothermal pressure created this rainbow-colored geologic wonder.

Ruined pieces of stone and a swimming pool are all that remain of an amusement park swept away by a flood.

This little-known collection holds everything from "Dracula" notes, to the manuscript of "Ulysses," to the forged works of Shakespeare.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

This massive airship factory is so large that it has its own indoor weather.

Local legend says that whoever burns down this 2,000-year-old tree will only have seven days to live.

This jaw-dropping 19th-century bridge uses its reflection to form what appears to be a perfect circle.

The world's first aircraft factory has been hiding inside an automobile plant for almost 80 years.

Isolated atop this Balinese sea crag is a lovely Hindu temple that is said to be guarded by sea snakes.

Legend says that this short Canadian tunnel still holds the dying screams of a girl who burned alive.

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.

Yale University's home for rare works, including the mysterious Voynich Manuscript.

Crammed into a Baltimore row house is an oddities shop that sells everything from skulls to dead insects.

This abandoned asylum was once a state of the art facility before devolving into one of the most deadly mental institutions in American history.

These picturesque Hawaiian falls are home to a rare species of fish that uses a special sucker to climb up cliffs.

This historic iron-working village is now a ghost town so immaculate that it looks as though it was recently built.

Sitting in the arguable birthplace of the Wild West, this museum holds the largest collection of bronco busting bric-a-brac in the world.

The famous facade of Grand Central Terminal hides a regulation tennis court—and it's not the first one.

This small shrine is dedicated to the designer of the first Russian fighter jet and his brother, who became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

The world's first zoo for microbes collecting the horrible and wonderful things living on and around us.

The deepest underground city in Turkey was designed to protect 20,000 people behind massive stone doors.