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In this Oct. 18, 2014, photo, a man walks past the shell of a castle-like building that was once destined to be part of Asia's biggest amusement park in Beijing, China. Work halted on the project in 1998 due to financial problems and the site has been lef Ng Han Guan, Associated Press
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Paint peels within a bathroom in a former Nike Site S-13/14 missile site Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Redmond, Wash. The area is currently owned by the Lake Washington School District and previously used for the district's NEVAC work study programs. The ra Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com
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In this Oct. 16, 2014 photo, the ruin of a vandalized, golf ball-shaped cover for antennas of the abandoned former listening station of the United States National Security Agency, at the Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain) is reflected in a puddle in Berlin. T Markus Schreiber, Associated Press
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A young man climbs inside the ruin of a vandalized golf ball shaped cover for antennas of the abandoned former listening station of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) at the Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain) in Berlin, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Markus Schreiber, Associated Press
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This photo shows the abandoned former listening station of the United States National Security Agency (NSA) at the Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain) in Berlin, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. The listening station, which was active until the early 90s, is now used Shutterstock
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The House of the Bulgarian Communist Party on Hadji Dimitar peak in Bulgaria was in operation for about eight years before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The site was abandoned in 1989. Shutterstock
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The House of the Bulgarian Communist Party on Hadji Dimitar peak in Bulgaria was in operation for about eight years before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The site was abandoned in 1989. Shutterstock
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Hammer and sickle logo inside the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The site was abandoned in 1989. Shutterstock
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The ferris wheel and other rides in the abandoned amusement park in the deserted city of Pripyat. The park was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986, but the city of 47,000 had already been evacuated after the April 26, 1986, explosion of Reactor No. 4 at the Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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Beds for newly born babies seen in a hospital in the deserted town Pripyat some 3 kilometers (1.86miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Sunday, April 2, 2006. Pripyat was evacuated 36 hours after an explosion in reactor No. 4 on April 26, 1986. Ukraine Sergey Ponomarev, Associated Press
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Children's toys and gas masks, covered by radioactive dust, are seen on beds in an abandoned kindergarten in the ghost town of Pripyat on March 10, 2006, in Ukraine. Pripyat, built nearly a mile from the plant to house the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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An abandoned hall of a building in Pripyat, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011. Pripyat was built for workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but the city that once was home to 49,000 was abandoned soon after a plant reactor exploded on Aril 26, 1986 Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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A playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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An abandoned kindergarten in the deserted city of Pripyat, which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power station some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the plant, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Pripyat, the city of 47,000 had already been eva Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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Baby cradles are seen in a hospital in the abandoned town of Pripyat, exclusion zone around the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant Sunday, April 2, 2006. Pripyat, the town of 47,000-people near Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was completely evacuated Oded Balilty, Associated Press
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A playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear plant Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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A Soviet symbol over an abandoned house in the dead town of Prypyat three kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine, on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press
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Inside the church of Gousainville, outside Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. Goussainville-Vieux Pays was once a farming village north of central Paris but it is now a ghost town. It was abandoned in 1972, according to Messy Nessy Chic, when Charles de G Christophe Ena, Associated Press
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Inside the church of Gousainville, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. Goussainville-Vieux Pays was once a farming village north of central Paris but is now a ghost town. It was abandoned in 1972, according to Messy Nessy Chic, when Charles de Gaulle Airport open Christophe Ena, Associated Press
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A plane flies over Gousainville, outside Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. Goussainville-Vieux Pays was once a farming village north of central Paris but itÍs now a ghost town. It was abandoned in 1972, according to Messy Nessy Chic, when Charles de Gaull Christophe Ena, Associated Press
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In this May 7, 2014 photo is an abandoned mining structure near Calumet, Mich. A way of life dating back more than a century appeared over in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when the last copper mine closed in 1995. John Flesher, Associated Press
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The Uyuni "train graveyard" in Bolivia is filled with the rusted bodies of abandoned trains Shutterstock
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The Uyuni "train graveyard" in Bolivia is filled with the rusted bodies of abandoned trains Shutterstock
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The Uyuni "train graveyard" in Bolivia is filled with the rusted bodies of abandoned trains Shutterstock
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A Palestinian man who works as a guard in an abandoned amusement park walks inside the park, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. Muhammed Muheisen, Associated Press
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A Palestinian man walks in an abandoned amusement park near the west bank town of Nablus, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. Oded Balilty, Associated Press
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In this May 7, 2013 photo, a car sits in ruins in Epecuen, a village that once was submerged in water in Argentina. People come to see the rusted hulks of automobiles and furniture, crumbled homes and broken appliances. They climb staircases that lead no Natacha Pisarenko, Associated Press
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In this May 6, 2013 file photo, former resident and tourist guide Norma Berg walks by a street in Epecuen, a village that once was submerged in water in Argentina. People come to see the rusted hulks of automobiles and furniture, crumbled homes and broken Natacha Pisarenko, Associated Press
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In this picture taken July 12, 2013, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading Jerome Delay, Associated Press
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In this picture taken July 12, 2013, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading Jerome Delay, Associated Press
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Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading the buildings where 350 German colonists and more than 800 local workers lived during its h Shutterstock
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In this July 23, 2013 photo, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading the buil Jerome Delay, Associated Press
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In this picture taken July 12, 2013, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading Shutterstock
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In this picture taken July 12, 2013, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading Shutterstock
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In this picture taken July 12, 2013, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop, was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. Since then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading Shutterstock
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This Oct. 22, 2014, photo shows an artifact at the west terminal of old airport in eastern Athens. The seaside site of Athens' old airport hosted half a dozen Olympic venues during Athens 2004 Games. Thanassis Stavrakis, Associated Press
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A snow-covered roller coaster and ferris wheel are deserted in Yubari on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. When the last coal mine in Yubari closed down in 1990, city elders thought pumping tax money into an amusement park, hal Shizuo Kambayashi, Associated Press
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A traditional British phone booth lies half buried in volcanic ash in the deserted town of Plymouth, on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Monday, March 2, 1998. Gregory Bull, Associated Press
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More than ten years since the first eruption, downtown Plymouth, the formerly vibrant capital of Montserrat, lies almost completely buried beneath ash flows, inside the Monserrat Exclusion Zone which makes up roughly the southern half of the Caribbean isl Brennan Linsley, Associated Press
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The town of Plymouth, Montserrat lies beneath up to ten feet of ash and superheated rock, Thursday Aug. 28, 1997. The Soufriere Hills volcano, seen in background, destroyed Plymouth, the capital city, and sealed off the entire southern half of the island. Jphn McConnico, Associated Press
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A church in downtown Plymouth, Montserrat lies beneath up to ten feet of ash and what scientists call pyroclastic flow, or superheated rock and ash, Thursday August 28, 1997. The Soufriere Hills volcano, seen in background, destroyed Plymouth, the capital John McConnico, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 24, 2014 photo, an uninhabited old farmhouse sags in disrepair during a nor'easter rainstorm in Searsport, Maine. Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press
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Shown is cell door at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 2, 2008. The penitentiary opened in 1829, closed in 1971, and then historic preservationists reopened it to the public for tours in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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Shown is a cell at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 2, 2008. The penitentiary opened in 1829, closed in 1971, and then historic preservationists reopened it to the public for tours in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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In this Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 photo shown is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The penitentiary took in its first inmate in 1829, closed in 1971 and reopened as a museum in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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This Oct. 13, 2014, photo shows a barber shop in cellblock 10 at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The penitentiary took in its first inmate in 1829, closed in 1971 and reopened as a museum in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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In this Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 photo shown is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The penitentiary took in its first inmate in 1829, closed in 1971 and reopened as a museum in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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In this Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 photo shown is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The penitentiary took in its first inmate in 1829, closed in 1971 and reopened as a museum in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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Shown is cell at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Wednesday, April 2, 2008. The penitentiary opened in 1829, closed in 1971, and then historic preservationists reopened it to the public for tours in 1994. Matt Rourke, Associated Press
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In this picture taken on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, graffiti by London creative collective The Lurkers "The Lurkers do Sarajevo" is written on a destroyed hotel at Mt. Igman. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned most of Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympi Amel Emric, Associated Press
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In this picture taken on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, a concrete podium for winners with the text "Winter Olympic Games 1984" stands abandoned near jumping hills at Mt. Igman near the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned m Amel Emric, Associated Press
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In this picture taken Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, the abandoned ski jumping facility is seen covered in moss at Mt. Igman near Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned most of Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic venues into painfu Amel Emric, Associated Press
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In this picture taken on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, the bobsleigh track damaged by artillery fire is painted with graffiti at Mt. Trebevic near Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Wartime destruction and negligence have turned most of Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympic Amel Emric, Associated Press
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Lobby area in the abandoned Palace hotel at deserted tourist resort of Haludovo, near Malinska on the northern Adriatic island of Krk, Croatia, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. The resort was built as a joint venture of Yugoslav communist government and Bob Gucci Darko Bandic, Associated Press
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This Oct. 23, 2014, photo shows a swimming pool at the abandoned Palace hotel at deserted tourist resort of Haludovo, near Malinska on the northern Adriatic island of Krk, Croatia. The resort was built as a joint venture of Yugoslav communist government a Darko Bandic, Associated Press
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Lobby area abandoned Palace hotel at deserted tourist resort of Haludovo, near Malinska on the northern Adriatic island of Krk, Croatia, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. The resort was built as a joint venture of Yugoslav communist government and Bob Guccione, th Darko Bandic, Associated Press
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iA view of the abandoned Consonno play city, near Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. Consonno was built on 1962 the site of what was to be a large shopping mall and entertainment. Antonio Calanni, Associated Press
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A view of the abandoned Consonno play city, near Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. Consonno was built on 1962 the site of what was to be a large shopping mall and entertainment. Antonio Calanni, Associated Press
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iA view of the abandoned Consonno play city, near Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. Consonno was built on 1962 the site of what was to be a large shopping mall and entertainment. Antonio Calanni, Associated Press
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The Humboldt Hotel atop Avila National Park has been abandoned for 30 years in Caracas, Venezuela, May 18, 2001. The hotel was closed in 1970 Leslie Mazoch, Associated Press
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The Hotel Humboldt sits atop one of the highest peaks in Caracas, March 16, 1998. The dream project of Venezuela's last dictator, the 14-floor cylinder-shaped hotel was the talk of the town when it opened four decades ago, attracting such figures as Cuba' Jose Caruci, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 18, 2014 photo, a rusted conveyer belt leads to an abandoned coal power plant in Lynch, Ky. The community of Lynch, built as a company town in 1917 by U.S. Coal and Coke, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, was at the time the largest coal camp in th David Goldman, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 15, 2014 photo, rusted equipment sits on the floor of an abandoned coal power plant in Lynch, Ky. The community of Lynch, built as a company town in 1917 by U.S. Coal and Coke, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, was at the time the largest coal camp David Goldman, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 17, 2014 photo, an entrance to Lynch High School sits in the abandoned building in Lynch, Ky. The community of Lynch, built as a company town in 1917 by U.S. Coal and Coke, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, was at the time the largest coal camp in David Goldman, Associated Press
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A view of the Villaggio Schisina, near Messina, Italy, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. Schisina has been abandoned by economic blight. Antonio Calanni, Associated Press
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A view of the church of the 'Villaggio Schisina', near Messina, Italy, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. Schisina has been abandoned by economic blight. Antonio Calanni, Associated Press
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The derelict front of a former fashion factory is ready for tearing in Immerath, Germany, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. Immerath has become a ghost town to be demolished for the approaching brown coal mining. Inhabitants were relocated to a new build town. Frank Augstein, Associated Press
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Windows and doors of a house are covered to protect from theft in Immerath, Germany, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. Immerath has become a ghost town to be demolished for the approaching brown coal mining. Inhabitants were relocated to a new build town. Frank Augstein, Associated Press
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In this photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, the ruin of the primary school is pictured in Doellersheim, about 110 kilometers (69 miles) northwest of the Austrian capital Vienna. To create a training area for former German Wehrmacht soldiers the residen Ronald Zak, Associated Press
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France's President Francois Hollande, right, German President Joachim Gauck, center, and Robert Hebras, 88, one of the last survivors of the World War II Oradour-sur-Glane's massacre, arrive in the church of the French martyr village of Oradour-sur-Glane, Philippe Wojazer, Associated Press
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In this photo reviewed by the U.S. military, holding pens are overgrown with foliage in the now abandoned Camp X-Ray, which was used as the first detention facility for al-Qaida and Taliban militants who were captured after the Sept. 11 attacks at Guantan Charles Dharapak, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 18, 2014, photo, a row of concrete structures called "Quonset huts" lie inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales province, northern Philippines. The huts were used as barracks for U.S. Marines inside the former American naval base. It was Aaron Favila, Associated Press
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Kayakoy, Turkey, is a ghost town found near the country's southwest coast. Prior to the Greco-Turkish war, Muslims and Christians lived in peace in Kayakoy (previously known as Levissi), but the town was emptied at the end of the war due to a religion-bas Shutterstock
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The ruins of abandoned Greek Orthodox Church in Kayakoy, Turkey — one of the most important sites of the ghost town Shutterstock
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Kayakoy, Turkey, is a ghost town found near the country's southwest coast. Prior to the Greco-Turkish war, Muslims and Christians lived in peace in Kayakoy (previously known as Levissi), but the town was emptied at the end of the war due to a religion-bas Shutterstock
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A ride sits abandoned in Spreepark, an old amusement park in the former East Berlin. Shutterstock
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A ride sits abandoned in Spreepark, an old amusement park in the former East Berlin. Shutterstock
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In this Nov. 7, 2014 file photo, sunlight falls on two adjacent abandoned homes in west Detroit. Carlos Osorio, Associated Press
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Abandoned church in Detroit, Michigan. Shutterstock
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An abandoned music theater ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. It has burned, and its once beautiful facade is crumbling away. Shutterstock
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The decaying Michigan Central Station is shown on April 14, 2011, in Detroit. Detroit has undergone a dramatic level of urban decay over the past few decades due to economic depression Shutterstock
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This photo shows an abandoned music theater ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, with its once beautiful facade crumbling away. Shutterstock
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An abandoned Packard factory sits in ruins on a sunny afternoon on November 21, 2012. Abandoned in 1958, the buildings still stand in a decayed state of beauty. Shutterstock
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The Michigan Central Depot, shown on July 6, 2014, served as Detroit's main passenger station from 1913 to 1988. Shutterstock
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Abandoned island of Gunkanjima off the coast of Nagsaki, Japan. The island was populated as a coal mining town from 1887 but was abruptly abandoned in 1974 due to the rise of petroleum use. Shutterstock
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Abandoned island of Gunkanjima off the coast of Nagsaki, Japan. The island was populated as a coal mining town from 1887 but was abruptly abandoned in 1974 due to the rise of petroleum use. Shutterstock
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In this Oct 17, 2014, photo, chairs rest on tables in an empty classroom at an elementary school in the abandoned village of Simacem, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The village was abandoned after its people were evacuated following the eruption of Mount Sinab Binsar Bakkara, Associated Press
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Graffiti is sprayed on abandoned houses in the village of Doel, Belgium on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Doel over the years has slowly been cleared of its residents to make way for more docking space in the Port of Antwerp. Virginia Mayo, Associated Press
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In this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009, an abandoned amusement park that was closed due to Israeli checkpoints creating low attendance is seen in the West Bank city of Nablus. Tara Todras-Whitehall, Associated Press
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In this Oct. 22, 2014 photo, old tramcars and trolley buses sit abandoned and wrecked in the Loftus Tram Shed in Sydney. Trams became a key part of life in Sydney after the network was installed in 1879, with 1,600 cars in service during the height of its Rob Griffith, Associated Press
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The abandoned Royal Pavilion is the only reminder of the former hippodrome de Groenendael in Hoeilaart, Belgium, Friday Sept. 26, 2014. The hippodrome was built in 1898 and Belgium's King Leopold II visited it often to watch the races. It was closed in 19 Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Associated Press
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This Oct. 24, 2014, photo shows a broken coach placed next a road nearby abandoned houses at Durban Deep mine residential area in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, South Africa. The once sought-after mining facility at Durban Deep now is in a crime-ridden Themba Hadebe, Associated Press
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In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, Gyula Heiner, a Hungarian blogger and military enthusiast, stands inside a nuclear storage bunker at an abandoned ex-Soviet military base near Nagyvazsony, Hungary. Abandoned by the Soviets in March 1990, a few mo Darko Vojinovic, Associated Press
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This photo taken Friday, Nov. 7, 2014 shows a building that used to house military personnel in an abandoned ex-Soviet military base near Nagyvazsony, Hungary. Abandoned by the Soviets in March 1990, a few months after the fall of the Berlin Wall and just Darko Vojinovic, Associated Press
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Abandoned except for pigeons roosting along rusting beams, the Greenfield Tap and Die complex in Greenfield, Mass., shown on Oct. 29, 2001, is the carcass of an industry that was once the town's life blood, employing four thousand workers during World Wa Matthew Cavanaugh, Associated Press
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Terror is sprayed on a wall at the abandoned mining town "Schlaegel & Eisen" in the city of Gladbeck, western Germany, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. The hundred year old colony turned into a ghost town during the last 20 years. Martin Meissner, Associated Press
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Refuse from numerous roof collapses litters the main room in one of three buildings within the former Nike Site S-13/14 missile site Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Redmond, Wash. Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com
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Headphones dangle from their perch in the former Nike Site S-13/14 missile site Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Redmond, Wash. Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com
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Paint peels from collapsed doors at the entrance of a bathroom in a former Nike Site S-13/14 missile site Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Redmond, Wash. Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com
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Paint peels from the walls of a former Nike Site S-13/14 missile site Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Redmond, Wash. Jordan Stead, seattlepi.com
Jackie Hicken
By Jackie Hicken

Ghost towns are often seen as a remnant of the old West — abandoned mining towns, filled with old dusty bottles and tumbleweeds — but that isn't the case at all. For as long as humans have existed, they have built and abandoned, and the pattern will undoubtedly continue ad infinitum.

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Here's a photographic look at modern-day ghost towns across the world just in time for Halloween.

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