TikToker tours ‘zombie properties’ — abandoned spaces that are still filled with discarded items

This TikTok is dedicated to exploring abandoned spaces — and it’s very unsettling. 

During a time when the unhoused are being criminalized, and humans are producing enough waste to destroy the planet, it’s interesting to think about all that we discard. TikToker @triangleofmass tours spaces like churches, department stores, gas stations, fast food places, schools and hospitals that have been totally abandoned. 

Many of them are filled with furniture and inventory, and some even have running water. Yet, the spaces and their resources remain unused and deserted.

It doesn’t get any spookier than an abandoned dentist mansion. The retro space was full of old dentures, equipment and thrown-about office supplies. 

A popular video featured a McDonald’s that closed in 2007. The countertop, kitchen and cafeteria space looked frozen in time. 

In another clip, the creator visited an abandoned movie theater. It didn’t appear to be too old. There were gumball machines, a Shazam popcorn holder and equipment.

A forgotten nursing home proved to be another creepy video. There were dozens of wheelchairs, beds and baths seemingly left for dead. 

In real estate, these are known as “zombie properties,” which are declared after three inspections find no evidence of a present occupant and the absence of basic maintenance work. 

According to the New York State Department of Financial Services, “Dilapidated vacant and abandoned properties can have a corrosive effect on local communities, lowering property values, attracting criminal activity, creating health and safety hazards, and imposing extra costs on local governments due to the additional police, fire and building safety resources they require.” 

More from In The Know:

Listen to the latest episode of our pop culture podcast, We Should Talk: