ABSTRACT
In varying stages of ruination, they have been subject to strong tidal currents and the ravages of the elements. Many have also fallen victim to vandalism and arson, which has greatly accelerated their decay. Sites such as these demand a certain level of openness – to manifestations of the past, to memories, traces and happenings. A growing interest in spectrality has recently emerged within cultural and historical geography as scholars rethink the manner in which spaces, events and practices disrupt notions of presence and absence. The spectral suggests a space-time in which past, present and future co-exist and interact in unpredictable ways. Understood in these terms, it is not a supernatural spirit hovering over a concrete world of real objects and living bodies but is integral to the experience of the world, as the enduring and unsettling capacity of place to haunt.
