Attention! Completely remastered episodes of the Dead Mall Series are now being archived in 4K at ru-vid.com/show-UCfCM_TfrSDMkkMpKuLNWuXA. The remasters have gone through an extensive AI Enhancement process as well as proper sound mixing and colorization. This Dead Mall Series Remastered project has been made possible through viewer support on Patreon. Go over now and watch in glorious 4K. ENJOY!
*that* is a vintage 1970's JCP elevator, and yes they were usually tucked in an obscure yet not creepy corner of infants, linens or some such department. Wow, what a change!
That’s exactly how my JCPenney is. Straight out of 1972. They’ve actually been starting to renovate things, replacing the escalators and carpet. Wonder if the elevator is next.
My JCP opened in the late 90s. On the upper floor the elevator is by the restrooms and the spa. On the lower level it’s smack dab in the middle of the children’s section.
So I actually spent about 5 months in that area recently for some training. Having lived in Korea before, I wanted to visit a Korean Spa in the area. Spoilers: it was Seoul Spa. I walked through that exact area you were in several times...and it was quite creepy, right up until you get into the Spa...and then it's like a different world. The family that owns it is very nice...but it is just baffling how such a nice little place is inside of such a stark, hollow shell of a mall.
5 years on and it is still a ghost town. Searched for this video again, and apparently car meets are doing burnouts in mall parking lots. That explains why sometimes at midnight I'll hear idiots racing cars (I live less than half hour away, so maybe the same people ????)
I go to the Seoul spa all the time. It's amazing. It's like you walk into an entire different place when you enter. but when you exit into the mall, it's like you're walking into a post apocalypse type situation.
this was opened in 2003?? Incredible. it looks like something from the 70s with the narrow corridors, low ceilings and lack of natural light. oh and by the way, no snacking around the freight elevator.
Definitely the creepiest mall I've ever seen! I don't think I'd want to be there alone. All those twists and turns just not your traditional mall! This place gives you the feeling that you're going to get mugged at any moment. Cool video!
***** I can imagine! This would be a great scene for a horror movie! Especially the elevator. That elevator being the only one in this mall is so far away from "civilization" ! Lol.
Back in the day, department stores used to BE huge, because that's where you bought everything. Toy's, Power Tools, Christmas Decorations, Lawn Mowers, Prom Dresses.
Yes it was a large store.....I worked for JCPenney Product Service back in the late 70s, right out of school, and drove between this store and the other huge store in Eastpoint Mall (Essex). I remember there was also a JCPenney Auto Center as a stand-alone building.
Thank you! As a kid who grew up in Randallstown, MD, I used to go to Security Square Mall all the time until Owings Mills Mall opened in 1986. Sad thing is BOTH malls are dead now...but in their day, in their prime, they were both great. Thank you for doing this!
Your video brings back some memories! I ate at that food court years ago. Back then the place was already on the decline but it wasn't nearly as bad as what you saw. There were a few food court restaurants open and the place had a fair number of shoppers milling around. But one thing that stuck out in my mind was a middle aged Korean man walking around who looked like he worked in one of the stores there. What stuck out was the fact he openly had a pair of numb-chucks tucked in his waistband!
This was kind of interesting in a way. The whole blood in the elevator, rotten roof and fingerprint dust just really sets this one apart for me. This looks like a seedy place where there might be a charter school or ponzi-scheme business hiding in there. That place really needs some help. I love dead malls, there used to be a website dedicated to them but I haven't looked at it in ages. The one in the town I used to live in was a dead mall then they turned it into some Hispanic shopping center. If you want I could show you some malls in Japan that are booming with business and people. It is like going back to the malls of the 80s. I don't think many Americans would believe how popular shopping malls are in Japan (internet shopping hasn't hurt them at all).
That's sad, and I would add it's disrespectful for all those people who own a business there. There's some sort of decay you would actually find in an abandoned building (floor tiles missing, water damage on the ceiling...), like there's no maintenance whatsoever. Like they don't even care about it at all. How can you run a business there if the bad conditions the building has is scaring off possible customers? It's just sad. I feel bad for those business owners who have to work hard to earn their bread running a business there when mall's management is letting it fall to pieces.
They pay a lease to run their shop, most likely to someone who is less than reputable. It's not their fucking job to fix the mall, and I doubt they can afford to do it in the first place. If they had that kind of money, they wouldn't open shop in fucking Seoul Plaza now, would they? Your outrage outpaces your common sense.
I actually cannot believe you went here! I used to go to this Seoul Plaza all the time when my mom would shop for Korean groceries, and we used to watch the world cup games in this theatre room that was in the upper levels of the mall! brings back so much memories wow
+Mort Shuman Mort, you know why Owings Mills and Security are closing. Both are not safe. I remember Owings Mills mall back In the day. The subway brought to many you know what to the mall and that area. Just like Randallstown, city people moved in and chased us away. I was just at Owing Mills mall a few days ago looking around. Only 4 stores left in the mall. The guard said they will close in 2 weeks. JC Penny and Macy's will close by the end of the year. Fear drives people away! I won't even go to Owings Mills at night! The mall is suppose to be another Hunt Valley town center in the future. We'll see.
+liberty2011able I was at Owings Mills mall two weeks ago for Macy's. Yes, I felt safe at the mall, because no one was there. They still had security roaming around for the three stores that were open. But that area used to be white and Jewish back in the day. Now it's mostly dark. Same for Randallstown. I used to go to Caplans deli and the movie house back in the early 80's. Now I avoid Liberty road as much as possible. Liberty/ Old Court area not too safe now. There are still some Orthodox people that live around there. As for Owings Mills, what a shame! It was such a nice safe area until the Subway transit and the over development of New Town. came along. I was in Ocean City over the summer, and the city people were everywhere on the Boardwalk. You really have to go to Carroll county to be in the safer zone. Or Hereford, Monkton....anywhere the MTA doesn't run!!!!!
@Marshall W I love the Hawaiian Snowball place in Randallstown. I moved away from Lochearn in 1999 but my parents lived there until 3 years ago. I'm so glad they moved near me in VA and away from that horrible place after living there 38 years! So sad how everything has gone so downhill.
I was here a few days ago. It's no longer dark inside, at least on the first floor. There are a couple of Korean mini-churches there, and I seem to remember the hair place still being open. Most of the other places were closed, though, and at least one of them had someone doing what looked like drywall work. It looked like this place is about to undergo a major physical overhaul, though I have no idea what if anything they're actually going to do. The best part was the escalator signage. The original JCPenney signage is completely gone now, replaced by a whiteboard with "escalator" handwritten in both English and Arabic. Yes, handwritten Arabic -- I got a cellphone picture of it. The escalators were turned off, so I didn't go upstairs. For the commenters who are asking about this mall being abandoned -- this is former anchor space within Security Square Mall, which is not even close to being abandoned. The entrance to come in here from the main mall was wide open, and there was no "do not enter" or similar such signage. Anyone could just walk right in.
Security mall used to be the best mall around. On rainy days in the summer, my mother would pack kids in the car and drop us off here. 1982: the best year ever. We were dropped off for the while day. We saw E.T. here in the movie theatre. Across from the theatre was Burger King and Fun-N-Games arcade. They also had doktor pet center right next to hoschild's
I used to go to the Korean spa (Seoul Jjimjilbang) on the second floor. The spa itself is very nice, but the rest of the mall is super creepy, especially as a 5 ft tall female. I actually had some Russian guy follow me out of the spa out to the parking lot. That's the last time I went.
So someone walking the same direction scared you...better never leave the house again. I am just taking the side of the person you want to crucify who did nothing to you. Also being "Russian" means nothing in any context of anything here either why would it matter to anyone here what nationality you THINK some person was?
Dan Reed Sounds to me like you’re a racist, this lady just made a 3 year old comment about being weirded out when someone followed her out of this creepy ass mall. No one is being “crucified” here soy boy.
I am absolutely in love with this series. What a great idea. You do a wonderful job capturing the feel of the place without actually having to be there.
I just saw a more recent video of the plaza its much brighter now, the doors have been changed, new elevator floor, and they have been fixing the ceilings and roof
This mall kind of reminds me of those houses that is cut-up into smaller crappy studio apartments (which was the first type of apartment I've ever lived in).
Watching this video felt like the kind of dreams I used to have: wandering dark decrepit, half deserted places alone; the people around you don't mean any harm yet there is an ambient sense of menace throughout.
Suppose they would fix all of these things, just because you made a RU-vid video of it ... ! That would be great, but unfortunately, that won't happen a lot
This is Dan Bell. When I saw the "we care: CCTV in use" sign in the elevator with F U written on top, I IMMEDIATELY thought of the whole NSA spying deal. This is the US government telling you "We care, We are watching your every move." and someone told them "F U, I don't want your eyes watching me every single hour, every single minute and every single second of every single day. leave me alone PLEASE!"
Thank you for featuring this mall.Being from a suburb of Baltimore, I use to go to security back in its hay day when it was really crowded till a few years ago when it's REALLY died down. Seoul Plaza was quite fascinating when it first opened and now no one goes over there...its like Silent Hill lol. Like many parts of Baltimore, its in need of TLC. I hope that the community can come together and revive the landmark. Mondawnmin mall in Baltimore was a lot like Security at one point...thanks to the community around it...it got a makeover...the crime went down and its become popular again.
How can this poor thing have so much wrong with it after only being opened since 2003? apparently no one really bothered to ever take very much care of it.
I work about 10 mins from this mall! The spa is open 24hrs on the weekends so sometimes after work I go over to the spa and relax. It is creepy and depressing how empty and dilapidated looking a lot of this mall is. I've only shopped in the mall a few times on the main floor and I wouldn't say it's dead, but it's weird how the upper floor is basically empty aside from the spa. Seoul Spa is very nice though.
+Sonia Ismael To my knowledge it is due to Baltimore being rather poor. I live a bit away from Baltimore as my closest mall is Arundel Mills for me. I hate seeing malls die.
to your knowledge or better yet IYO..is more like it..people like you make remarks about thing u haven't got a clue about..if u lived here u would understand that we just don't tolerate ignorance, were all human beings and raised different..alot of ppl know BS when they see it..and refuse to be talked to or treated just any type of way..so continue to be a sheep n follow your " shepherd or owner" right of the cliff....
I don't really understand what happened to this mall. Is it dead completely? Because the barber shop at the entrance was opened and you see people walking around. and there is power which is strange
A mini mall inside a mall. Vacitipe but yeah I totally agree. But at least this mall tried to turn the anchor store spot around . So Plus for this mall!
One of your best Dan, thanks for posting & greetings from the UK. The lighting when you enter the mall at the beginning is like something out of a Kubrick film!
This is Dan Bell. Do you have any vids of Toll Gate Mall? (When it was an actual mall, with 2 levels inside? Before it was changed into a shopping center.)
YES I JUST FOUND THIS SERIES AND I WAS LIKE PLEASE LET HIM HAVE THIS MALL IN THE PLAYLIST!! I live in MD and I always see the sign for this mall but never visited! Thank you! God I wish they hadn't rebuilt the Laurel Mall so you could have seen it when it was abandoned.
I am shocked that this place is still open! I mean the deplorable condition is way beyond limits! Oh yeah the elevator definitely looks like a JC Penney elevator from either the 60's or 70's. If it's a Montgomery G&P elevator than it probably from the '60s. If not than very early '70s. And the place has only been open since 2003? You have to be kidding me! Is there by chance you can access the main mall from this mall?
Nathan Davis You can access the main mall from Seoul Plaza. Seoul is the WORST mall out of all the malls I’ve been to. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The elevator music really gives that place an eerie feel! Those born in the 90's and later probably don't know that "Muzak" similar to that was played in all stores and public places. Worked at stores during the late 80's and I remember the same worn out tape loop repeating every two hours or so. It's like the ghosts of the 1970's when that mall was a thriving popular place. Live two years in Maryland and I am shocked how many malls have gone belly up there. Just moved to a town not far from Schenectady, NY, and the Viaport in Rotterdam is the only enclosed mall still open near that city. The nearest viable malls(Crossgates and Colonie) are in more prosperous Albany.
Ur series on dying malls is very interesting to me. I unfortunately remember the rise of the mall in the late 60’s and the effect they had on small town businesses. Was a major factor in the death of the small towns around here. I guess what goes around comes around
So there are a lot of people talking bad about this mall and the area. It is simply not the case. Seoul Plaza was a terribly failed project that had the potential to be a great location. It is a shame the amount of money put into it, and never amounted to nothing. Even on it's grand opening, it was never at full capacity. Yes, the parking lot is old, and dated, but the rest of the mall is "decent". People saying they are scared to go to the mall are not from the area. I live 5 minutes up the street, and this is home. I guess it is easy to be afraid of somewhere you are not familiar with. Not saying the mall is the best in the region by far, but the Seoul Plaza project and the actual main mall are night and day.
I don't know if it's still there but there's a little mall connected to a Safeway and a Roses on corner of 94th street in ocean city Maryland. Might be a good one to do
Boy is this a change ! I worked in that area for years and went to school there. Since moved and ur pieces on Owings Mills and now Security is mind blowing. Security was on its way down in the early 2000’s but still busy. Wow is all I can say. Columbia and Towson Town r the ones that remain. Both more affluent areas
Ohhhhh noooooo, I would not set one foot on that decrepit elevator. The elevators in my apartment are crap, but they look like well-oiled machinery next to that rickety-looking thing xD It's crazy with these malls, the mix of clean&shiney with old&falling apart is creepy sometimes, but it's also sad too.
It's crazy that there are actually some retailers open in this place given the creepy, almost "decomposing" state of this "mall" - give me chills...no way would I get on that elevator or go there...nope...nope ....NOPE. Glad you took someone with you!
I used to work retail loss prevention down here in Florida, our district manager came from Maryland and used to work security square, needless to say they gave him a bullet proof vest.
Idk about the song that's playing in the actual elevator, but later in the video, around the 8 min mark, that cheery xylophone elevator type song is "Moody Blue" by Elvis Presley
"Okay we're gonna go on a really scary elevator ride." Elevator has the best lighting in the entire building, complete with that classic Elevator music. lol.
I'm really curious now after seeing you take out your phone with both hands, haha, how do you go about filming these? Do you have a camera on your person to be more discreet? I've always wanted to take pictures and film in malls and stores and other public places but am always afraid to do so, both between having such social anxiety and not wanting to cause any trouble.
Call me crazy but I still love that part of the mall. It's a little dead there but there are still shops that are open and the shops are interesting. Up stairs, to me, is better. There's a fancy Asian spa there, and a place where you can play pool. You just have to go at the right time. The only thing I didn't like about the Seoul Plaza was that they got rid of an H-Mart that use to be there and it was the only convenient H-Mart near where I live and I was disappointed went they got rid of it because I love Asian cuisine. If I come to the mall with my friends, we like to hang out at that part of the mall just because it's quiet there and peaceful.
Really excellent work, these documentaries will wind up being studied by grad students and historians in 75 years. It's great that you are documenting them.
