The Forest Fair Mall — also known as Cincinnati Mills — is apparently still in the holiday spirit, despite being nearly abandoned, save for Arcade Legacy, Kohl's, B Adventurous Inflatable Party Place and Bass Pro Shop. And Reddit is sufficiently creeped.
A photo posted on the Cincinnati Subreddit Dec. 20 sets the eerie scene. A decked out reindeer with glowy red eyes sits upright on a festive bench outside of the mall's iconic flying-pig gazebo; inside is what appears to be Santa's chair surrounded by cutely-wrapped gift boxes and fake snow. Coupled with the fact that there are no humans around, the image is downright ghostly.
Much has been said about the 2 million-square-foot, almost 30-year-old structure, which is — like hundreds of shuttered or nearly-empty malls across the United States — a shell of its former self. Closed shops. Still intact food court signs. New Wave-esque decorations that evoke Stranger Things. Fading posters and advertisements. A defunct movie theater still listing showtimes. Scuffed multi-colored tiled floors.
Forest Fair is like the ghost of consumerist past, evoking a time of suburban sprawl and neon idealism in which teenagers flocked to the food court and bought trendy stuff from youth-centric stores that they certainly didn't need.
During the holidays, this is perhaps even more pronounced. Similar posts have been made about the mall's decorations in recent years. And it's not the only mall-in-decay to put up decorations for the holidays. In this picture taken at Hamilton City Center in Ontario, a lonely Santa sits on his throne with no fanfare — a very sad sight to behold.
One Reddit user recalled walking through the mall in the early 2000s: "I remember my sister and I asking our dad for coins to toss in the fountains, and seeing the crazy long line to visit Santa from the balcony above. Also saw Thor (2011) with my grandfather and cousin at this mall at the Danberry Dollar Saver, after it had already been released on DVD… What a nostalgia trip this picture brought up. Jeez. Crazy the things your brain holds onto for years without your realizing it, and how it just takes a picture to bring it all back in a few seconds."
Many comments speak to how creepy the scene is; others ask who is even setting up the decor. Of the latter, I personally like the proposed theory that it's some "old mall maintenance worker who lives there in an abandoned Orange Julius that doesn't know the war is over." Highly unlikely, but somehow poetic.
The mall is open for walkers, so if you feel exploring you totally can (or you can peep our slideshow) — just don't expect any wild post-Christmas deals.
