Mannequin Horror in China's Ghost Malls

Fans of the mannequin and corporate horror pioneered by Thomas Ligotti and his successors should experience a familiar chill in these scenes from China's stillborn shopping centers. Though lacking in the derelict aesthetic seen in corporate horror from collections like Teatro Grottesco, these spectral commerce palaces capture the same haunting, sometimes oppressive feel. In places, it almost seems certain stores were built solely for their mannequin residents.

Once again, mannequin horror enjoys a bizarre uptick in reality mirroring its expansion in books like Mark Samuels' The White Hands and Simon Strantzas' Beneath the Surface. Is life merely imitating art behind the wall of coincidence? Or is it a far more sinister phenomenon?

-Grim Blogger