Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

The hotel room where Janis Joplin tragically died has now become a makeshift shrine to the singer.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

Come crisp December nights, this fairly plain neighborhood becomes a holiday dream world.

Nancy Thompson's Home from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

A ghost town at the airport is now a refuge for blue butterflies.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

This glamorous old building is said to have inspired the Tower of Terror.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

Magical-looking cottages that inspired one of the most famous animated films ever.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

Left untouched since a double murder-suicide in the 1960s, Los Feliz murder mansion remains a neighborhood mystery.

A hospital closed seemingly in the middle of operations, leaving behind fodder for horror films and ghost hunters.

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

During prohibition, corrupt city officials ran drinking dens under the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

An old-timey wax exhibition campily depicting New Orleans legends and scandals.

This relatively recently abandoned brewery is a tragic reminder of the continuing effects of Hurricane Katrina.

A typical "Old South" manor, once owned by author Anne Rice, served as the setting for several of her witchcraft sagas.

By day this New Orleans square is for pedestrians, but by night it is a kingdom of kittens.

New Orleans' famous cemetery, located on the site of a former race track.