A Lovecraftian altar of nightmarish bronze chairs sits ominously on a boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta.

A lovers' beach, tucked below the surface of the island, provides a safe haven for romance.

A magnificent, reportedly haunted mansion built for a composer by Spiritualists.

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

The second-largest giant sequoia in the world.

A 19th-century cabin built into a hollowed-out Sequoia tree.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

A lawless town deep in Death Valley was famous for its riches and death rate.

Colorful Native American paintings are hidden within this small cavern.

Hidden in the Santa Ynez Mountains off Highway 154, this tiny restaurant once served as a stagecoach stop.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

The oldest pictographs on this decorated rock formation in California's Carrizo Plain date back as many as 4,000 years.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

A master of deception, Harry Houdini's greatest trick may have been living in two places at once.

Salt is slowly eating away this abandoned saltworks town in the desert.

This unique graffiti art from the 1940s has become a staple of this local landscape in the remote California desert.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

There is a small island in the Gulf of Nicoya where the only human inhabitants are dead.

This abandoned hospital is one of the most haunted places in Costa Rica.

This enormous World War II relic is one of the largest wooden structures in the world.

Famous and forgotten figures lie beneath the faded headstones and decaying planks of wood.