Image courtesy of Josh Gunderson
Last week on the podcast, Rick and I talked to the marketing director for Oviedo Mall. You may wonder why a travel writer would want to talk to anyone affiliated with a mall — especially when this travel writer spends more time wandering around in the woods and on the water than she does mall walking.
It’s because this is a special sort of mall, in a weird and wonderful way.
I don’t know about anyone else, but the state of national politics these days gives me anxiety. My coping mechanism? I head to #HorrorThreads. There’s an entire community of haunted things, including but not limited to a haunted lake, haunted campground, haunted national park, haunted theme park, haunted town, and a haunted Laundromat. It’s honestly a lot more fun than reality, and I highly recommend following those accounts if you’re on Threads. (I am: @CathySalustri)
And a haunted mall: Oviedo Mall.
Josh Gunderson, the creative mind behind the popular Oviedo Mall account on Twitter, joins the podcast to talk about mall culture in Florida, his new book, The Lamenting Mall Rats Society, and whether or not Oviedo Mall really is haunted.
It’s admittedly a weird twist for the podcast — and for me — but I loved talking with Josh (and I may be at the mall’s most-likely-not-haunted book festival, Page & Pen, this October) and hey, given the weirdness of the real world these days, it’s oddly soothing to disappear into a haunted imaginary world.
Take a Listen
Links We Mentioned on the Podcast
@OviedoMall on Threads
The Lamenting Mall Rats Society
Paddler’s Guide to the Sunshine State
Top 3 Oviedo Experiences (That Are Not the Mall, Mostly)
Find the chickens!
Take the Central Florida Mall Tour
Get More Florida!
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