#15: Bodie, California (USA)
This iconic Gold Rush boomtown is preserved by park rangers in a state of arrested decay, its wooden saloons and dusty stores standing exactly as they were abandoned. The location is famous for the enforcement of a modern superstition dictates that anyone who removes even a tiny pebble or rusty nail from the property will face immediate personal misfortune. The park archive continuously receives letters from across the nation containing returned artifacts and frantic apologies.

