ABANDONED LOT OF EIGHTH STREET
The abandoned lot of eighth street in Cheap City is a land parcel commonly believed to be cursed. In 1912, the family of Arnie Stein moved from Chicago to Cheap City, seeking an opportunity to turn what was a middle-class income in Chicago, into a fortune in Cheap City. As an immediate act of goodwill to the city, Arnie donated a vast sum of money to create a public park - the Arnie Stein Public Park - and then set to building his family mansion downtown on eighth street. Accidents plagued construction from the outset. When workers were digging a well, one slipped and dropped a steel girder down the shaft, killing both crew members inside (Paul Thomas Anderson references this moment in his film There Will Be Blood). When the frame of the house was initially completed, a termite infestation carved a message into the frame of the front door: GO AWAY STEIN (This provided the inspiration for Charlotte’s Web). After three years of slow construction an unfurnished home was finally complete. Impatient and tired of having his family sleep in tents in the middle of the park, Stein insisted they move in immediately. That night, a fire broke out (no one is sure how), destroying the house and killing the entire Stein family.
The lot has remained undeveloped since. Occasional developers have tried to build storefronts or homes on the lot, however their attempts have always been thwarted by freak accidents. In the 1950s residents began to refer to this as the Stein Curse, and have warned their children to stay away from the lot. The Stein Curse has become a vital part of Eighth Street culture, and in 1987 residents petitioned the mayor to protect the lot from future development. Years later, Mayor Amanda Thompson finally granted this request and installed a plaque in front of the lot that reads, “ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO PARTY HERE, FOR THE STEIN CURSE.” She couldn’t figure out what else to write and left it at that.
Despite the curse, and the Mayor’s warning, it is not uncommon for audiences at The Pierre Boulez Memorial Discotheque, just a few blocks away, to host afterparties in the abandoned lot. Only 249 people have gone missing as a result since City Hall began keeping track in 1993.