Dan Bell

Dan Bell (born February 9, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the Dead Mall documentary series, cataloging the 2010s urban decay phenomenon of foreclosed shopping malls.

Dead Mall

For kids of the '80s especially, dead malls have a very strong allure. We were the last of the free-range kids, roaming around malls, not really buying anything, but just looking. To see all those big looming spaces so empty now – it's a childhood haunting. — writer Gillian Flynn These videos received millions of views. The intros of episodes in the series often use clips of these videos that have been distorted or exaggerated in a surreal effect. Bell personally finds the Rolling Acres Mall episode to be the most unnerving, recalling the eerie image of frogs singing out loud in an abandoned mall: They were in a pool in the elevator shaft[.] Can you imagine filming this and taking it back to the [1980s] and saying, 'This is what's going to happen in 30 years: There's going to be a frog in the food court'? and writer Gillian Flynn,

Work Filmography

Personal life Bell, in his later teens, held various jobs at shopping mall stores: at a Macy's, a shoe store, and a leather-goods boutique. Bell currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland.