The mysterious hedge maze from 'S-Town' is falling apart, and it's too sad to handle
If you've listened to This American Life's heartbreaking new endeavor S-Town, you know about the mysterious man-made maze on John B. McLemore's property in Alabama.
In episode 1, John tells host Brian Reed the exact coordinates of the maze, which John himself designed and curated. Because this is the internet, clever users figured out those coordinates and unearthed startling photos that show the maze's decline over the years.
An anonymous Imgur post surfaced after the podcast's release depicting the maze in its former glory: growing, green hedges, McLemore's gates that create 64 possible solutions, and a variety of paths within to wander. At least one of these photos is public on the Facebook account of Tyler Goodson, John's close friend who helped him build the maze. Goodson appears to have first publicly posted this one in February 2016.
However, the S-Town reddit tells another story -- or perhaps the end of the same one. The maze, now under new proprietorship, appears to be overgrown and falling apart. A redditor posted the photo below noting that his friend works security for the land's new owner.
The comments are full of spoilers, but podcast listeners are worried about the maze and its future -- a tragic relic of a tragic story, told piece-by-piece on the podcast.
S-Town is now available to download in full.
Topics Reddit
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
