Mythical town from “Big Fish” still stands on Alabama island

Published 11:28 am Thursday, March 10, 2016

Bright and his wife, Lynn Clardy Bright, who retired as a Montgomery County district judge after 25 years, are the de facto rulers of the tiny town of Spectre and its four-legged residents – a herd of grass-trimming goats.

By definition, Spectre isn’t a real town – there are no human residents, stores or schools, or even pews inside its picturesque church. Spectre was created in the mind of Alabama-born author Daniel Wallace in his novel “Big Fish.” When the book was being made into a movie in 2003, director Tim Burton discovered the little island in the middle of Jackson Lake, which is fed by the Alabama River, and breathed life into a once-fictional city that people loved so much they never wanted to leave.

In its first appearance on screen in “Big Fish,” Spectre is filled with lush green grass, twinkling lights and dancing feet. It’s magical. But later in the film, the town has been impacted by the outside world and goes bankrupt. For those scenes, set designers made the church, buildings and homes appear distressed. Those shabby buildings, just shells with unfinished interiors, were left behind after filming was completed, Bright said.

The film crew offered to tear down Spectre but the family decided to leave it. Since then, the opening scenes of the Civil War-era horror movie “Dead Birds” was filmed at the town, as well as some student films, Bright said.

More than 12 years later, the surviving buildings are on the verge of collapse. Yet, the ghostly town on Jackson Lake Island near Montgomery holds a strange fascination for people, who come to see it from across the country, and sometimes from foreign lands, Bright said. So the Brights are researching the feasibility of saving what’s left of Spectre as a tourist attraction.

“I think it cost Tim Burton about $2 million to build the city and the enchanted forest, so we know it’s going to be expensive to repair it,” he said. The most pressing need is repairing roofs of the surviving homes, which are deteriorating. “We’re getting estimates on new roofs,” he said.

If Spectre could be saved, it would be a unique tourist attraction to add to the allure of Jackson Lake Island, which offers camping, fishing, kayaking and canoeing, among other outdoor recreations.

Lynn Bright and her sister Janis Massa, who is retired as district attorney for Chilton, Autauga and Elmore counties, inherited Jackson Lake Island when their mother, Virginia Clardy, died in 2014. Lynn and Bobby bought Janis’ interest in the property and continue to operate it as a recreational spot for fishing and camping. Bright said about 12,000 people visited the island last year, including dozens of Boy Scout troops and other groups.

A locked gate blocks entrance to the island but for a $3 fee, guests can enter to experience the beauty of the lake, or to visit the abandoned film set. The set was built on a smaller island accessed only by a narrow causeway built by Lynn Bright’s father in the 1970s.

At the end of the lane was a small church with a steeple and bell tower. The home of character Jenny Hill, played by Helena Bonham Carter, was located several yards away near the water.

Several years ago, a number of buildings on the town’s main strip burned when a fire built to clear debris got out of control. All the buildings with faux brick facades – the stores, the hotel and post office – were lost. Jenny’s house has collapsed.

Only seven buildings remain today: The church, the mayor’s home, and five other clapboard houses. In addition, the poles strung with a line where Spectre residents hung their shoes can still be found on the island, and yes, visitors often leave behind their footwear, tying the laces together and tossing them over the line.

The film crew also created a spooky forest, where main character Edward Bloom – portrayed by Ewan McGregor – gets lost and battles bees and jumping spiders. To fill out the Spanish moss-draped woods on the island, set designers created dark, eerie, tangled trees from Styrofoam. Only two of those trees remain, and they create an arched entrance to Spectre.