Mud Bay Blog

From what I can find out there really was a Norman Bates Motel in Fife, Washington. The motel, located on Pacific Highway East (Highway 99), was razed several years ago. All that remains is the sign (see photo) and a cement pad, broken up by a carpet of weeds, at the back of the lot where the foundation used to be. The picture, taken yesterday afternoon, seems appropriate to post with about three weeks to go until Halloween. I wonder how creepy the site is at night.

I generally watch one scary movie a year. A couple of years ago my movie-critic friend recommended Psycho as that year’s Halloween night movie. As I watched it, I remembered some of the scenes from seeing the movie as a kid. But I must have been in the lobby or hiding under my seat when Janet Leigh, caught in a storm, checks in to the Bates Motel. After watching the movie as an adult, I can answer the question posed in the post’s title this way: No way. Not even if it was the only motel in western Washington with a “Yes” light on.