8 Supernatural Twin Peaks Locations
An in-depth look into the Supernatural locations of Twin Peaks. “There’s a sort of evil out there. Something very, very strange in these old woods” Sheriff Truman says after being told about Cooper’s surreal dream in season 1. He’s right indeed: there’s something very strange in Twin Peaks.
Whether you’ve watched the show since the original run or you’ve just caught up on season 3, you probably know there is a whole mythology behind the most popular fictional town in television history. It’s not only about its quirkiness: it’s more about the otherworldly, supernatural universe encompassing the “real world”. And, in a proper Lynchian way, not much about this universe is clarified or explained.
Even the most die-hard fans are puzzled by the purpose and the role played by places such as the Waiting Room, the Lodges and the so-called “Mauve Zone”. What are they there for? Is there some kind of hierarchy? Which rules do they follow, and how do they influence the real world?
Before trying to approach these questions, we should always keep in mind one thing: these places are paintings. Literally. Paintings in motion. They achieved one of the highest pinnacles of Lynch’s surrealism. It’s almost like admiring a Rene Magritte’s painting or contemplating Salvador Dali.
Of course, some inspirations come from visions that Lynch had himself, whereas some others are tributes to his favorite artists (see Francis Bacon); but, all in all, when we see The Arm dancing on that chevron floor, we’re actually watching a piece of surrealist art. They are “non-existent” places or places from the subconscious. They are more similar to what we experience in dreams than in reality. It’s a “gut experience”, not a “head experience”. So, we probably shouldn’t try to find a linear logic or a rational explanation… simply because there may be none.
However, we can try to clear up a bit of confusion and make sense out of these – for a lack of better words – “locations”. How do they tie in with the town of Twin Peaks and its residents? What is their relevance within the diegetic universe of the show? What are their properties? Let’s break them down one by one, based on fans assumptions and actual revelations.
1. WHITE LODGE
What is it?
An extra-dimensional place of goodness, opened up by love, “where the spirits that rule man and nature reside. Gentle fawns gambol there amidst happy, laughing spirits. The sounds of innocence and joy fill the air. It rains sweet nectar that infuses one’s heart with a desire to live life in truth and beauty”.
Description:
We have never really been to the White Lodge, except for the brief scene depicted above. However, we know that Major Garland Briggs was abducted and taken there, and some believe that the White Lodge matches the description given by the Major as he recounts a vision he had to his son Bobby: “I was on the veranda of a vast estate, a palazzo of some fantastic proportion. There seemed to emanate from it a light, from within this gleaming, radiant marble. I had known this place. I had, in fact, been born and raised there, and this was my first return. Wandering about, I noticed happily that the house had been immaculately maintained. There had been added a number of additional rooms, but in a way that blended so seamlessly with the original construction, one would never detect any difference”.
Inhabitants:
Supposedly benevolent spirits, such as the angel that saves Laura’s soul and maybe even the Giant from the original run. Yet, Major Briggs only remembers the shape of a huge owl.
Effects on people:
Generally a positive enhancement of people’s knowledge and a strong impact on their spiritual growth (think about the Log Lady or Carl Rodd). Also, the White Lodge seems to affect people’s memory, causing amnesia for the events occurring during the stay within its limits. Briggs claims that he only has palpable sensations, as if “everything is known to me, yet somehow beyond my reach”.
Inspiration and fun facts:
The mythology of the White Lodge is allegedly inspired by alien abduction stories. Moreover, the White Lodge – along with the Black Lodge – represent the theme of duality, and in particular, reflect the concept of Yin and Yang.
2. BLACK LODGE
What is it?
“The shadow-self of the White Lodge”. A dimension of darkness and evil opened up by fear. “A place of almost unimaginable power, chock full of dark forces and vicious secrets. The spirits there care not for good deeds or priestly invocations; they’re as like to rip the flesh from your bone as greet you with a happy ‘Good day’. And if harnessed, these spirits in this hidden land of unmuffled screams and broken hearts would offer up a power so vast that its bearer might reorder the Earth itself to his liking”.
Legend says that “every spirit must pass through there on the way to perfection. There, you will meet your own shadow self. The Dweller on the Threshold”… your doppelgänger.
Description:
There’s a lot of speculation about the Black Lodge. Some fans think we have never actually seen it, while others think that the Black Lodge and the White Lodge are one and the same, the latter having been replaced by its dark counterpart. Still, the predominant theory is that the Black Lodge is the Waiting Room when the lights flicker on and off, as seen in the season 2 finale. Also, this evil realm is thought to be the dark void where Mother gives birth to Bob.
Inhabitants:
Evil spirits feeding on Garmonbozia (human pain and sorrow), such as Bob and Mother, as well as doppelgängers.
Effects on people:
Both behavioral, causing negative emotions and modifying Twin Peaks’ residents’ usual behavior, and physical, provoking numbness of the limbs and hand tremors. Generally, the Black Lodge is known to corrupt one’s soul at its core, and its effects depend on how distant the victim is from its influence.
Inspiration and fun facts:
In early drafts of the script, Mark Frost admitted he wanted to shape the Black Lodge as “the dark mirror of the Great Northern Hotel”. This concept, however, never came to be.
3. THE WAITING ROOM (a.k.a. THE RED ROOM)
What is it?
A neutral, still place connecting the two Lodges with each other. A way station “between the two worlds”. An access point to the real world. A limbo, or a purgatory. A meeting room where all kinds of beings come together.
Description:
Time does not exist, although objects, rooms, and entities within the Red Room evolve. There’s an endless number of similar rooms linked by narrow, similar corridors. Instead of walls, there are red curtains varying in brightness – sometimes they’re bright red, sometimes opaquer. The floor has a chevron pattern: it changes color (from white to yellowish) and orientation (25 years after the original events, it’s rotated 90 degrees).
The most famous room consists of three armchairs, two lamps and a small side-table with an Art Deco green glass Saturn lamp. Another room is known to house the infamous Owl Ring pedestal. Also, several statues of goddess Venus are occasionally displayed all through the labyrinth: versions of these statues include Venus De Medici, Venus De Milo and Venus Of Arles.
The Waiting Room can be “activated” from time to time: when this occurs, the red curtains lift up revealing a black void and the chevron lines move up and down, revealing a black liquid below the floor that leads into a tornado-like vortex.
Inhabitants:
The Arm (and its evolution) and Philip Gerard (a.k.a. Mike). Also, several evil beings manifest in the Red Room (most famously doppelgängers and Bob), as it is the ultimate threshold of the real world. The Red Room’s inhabitants speak in warped, reverse English, mostly in riddles and non-sequiturs; sometimes they’re able to communicate with those who live out in the real world.
Effects on people:
People trapped in the Room are simply stuck there, apparently going nowhere. When a spirit manifests, it provides cryptic advice, clues and revelations.
Inspiration and fun facts:
The idea for the Waiting Room reportedly came to Lynch as he touched the trunk of his car on the way out of a shooting: it was so hot, that he immediately pictured a room with red curtains. Moreover, a similar zig-zag floor is featured in “Eraserhead”, whereas a similar room with curtains appears in “Mulholland Drive”… it’s a theater and it’s called Club Silencio!
4. THE CONVENIENCE STORE
What is it?
Supposedly some sort of threshold, like the Waiting Room. It may also be a storage room for the Black Lodge, as several cans of Garmonbozia are piled behind the windows.
Description:
An abandoned, dark, one-story gas station, plainly labeled as “Convenience Store”. There’s a staircase on one side of the building leading to an upper floor: those who climb it are mysteriously taken into an interior space, with more stairs and flowered wallpaper similar to Mrs. Tremond’s picture’s one (see below). The stairs lead to the Dutchman’s motel.
Inhabitants:
Several soot-covered Woodsmen, maybe watching out for the Garmonbozia.
Effects on people:
Can be seen appearing and disappearing in the real world. Moreover, the woodsmen are malevolent entities, known for splitting skulls and making people fall asleep.
Inspiration and fun facts:
Though many believe the Convenience Store was first mentioned by Philip Jeffries in “Fire Walk With Me” (he claimed to have attended a meeting of supernatural beings in the room “above the store”), this otherworldly place is actually referred to in the original run as well: “Through the darkness of a future past, the magician longs to see. One chance out between the two worlds. Fire walk with me. We lived among the people. I think you say convenience store. We lived above it”. On a side note, you should definitely check out Ed Hopper’s “Gas”!
5. THE DUTCHMAN’S
What is it?
A dilapidated, dark motel above the convenience store.
Description:
There’s a large courtyard and several rooms. Philip Jeffries is discovered living in room 8, beyond a dissolving wall: he has evolved into a kettle-like device. It’s speculated that the meeting Jeffries recounted having witnessed in 1989 took place at the Dutchman’s. If so, one of the rooms is a spare, dirty space, with two windows covered in newspapers: there’s a Formica table in the middle, an old couch on one side and electric devices emitting sparks.
Inhabitants:
The place is run by a landlady credited only as “Bosomy Woman”, who owns the key to every room. Other inhabitants include the woodsmen, the Electrician, Philip Jeffries (and his evolution), the Jumping Man and presumably Mrs. Tremond and her Grandson.
Effects on people:
Unknown.
Inspiration and fun facts:
The shooting location is the same building used as the Red Diamond City Motel in Deer Meadow, where Theresa Banks used to meet her clients in “Fire Walk With Me”.
6. THE PURPLE OCEAN
What is it?
A vast area, accessed via the tornado-like vortex beneath the Red Room’s floor. It’s speculated to be a sort of antechamber to the White Lodge.
Description:
An endless purple ocean, which includes Naido’s palace and the Fireman’s Fortress.
Inhabitants:
Unknown.
Effects on people:
Unknown.
Inspiration and fun facts:
The concept was inspired by the writings of Kenneth Grant, an English Thelematist who asserted a connection between Western occultism and alien abductions. Grant talked about a place called “The Mauve Zone” and described it as a world at the edge of reality, where human experience meets non-existence.
7. NAIDO’S PALACE
What is it?
A power facility, somewhere either in the purple ocean or in outer space.
Description:
A low-ceiling room, with a fireplace, a couch and a vase with a blue rose in it. Something (probably Mother) is constantly banging on the door. On a wall, there is an enlarged power outlet labelled “3” – which turns into “15” as the power is activated. A ladder leads up to the roof, where the entire facility becomes a spaceship-like structure in the middle of a star field: here, we see a bell-shaped device and a lever which apparently turns the power on and off.
Inhabitants:
Naido, a Ronette Pulaski look-alike credited as “American Girl” and Major Briggs’ head.
Effects on people:
Time alternates fast between backward and forward. However, when the lever on the roof is pulled, it goes back to normal.
Inspiration and fun facts:
A similar lever, in a similar place in outer space, can be also seen in the opening sequence of “Eraserhead”.
8. THE FIREMAN’S FORTRESS
What is it?
A majestic fortress situated on an atoll somewhere in the purple ocean.
Description:
Objects and entities are in black and white. The fortress is a set of early-20th-century-décored rooms, including a living room with a sofa, a gramophone and a bell-shaped mechanism, and a parlor with two armchairs and two white holes in the ceiling. There’s also a vast projection room, with a screen where the events occurring in the real world can be observed.
Inhabitants:
The Fireman (previously known as “???????”) and Senorita Dido. Both seem to be benevolent, peaceful entities, willing to share their wisdom and breathe life into souls. Moreover, on two occasions, the Fortress is visited by Agent Cooper and Deputy Brennan.
Effects on people:
The Fireman gives clues and provides help.
Inspiration and fun facts:
Carel Struycken – the actor who portrays The Fireman – also played The Giant in the original run: whether these two characters are the same, it’s still unknown. Also, if you look closely, you’ll notice that the projection room scene was shot at the same location used for “Mulholland Drive”’s Club Silencio.
BONUS – POINTS OF ACCESS
These places can be accessed in different ways:
Glastonbury Grove is a circle of 12 sycamore trees encompassing a pool of scorched engine oil. It’s situated in Ghostwood Forest, in Twin Peaks. When Jupiter aligns with Saturn, a red-curtain gateway appears and grants access to the Red Room.
Jack Rabbit’s Palace is a mystical area somewhere in the woods on Blue Pine Mountain, Twin Peaks. This is the only known way to enter The Fireman’s Fortress.
Mrs. Tremond’s Picture depicts a semi-opened door. It was given to Laura Palmer and hung on her bedroom’s wall; Laura then entered the frame while dreaming, and found herself within the Waiting Room. Supposedly, the door in the picture leads to the Convenience Store as well.
The Glass Box is a mysterious construction located in an anonymous building in New York City. Apparently, the box acts as a channel between the supernatural world and the real one. How it works or who built it is unknown; however, Cooper appears in the box after falling into the black liquid beneath the Red Room’s floor just moments before Mother manifests from (presumably) the Black Lodge.
Sky Vortexes appear at certain moments in certain locations, such as “The Zone”. They release the woodsmen out in the real world, as well as drag people inside the Convenience Store.
The Devil’s Gate is a mystical place (similar to Glastonbury Grove) located in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico. A gateway to the Black Lodge, it was discovered by occultist Alistair Crowley and used by Jack Parsons to perform a ritual in order to summon Mother.
The “Moonchild” Gate is another access point to the Black Lodge. Situated in Jornada Del Muerto, New Mexico, the gate was forced open by Jack Parsons days before the Roswell Incident.
The Owl Ring(s), as there could be more than one, carries its owner right into the Red Room. The properties of the ring(s) are still debated.
ADDITIONAL PHENOMENA
Electricity in any form (such as outlets or electricity poles) is known to be a solid connection to the beings in the other world.
Direct Abductions have been occurring since the foundation of Twin Peaks. Major Briggs, the Log Lady and Carl Rodd, for example, suddenly disappeared in the woods, without any proper access point. Possibly, either Philip Jeffries was abducted as well or his last known location – The Palm Deluxe Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina – is another access point.
Many residents in Twin Peaks have experienced dreams and visions. While dreams seem to take the dreamer directly to “another place”, visions are often manifestations of supernatural beings in the real world and are perceived as signs of danger.
Sometimes possessions occur. This concept involves a spirit using a person’s body as a vessel to do nefarious things or to communicate important messages.
Does this guide clear up your doubts? And what’s your favorite supernatural place?
Let us know! Feel free to leave a comment, share and like. Thank you.
