What would really be scary is driving on a freeway, and seeing that the car next to you has Shannon County, South Dakota license plates. 
South Dakota doesn't do the county thing. But I've already lived in an area very similar to Shannon anyway. It actually is kind of scary, just not in the way you're thinking of. Kind of David Lynch-esque at times. Imagine a bunch of snow everywhere but the prairies and hills still visible in the background due to no tall buildings. The houses are mostly fit for being condemned but aren't. There's a lot of clearly abandoned warehouses around but they stay up because no one will pay to demolish them. Full of graffiti. The streets are full of empty pop cans and empty bottles of mouthwash. Lots of mouthwash because everyone knows it's a cheap source of alcohol. Only people out on the streets is a girl about 9 or 10 or so and her sister tagging along, probably about 4. The older girl has a bag and she's collecting the cans. The money recycling centers pay for them is actually rather needed for their family clearly. I DID see exactly that the last time I was there. No doubt I saw equally surreal things when living there, but because I was used to it and didn't know anywhere else, I didn't realize how surreal they were.
One thing I did remember though, one of those abandoned buildings actually did get demolished. The reason it was targeted was because many of the locals believed it was haunted and wanted to get rid of it. No seriously. That's the actual reason it was demolished.
