THE WORLD BELOW

Curiosity about tunnels under city yields book for journalist

Bill Hughes/Special to ViewFormer City Life managing editor Matt O?Brien stands in a storm drain turned makeshift art gallery near Caesars Palace. O?Brien penned his book, "Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas," based on his experiences exploring the city?s drains after learning about a criminal case that involved a man who hid in the tunnel system during a police manhunt. Bill Hughes/Special to ViewO?Brien said he found artwork, including graffiti paintings, in the most unlikely of places while doing research for his book. Author Matt O?Brien stops for a break at an inlet near the Flamingo Wash. Bill Hughes/Special to View Advertisement

(Editor's note: View staff writer Amanda Llewellyn accompanied Matt O'Brien through storm drains in Las Vegas. Venturing into the storm drains is extremely dangerous and should not be attempted. Only properly identified city of Las Vegas personnel are permitted to access the storm drains legally).

When former City Life managing editor Matt O'Brien descended into the obscure and sinister darkness of the tunnels that run beneath the glittering lights of Las Vegas in the summer of 2002, it wasn't necessarily to write a book about his findings. But after five years of investigating the polluted catacombs with nothing but a flashlight, tape recorder and a baton for protection, the career journalist decided that it was a story that needed to be told.

O'Brien's book, "Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas," chronicles the exploration that yielded stories of a small and little-known subculture, art in the most unlikely of places and lunatics who wander the tunnels without rhyme or reason.

O'Brien got the idea to explore the flood control basins after hearing about a criminal case in which a Las Vegas man committed a string of murders and sexual assaults, but managed to elude police for weeks by escaping into the storm drains.

"The Timmy 'T.J.' Webber case made me curious about what was really down there," O'Brien said. "I wondered what or who he encountered as he made his way through the drains. I thought there was a story there, but I wasn't positive that I would be able to find a writer willing to investigate. I mean, as far as these drains go, they have been really uncharted territory."

O'Brien assigned the story, which he eventually ended up co-writing in a two-part series for City Life, to one of the magazine's freelance journalists, 24-year-old Joshua Ellis.

"I knew that he was the only guy in town who was crazy enough to go through with it," O'Brien said. "And talented enough to pull it off."

Overwhelmingly intrigued by the tunnels and what lay inside, O'Brien and Ellis dredged into the mouth of one of the cylinders for the first time, carrying a large knife and golf club for protection, and watched as the natural light was smothered by darkness with every forward step through the trash-littered opening.

O'Brien admits to hearing bizarre stories related to the drains, talk of a troll that lived at the system's heart, and madmen who stalked the passageways, muttering to themselves.

"When you're down in the tunnels, you're really on your own," O'Brien said. "If you get into trouble, there won't be anyone to help you. Cell phones don't always work, and we weren't sure what we would find. So, we went in prepared for anything."

"We walked into a tunnel that we knew led downtown and north," Ellis said. "I mean, now, I guess the weapons sort of seem like overkill, but you have to remember that we didn't know what to expect. There could have been feral animals or crazy people walking around down there. The added comfort of knowing we had weapons should we need them seemed like a good idea at the time."

In "Beneath the Neon," O'Brien describes how, in places, labyrinth-like drains sometimes go on for miles only to dead end, providing often inconvenient surprises for a man as tall as himself, including sudden and drastic drops in ceiling height.

"There were points where 15-foot ceilings dwindled to five," O'Brien said. "I'm 6'4" with my boots on, and there were places where I had to walk hunched over for miles."

O'Brien described the entire experience in two words: "creepy and surreal."

"To find out that there are people actually living in the drains is surreal," he said. "I had one or two close calls. I ran into people who definitely let me know that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are people wandering those drains you don't want to find yourself alone with. One guy told me he had killed people and wouldn't think twice about shooting me.

But, you can usually talk yourself out of things like that. If you're respectful and you come across as compassionate, people get the feeling that you want to really hear their story; they open up a bit more. I had to take off my reporter cap and just be Matt. That was the key to finding out about life in the drains."

According to the Las Vegas Regional Flood Control District, there are more than 450 miles of drains citywide.

O'Brien believes that he has explored almost all of them.

After the initial exploration, he took it upon himself to continue with the adventure in order to write the book.

"This is one of the first tunnels that I went into," O'Brien said, pointing to a drain entrance somewhere near Tropicana Avenue and Interstate 15.

"I am a writer. I knew that there was a story down there. That's what compelled me to go into the dark further and further when common sense told me to turn around."

O'Brien's book is slated for release on Thursday and already is available for purchase online. For more information, visit www. beneaththeneon.com or www.myspace.com/beneaththeneon.