It could be past life - yes. But I think it's sensitivity. I don't know that he had another life in America.

He specifically said that there was evil there. I just asked him..

"What about the evil in the _____?"

"Oh, it's there!" he said, without hesitation.

He added...

"You feel it on the outskirts... this looming gray. It's awful. It's evil. It's depressing.."

He went on to cite people who have been in the area, historically speaking, "They kill themselves. I hated going there... I got stuck there sometimes..."

"You were stuck there a month," I said. He actually winced.

"I couldn't wait to get out of that motherfucker! It's a feeling. It's cold and it's dark and it's down to the bone."

Wow that's intense ?

Maybe the answer is in the history of this place. Like if there were many Native Americans that were killed or other savage killings during the civil war like Gettysburg. Perhaps, even the graves undiscovered bodies from a serial killer.

My moon matches my user name in 8th, so yes I’m pretty astute/perceptive. Always the first in a group to spot someone who is NQR etc ?. 

His unconscious sensed something that happened in the past there, perhaps.