Terror park: A future theme park in 2100

Abstract

In the future, tourism and entertainment could be displayed as spectacles of horror, where consumers are offered and opportunity to revisit the tragedies of the past. Current displays of death where the past is exhibited and consumed as fun, scary and as entertainment productions are widespread. The movie industry provides horror to all ages, children can be exposed to the goulash past in various forms, such as the popular book series 'Horrible Histories'. Theme parks, rides and roller-coaster often take a dark and scary approach to enticing consumers. Another popular and well established product (especially in western societies) are 'fun factories' (Stone, 2008), such as the dungeon attractions owned by the Merlin Entertainment Group. The market for death and horror based attractions and entertainment is growing. Since the dawn of time death has been a guarantee that awaits us all. Society is well connected to death, however and significantly, the consumption of death and its social transformation historically to present, both in practice and meaning have changed, evolved and continue to do so. The meaning, practice and consumption of death and its evolution into the future will be a significant representation of future societies. This paper, considers how society is moving into a new period, the 'spectacle of death'. By researching and understanding past and present social realities, it is possible to generate knowledge, ideas and predictions of the future, in this study, the future role of death as tourism entertainment. This paper presents original and challenging potential future scenarios in which tourists engage with death as a form of entertainment, around the year 2100. Uniquely, the paper considers the use of horrific and tragic events that have overwhelmed the world in the early 21 st Century (including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York). Accordingly, presenting innovative narratives exposing how these will become spectacles of death in a 'terror park'; a lighter form of dark entertainment in the future.

Dark tourism and affect: framing places of death and disaster

“…Alongside dark tourism research on supply and demand approaches, case studies, tourists' motivations and trends (see Light, 2017, for a comprehensive overview), researchers currently turn their attention to future possibilities for dark tourism, such as 'terror parks' (Wright, 2018), as well as to psychological and psychoanalytical approaches to tourists' experiences in dark places (Biran & Buda, 2018;Buda, 2015b;Korstanje & Ivanov, 2012;Morten, Stone, & Jarratt, 2018). A considerable body of work, in particular, explores post-disaster tourism places, recognizing the emotional, subjective and specific value of these sites (Amujo & Otubanjo, 2012;Chew & Jahari, 2014;Mair, Ritchie, & Walters, 2016;Martini & Buda, 2018;Tucker, Shelton, & Bae, 2017;Wright & Sharpley, 2018).…”

Understanding young Chinese customers’ perceptions of unsafe city image restoration after Covid-19 outbreak

“…Some respondents expressed their expectations for learning and gaining memorable experiences during visiting. Besides, with the lighthearted characteristic, the pleasant experience and interaction with new technology in dark sites are what many Generation Z respondents yearn for, which is also in line with the traveling motivation of gaining educational experience and entertainment of tourists (Wright, 2018).…”

“…According to Wright (2018), dark tourism may allow tourists to interact with past painful experiences in a form of entertainment. Among different types of dark tourism attractions, museums can satisfy visitors by providing education and experience platforms (Miller et al , 2017).…”

Re-enactment in Lighter Dark Tourism: An Exploration of Re-enactor Tour Guides and Their Perspectives on Creating Visitor Experiences

“…Because lighter attractions generally represent events of more than one-hundred years past, whilst darker attractions generally depict more recent events, scholars have suggested the increasing temporal distance has created a social acceptance of lighter attractions being more lighthearted (Stone, 2006;Wright, 2018). However, this social acceptance has not reduced the criticisms of them being inauthentic, exploitative and negatively impacting on public memory (Benzaquen-Gautier, 2020;Cohen, 2011;Hertzman et al, 2008;Mittermeier, 2016;Silverman, 2011;Virgili et al, 2018).…”