From Chernobyl to ground zero of the 9/11 terror attack in New York City, tourists have long flocked to places where some of the darkest events of human history have unfolded.
Lancashire is one such lure, with interest in the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612, which saw 10 people hanged after being imprisoned at Lancaster Castle.
ITV has reported that the fascination with this morbid event has led to a whole industry, with ghost walks, tours, and even commemorative tea towels being made in remembrance.
The witch trials have also spawned other dark tourism sites around the country, with the village of Pendle Hill attracting visitors thanks to its statue of 1612 victim Alice Nutter.
But it is not the first time such a fascination with a site of a death or disaster has attracted visitors.
Last year’s news of the missing Titanic submersible captured the attention of the world, as people waited with bated breath to find out if the missing five would be found in time.
A documentary on it is currently showing on Channel 5 – The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute by Minute.
Dr Donna Pomade, a specialist in the studying of dark tourism, said: “It may seem strange to many of us, but a morbid curiosity draws tourists to the strangest – and most forboding – corners of the world.”
Speaking to The Independent, she said: “That’s why the news of the missing Titan submersible has captured the attention – and the imagination — of the world. As a scholar in the growing field of ‘dark tourism’ research, activities like the ill-fated OceanGate expedition and other sightseeing endeavours associated with suffering and tragedy come as no surprise to me.
“The phenomenon of ‘dark tourism’ has fascinated researchers for many years, but tourists are being increasingly drawn to places associated with atrocity, violence, and disaster. Historic sites include Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chernobyl (before the war in Ukraine), and Ground Zero. However, “experiences” can now be excursions to sites of slavery, war, the famous dead, serial murder, natural disasters and, as in the case of the OceanGate trip, maritime tragedies such as the Titanic.”
But what is dark tourism and why is there such a morbid fascination in visiting death sites? Here is everything we know:
What is dark tourism?
Dark tourism has been defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy.
That can include genocide, assassination, incarceration, ethnic cleansing, war, or disaster – either natural or accidental.
J John Lennon, a professor of tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University, in Scotland, coined the term in 1996, but said this is a practice that has been going on for centuries.
Speaking to The Washington Post, he said: “It’s not a new phenomenon. There’s evidence that dark tourism goes back to the Battle of Waterloo, where people watched from their carriages the battle taking place.”
Arguably, people throughout history have been attracted by the dark and morbid, where people would even sell lurid souvenirs at executions, from ancient Rome to 17th century London.
Why do people feel the urge to visit dark tourism sites?
According to psychologists, there are reasons that people feel the need to visit morbid places associated with the worst of human history.
Psychologist Dr Mark Griffiths has studied the fascination with dark tourism, and said it can be a variety of reasons as to why people seek the darkest of spaces to explore.
He even wrote a paper in Psychology Today on the reasons and listed empathy, horror, and education as all reasons.
He wrote: “The reasons why tourists are attracted to dark tourism sites derive, at least in part, from the same curiosity which motivates a visit to Niagara Falls. Visiting dark tourism sites is an out of the ordinary experience, and thus attractive for its uniqueness and as a means of satisfying human curiosity. So the main reason is the experience of the unusual.
“Another of the reasons for visiting dark tourism sites may be empathy, which is an acceptable way of expressing a fascination with horror… In many respects, the interpretation of dark tourism sites can be difficult and sensitive, given the message of the site as forwarded by exhibition curators can at times conflict with the understandings of visitors.
“Horror is also regarded as one of the key reasons for visiting dark tourism sites, and in particular, sites of atrocity… Relating atrocity as heritage at a site is thus as entertaining as any media depiction of a story, and for precisely the same reasons and with the same moral overtones. Such tourism products or examples are: Ghost Walks around sites of execution or murder (Ghost Tour of Prague), Murder Trails found in many cities like Jack the Ripper in London.”
And, in an age before television, the internet, computer games, many would seek out dark tourism for entertainment — and also to make money from this prurient, but very human, curiosity.
In Punch magazine, from 1842, it was written, “Murder is, doubtless, a very shocking offence; nevertheless, as what is done is not to be undone, let us make money of it. Hereupon, we turn a murderer into a commodity, and open an account with homicide….
“We show a murderer ‘as men show an ape’... We lie in wait near his prison bars — become Newgate eavesdroppers — we fee turnkeys — get hangman’s patronage — leave no vile task undone — no loathsome path untrod to feed the appetite we create — a morbid, wolfish craving for all that’s foul and hideous in humanity.”
Where are some of the most popular dark tourism sites?
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland
Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust.
Visitors can buy tickets to see a variety of macabre artefacts — from the luggage seized by the Nazis, pictures taken from families who had been split up, and even a section showing human hair shaved from the heads of Jewish prisoners.
Chernobyl and Pripyat, Ukraine
The Chernobyl disaster occurred when technicians at nuclear reactor Unit 4 attempted a poorly designed experiment. A number of mistakes led to an uncontrolled chain reaction that resulted in several massive explosions. The area was deemed radioactive and those living there had to flee.
Officially 31 people died, but the number is believed by many to be much higher, and the area is still not habitable.
Tours have been available to the area, which have been described as “eerie” by many who have visited, but at present tours are not running due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
9/11 Memorial and Museum, Ground Zero, New York, USA
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamist extremists al-Qaeda against the United States.
The World Trade Centre, known as Twin Towers, was a famous part of the New York skyline and planes were deliberately flown into them, resulting in them collapsing.
The September 11 attacks of 2001 caused the deaths of 2,996 people and now visitors can see ‘Ground Zero’, the spot where the Twin Towers used to stand.
There is also a museum to visit and guided tours for those who want to find out more about the site.
Rwanda
The Rwandan genocide occurred between April and July 1994, during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed military police.
The UN estimates that around 800,000 Rwandans were brutally slaughtered and tourists can now visit the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre, which is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide.
It is located near the centre of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, where the main airport is.
Hiroshima, Japan
Hiroshima, a city on Japan’s Honshu Island, was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II.
It is estimated that the effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima, and now tourists flock to the area to see the ruins, which remain to this day.
There is a memorial walk around, plus gardens promoting ‘peace’ which people can visit.
Alcatraz, America
An island off the coast of San Francisco, Alcatraz was a maximum-security prison that housed the likes of notorious gangsters, such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud, aka the ‘Bird Man’ of Alcatraz.
It was closed in 1963 but that was not the end of the story for the former prison.
People can now book to get a ferry across and go on day tours, night tours, or even an acces-all-areas tour, complete with guides.
