50 Dark Destinations

From the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and Jack the Ripper guided tours to the Phnom Penh killing fields, ‘dark tourism’ is now a multi-million-pound global industry. Even in the most pleasant tourist destinations, underlying harms are constantly perpetuated, affecting both consumers and those who work or live around such tourist hotspots. Highlighting 50 travel destinations across six continents, expert criminologists, psychologists and historians explore the past and contemporary issues which we often disregard during our everyday leisure.

This captivating book is the ‘go-to’ guide for anyone interested in crime and deviance-related tourism. Accessible and digestible, it exposes a worrying trend in contemporary consumer culture, in which many of us partake.

'Write-Stuff - Dark Tourism might entice some travelers and Adam Lynes offers insights from "50 Dark Destinations' for RMWorldTravel
'PODCAST: The lure of dark destinations' on Transforming Society
'OceanGate: Luxury tourism, the Titanic and the ticking clock' on Transforming Society

“Fun and scholarly, engaging and academic, interesting and intellectual, and should be widely read by anyone interested in violence, trauma, memory, memorialisation, war, museums and history. The subject matter is gruesome and chilling but at the same time accessible and illuminating.” Kevin Walby, University of Winnipeg

“Captures how all societies have fascinations with the macabre, but pushes this notion to ask how curiosity became tourism. ... Should leave us reflecting on our age where everything has a price but do we really understand the price that has been paid?" Lisa Mckenzie, University of Bedfordshire

"Makes light reading of some of the world's most historically disturbing places. Read on if you dare to delve beneath their comfortable veneers and deeper into their world of disconcertedness." Daniel Briggs, Universidad Europea

“Infused with interesting facts and sharp observations about famous and not so famous ‘destinations’ all over the world, this book is a page-turner. Simultaneously cool and serious, rich and approachable, 50 Dark Destinations will provide you with a fresh way of viewing leisure, place and culture.” Georgios A. Antonopoulos, Northumbria University

“Succinct, contextualised and insightful. Reveals the complex reasons why so many of us enjoy ‘grazing’ on carefully curated spectacles of suffering, desolation and death. With this cutting-edge criminological analysis, we can actually learn something about ourselves.” Steve Hall, Teesside University

“A fascinating travelogue of trouble. The tourist gaze that animates the book is particularly chilling, revealing the global span of crime – and the insatiable global appetite for crime’s ghostly residues.” Jeff Ferrell, author of Drift: Illicit Mobility and Uncertain Knowledge

"A fascinating collection of essays on dark tourist destinations. It digs beneath the commercialisation of harm, while bringing into focus the reasons for our obsessions with it."

Anthony Ellis, University of Lincoln

Introduction - Adam Lynes, Craig Kelly and James Treadwell

1. Cocaine Bear: Lexington, Kentucky, USA - Travis Linnemann

2. Whitney Plantation: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - Thomas Raymen

3. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Washington DC, USA - Alice Storey

4. From Newgate Prison to Tyburn Tree: the Old Bailey, London, UK - Peter Joyce and Wendy Laverick

5. Jack the Ripper Tour: Whitechapel, London, UK - Kevin Hoffin

6. The Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA - Laura Hammond

7. The Museum of Death: Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA - Loukas Ntanos

8. The Royal Armouries Museum: Leeds, UK - Sarah Jones

9. The Black Dahlia tour: Los Angeles, California, USA - David Wilson

10. The Execution Dock: Wapping, East London, UK - Wendy Laverick and Peter Joyce

11. Auschwitz: Oświęcim, Poland - Tammy Ayres and Sarah Hodgkinson

12. Jeju 4:3 memorial: Jeju Island, South Korea - Robin West

13. Museum Dr. Guislain: Ghent, Belgium - Sophie Gregory

14. Karosta Prison Hotel: Liepāja, Latvia - Melindy Duffus

15. The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK - Dan Rusu

16. The 9/11 memorial and museum: New York, New York, USA - John Bahadur Lamb

17. The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Eamonn Carrabine

18. Choeung Ek killing field: Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Luke Telford

19. Blue lights in the Red Light District: Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Ben Colliver

20. Trophy hunting: sub-Saharan Africa - Patrick Berry and Gary R. Potter

21. 'The ugly side to the beautiful game': Qatar - Grace Gallacher

22. Burning Man festival: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA - Keith Hayward

23. Magaluf: Majorca - Simon Winlow

24. 'Holiday Hooters': Hong Kong - Katie Lowe

25. Scilla: Calabria, Italy - Anna Sergi

26. The Kray twins tours: London, UK - Craig Ancrum

27. Backpacking in the outback: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia - Eveleigh Buck-Matthews and Craig Kelly

28. The hippie trail: Nepal, South Asia - Emiline Smith

29. The Museum of Confiscated Art: Brest, Belarus - Donna Yates and Hannah London

30. Steroid holidays: Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt - Nick Gibbs

31. The Souks: Tunis, Tunisia - Kyla Bavin and James Treadwell

32. Mezhyhirya Residence Museum: Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine - Tereza Østbø Kuldova and Jardar Østbø

33. The great British seaside: various locations, UK - Neil Chakraborti

34. The Biggie mural: Brooklyn, New York, USA - Natasha Pope

35. The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK - Ian R. Cook and Michael Rowe

36. Volunteer tourism - 'doing it for the 'gram': Cambodia, Southeast Asia - Orlando Woods

37. The Staycation: home - Jack Denham

38. The 'suicide forest': Aokigahara, Japan - Max Hart

39. Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean - Steve Wadley

40. Favela tours: Rio De Janerio, Brazil - Duncan Frankis and Selina Patel Nascimento

41. Skid Row walking tours: Los Angeles, California, USA - Craig Kelly

42. The 2019-2020 anti-extradition protests: Hong Kong - Jane Richards

43. The Maldives: Republic of Maldives, Indian Ocean - Emiline Smith and Oliver Smith

44. Death Road: La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia - Joe Garrihy

45. Vulture brains and muthi markets: Johannesburg, South Africa - Angus Nurse

46. Dark Tourism, ecocide and alpine ski resorts: the Alps, Europe - Oliver Smith

47. Boho Zone: Middlesbrough, UK - Emma Winlow

48. One Hyde Park: London, UK - Rowland Atkinson

49. Amazon warehouse tours: Rugeley, UK or virtual tour - Adam Lynes

50. Disney World: Orlando, Florida, USA - Anthony Lloyd

Conclusion - Adam Lynes, Craig Kelly and James Treadwell