A enthusiasts has shared her tips and trick for finding morbid or scary locations.
Dark tourism is having something of a moment, with the Netflix show Dark Tourist taking viewers to some weird, creepy and remote places few would consider visiting. But the term is not a new one.
"Traditionally, dark tourism is visiting places associated with death and tragedy," shared Louise Joy, blogger and founder of The Morbid Tourist. "Back in the people used to go on a family day out for executions — not for fun, but that would be a day out. It has expanded to be something a bit more fun now and so much so, that side terms have been coined, like 'Thano tourism' or 'haunted tourism'. There is even 'legend tripping' or individuals who refer to themselves as 'tombstone tourists'."
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Louise noted how the rise interest in visiting potentially creepy destinations is due to a lot of factors including shops bringing decorations earlier and earlier each year.
Yet previously, individuals exploring 'dark' themed locations have been subject to stereotyping, such as being labelled a goth or emo. Louise revealed: "When I was a teenager and I first started getting interested into it, I was so self-conscious of myself thinking that people would think I am a weirdo. [But now] it is kind of cool to visit those places now," Louise said.
"I think it is the interest of something a little bit different — people want to be distracted from things like the cost of living crisis, where they can get lost in something a bit fantastical. If you do visit somewhere and find it interesting, you don't necessarily have to share it online if you ae scared of being judged."
In part, the newfound curiosity of many for more sinister attractions has been propelled by film and TV documentation of death, crime and murder.
"When I was younger I was so fascinated by and it wasn't until I started watching Most Haunted that I realised all these ghost stories and mysteries weren't just in books and that you could actually visit these places. It has got a lot easier over recent years as more people are talking about it"
You might not realise you've been to dark tourism locations. Think The Tower of London or Museum exhibition on ghosts, for example. But it can be hard to find up-to-date information about morbid destinations, and even how to find them.
"I have a map for a brand called and they do themed maps for all over the UK and they have a folklore and superstition map, so I will just open that up and see what is nearby," shared Louise. "But I do bare in mind some things might be out of date."
"I will also go online and search 'spooky things to do nearby' or 'haunted things to do nearby', but you do have to be specific about what you search online," she added.
One source of inspiration Louise mentioned was . "Tiktok has had a huge contribution [to the industry]. The individuality on TikTok [helps] people seeing stuff that is different and you don't necessarily see that out there offline, like in books"
However, the new trend does have a slightly darker side other than ghosts and ghouls. Many 'dark tourist' hotspots have reported instances of vandalism or tresspassing, where dark tourism enthusiasts have crossed the line. For places like churches, cemetaries and people's homes, they aren't actually an attraction like museums or National Trust houses are. As a result, they aren't open to the public all the time, but some eager individuals still attempt to visit.
Louise advises that people should research where they plan to go before they attempt to visit and to also respect the location, especially if it is a church or cemetery with graves.
One example Louise gave was of the Frankenstein House in Bath which is set over four floors. It is an immersive museum of and on the top floor there is a six foot model of what Mary Shelley envisaged Frankenstein's monster to look like. "Someone filmed the entire experience, but I only filmed clips," she shared.
The balance seems to be, it is okay to film some of the experience or location you are visiting, but do not document every step. Louise has been running her blog for around two years.
