Dark Tourism Between Historic and Mediatic Approach: the Case of Dark Dungeons

Dark tourism in recent years is experiencing great success. Death and terror are no longer taboo and fascinate many people. We can see it from the newfound success of audiovisual material that reproduces crimes that really happened or is freely inspired by true stories of criminals or from the many examples of horror-themed attractions whose sole purpose is to entertain the public. We can see it even in the increasing number of trips to the extermination camps that have marked the history of the 900, making us reflect and more aware of the mistakes made so as not to repeat them. But not everyone knows that, although in different forms, dark tourism already exists in past ages, and this is what I will explain in the first chapter of my work. Proceeding towards the second chapter, we will see how even today, there are multiple forms of dark tourism that, as mentioned before, vary from fun horror-themed attractions defined light to real sites theatre of suffering today inconceivable, defined dark. In the last chapter, I illustrate a type of attraction halfway between a light side and a dark side: the Dark Dungeons. Taking advantage of the examples of the Clink Prison Museum in London and Alcatraz in San Francisco, I will try to clarify how their promotions and the original on-site tours have made these places so popular. Nevertheless, as history teaches us, they do not fail to let us know that they have been the scene of so many deaths and suffering.