“…The absolute darkness of feeling surrounded by luminous smartphones…”
Fabrizio Caramagna
Freud argued that an intrinsic force leads the individual towards death and destruction. The so-called “death drive”, or “Thanatos”, represents the instinct that pushes the individual towards non-existence, in contrast to the vital force.
In recent years, due to media escalation that tends to fuel the fascination for the macabre, a new, at times disturbing form of tourism has taken shape, called “dark tourism”.
A definition
It is also known as “thanatourism”, from the Greek thanatos. In psychoanalysis it indicates death instincts. It pushes people to places that are the stage for disasters and tragedies, disturbing legends, brutal crimes, near or far in time.
The term dark tourism was coined in 1996 by Lennon and Foley, two professors of the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management at the Caledonian University of Glasgow.
Why do people find certain places fascinating?
In some cases, it could be a way to exorcise the fear of death. Actually a way to control its unknown dimension, trying to make it tangible and concrete. In others, visiting places that have been the scene of atrocities, death or destruction creates a sort of empathy. Something that leaves an indelible mark. Or maybe witnessing to death as a “spectator” becomes a sort of catharsis, as Aristotle said. It allows us to face the deepest fear of every individual “from a distance” and with detachment.
After all, some individuals have always witnessed horror! From gladiator battles in the Colosseum to hangings that took place in the squares during medieval obscurantism, for example.
Dark tourism: some destinations
The destinations of dark torism are places where mass deaths and executions occurred, such as extermination camps or battlefields. There are also places linked to crime news, the so-called “black spots”. Moreover, where celebrities died, trips to memorials or places of internment, cemeteries, crypts and cenotaphs.
Among the destinations of global black tourism we find the Sedlec Ossuary, in the Czech Republic. It’s the “Church of Bones”, which houses over 40,000 human skeletons belonging to the victims of the Black Death. People arranged them in such a way as to create a decorative system that adorns the building’s interior.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, perhaps the emblem of terror always and forever. A surreal, macabre, hallucinatory place, that needs no introduction. There death still permeates every remaining element. It seems that we can still perceive the pain of souls in the air.
Chernobyl, where you can visit reactor number 4 that exploded on April 26, 1986 and the ghost town of Pripyat. Moreover, in China the city of Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province, has become one of the most popular destinations for the locals since the coronavirus.
Dark tourism in the USA
We move to America, to Milwaukee, where you can find a tour for the “admirers” of Jeffrey Dahmer. He was a serial killer responsible for 17 murders, acts of cannibalism, necrophilia and dismemberment, during which they also try to evoke his ghost.
New Orleans is a city that has always been linked to the occult, vampirism, voodoo, legends and witchcraft, considered one of the most haunted places in the world. Here lived the Count of St. Germain, who never touched food during banquets. When he died in 1784, no one saw his body, until an identical and equally enchanting individual returned a century later.
In Japan
We cannot fail to mention Aokigahara forest, the suicide forest. Located at the foot of Mount Fuji, 150 km from Tokyo, it is frighteningly silent because the wind cannot enter because it is so thick. It is a truly disturbing place due to the large number of suicides that occur here every year. Leaving the main path, you can easily get lost and even come across hanged bodies, as has already happened in the past. People think that those who commit suicide here becomes a yurei, an evil spirit.
These are just a few examples of this new, disturbing form of tourism that is spreading and that leaves us very perplexed. What do you think?