Eighth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

The “dark ride” is a format of popular entertainment that originated in the United States in the early twentieth century. Ghost train, haunted mill, and spooky castle rides populated amusement parks across the world. Throughout the 1930s and 1960s the dark ride was an established part of the media landscape but has largely disappeared. One of the unique properties of the dark ride experience was its adaptation of urban mythology in a spatial experience. Dark ride referenced and appropriated local myth, memory, and trauma to build entertainment experiences. In the 1910s, Pittsburgh’s once-thriving milling industry was represented only by abandoned mills dotted throughout the landscape. The “Old Mill” ride became a popular theme for dark rides with rides styled as abandoned buildings using a mill format to ferry passengers through the space. The author will discuss the role that darkened electric rides have played in creating a language of space and memory in the most popular forms of culture. He will discuss his field work and the multitude of connections between shared cultural history and the thematic space of the amusement park. From the mining rides of Pennsylvania to the haunted hospital amusements of Japan, this paper will explore media storytelling that has intersections with cinema, theatre, and architecture.