Haunting the Genre

This chapter argues for the privileged space of haunted attractions as they give their audiences a lot more than they bargained for. In such liminally spooky spaces, shared experience and communitas are produced in such a way that the barriers not only between the audience members but also between the audience and the actors (who are themselves often marginalized members of society) are significantly weakened. Haunted attractions piggyback on the signal wave of horror to build genuine communities of empathy and compassion. As the genre matures, exploitation and stereotyping are giving way to a utopian vision of horror in which being weird and different is accepted and even celebrated.