History NightmareFuel / ThemeParks

* Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas has a live shark exhibit not too unlike what you would find at [=SeaWorld=] or a big aquarium. The final room, containing the large tank the adult sharks hang out in, resembles the innards of a sunken ship. There's a plexiglass floor in the middle of the room for those who enjoy tempting fate, with a fake skeleton swimming with the sharks down there. But, perhaps you're too chicken to stand on that acrylic panel and head for the exit? Well, guess what the short path to the exit is made out of?

* Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri is a mostly harmless amusement park based around pioneer life in the Ozark region. There's one ride, however, that has become rather infamous among park-goers, and that is Fire-in-the-Hole. Based around the story of Marmaros (now Marvel Lake) in the Ozark mountains, the ride is a mix between a dark ride and roller coaster showing off stories about the town's creation and history. The problem is that the ride hasn't been updated since the early 1970s, and it is definitely shows. The jerky, corpse-like animatronics (including a downright horrifying one of a Baldknobber - a vigilante group from the town's infancy that wore terrifying costumes - firing a cannon at the train cars) combined with the rather bizarre stories surrounding Marmaros make for a truly unnerving experience. It's become something of a cult favorite with older patrons, but probably isn't the best ride for younger kids.

* The Field Museum of Natural History in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} has an exhibit called [[https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibitions/underground-adventure Underground Adventure]] themed to shrinking down and exploring the soil biosphere... and the bugs within it. Entomophobes (and even those who aren't) are not going to enjoy it, thanks to models of mites and pseudoscorpions the size of fists or heads covering the walls, or much larger animatronics. The crowning examples have to be an earwig that goes on the defensive, and a [[SpidersAreScary wolf spider eating prey]]. The fact that the latter isn't entirely visible does not help at all.

* The Field Museum of Natural History in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} has an exhibit called [[https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibitions/underground-adventure Underground Adventure]] themed to shrinking down and exploring the soil biosphere... and the bugs within it. Entomophobes (and even those who aren't) are not going to enjoy it, thanks to models of mites and pseudoscorpions the size of fists or heads covering the walls, or much larger animatronics. The crowning examples have to be an [[earwig that goes on the defensive, and a [[SpidersAreScary wolf spider eating prey]]. TYher fact that the latter isn't entirely visible does not help at all.

* The entrance to both Luna Parks in Australia have guests walking through the mouth of a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Luna_Park-Sydney-Australia.JPG giant, grinning clown face]].

* ''The London Dungeons'', located near the London Bridge in the UK. A haunted house with the theme of London's horrific history.

** The ruined park is (or was) not only even more horrifying, but also [[TearJerker quite tragic]] for those familiar with Geauga Lake. The park was once the single ''largest'' amusement park to date, and was brought to national attention after Ride/SixFlags acquired the park (or rather, its owners at the time, Premier Parks, acquired Six Flags and rebranded itself as that entity) and the adjacent Ride/SeaWorld Ohio (which itself was the second [=SeaWorld=] park, and had co-existed peacefully with Geauga Lake before the Six Flags transformation sent it struggling). Sadly, combining the two parks, while making it unique, brought many problems (detailed on the [[TroubledProduction/ThemeParks Troubled Production page]]) that lead to it eventually being sold to Ride/{{Cedar Fair|Entertainment}}, who tried to scale the park back down to its more family-oriented roots, but ''that'' company's own decisions cost them too, leading to them closing Geauga Lake days after the end of the 2007 season without warning, leaving many parkgoers unable to have a proper final trip the the once-beloved family destination. As far as abandoned parks go, another haunting example of Geauga Lake ruins, the aquarium the park inherited from the [=SeaWorld=] purchase, was abandoned ''before the park even closed'', as Cedar Fair controversially closed the marine portion of the park when they acquired it in 2004, and turned it into a generic waterpark a year later. The remains of the aquarium [[https://youtu.be/6K_eDJdh-oo?t=756 were still standing as of]] ''early 2021!''

** The ruined park is (or was) not only even more horrifying, but also [[TearJerker quite tragic]] for those familiar with Geauga Lake. The park was once the single ''largest'' amusement park to date, and was brought to national attention after Ride/SixFlags acquired the park (or rather, its owners at the time, Premier Parks, acquired Six Flags and rebranded itself as that entity) and the adjacent Ride/SeaWorld Ohio (which itself was the second [=SeaWorld=] park, and had co-existed peacefully with Geauga Lake before the Six Flags transformation sent it struggling). Sadly, combining the two parks, while making it unique, brought many problems (detailed on the [[TroubledProduction/ThemeParks Troubled Production page]]) that lead to it eventually being sold to Ride/{{Cedar Fair|Entertainment}}, who tried to scale the park back down to its more family-oriented roots, but ''that'' company's own decisions cost them too, leading to them closing Geauga Lake days after the end of the 2007 season without warning, leaving many parkgoers unable to have a proper final trip the the once-beloved family destination. As far as abandoned parks go, another haunting example of Geauga Lake ruins, the aquarium the park inherited from the [=SeaWorld=] purchase, was abandoned ''before the park even closed'', as Cedar Fair controversially closed the marine portion of the park when they acquired it in 2004]] and turned it into a generic waterpark a year later. The remains of the aquarium [[https://youtu.be/6K_eDJdh-oo?t=756 were still standing as of]] ''early 2021!''

* The German theme park Phantasialand had the Hollywood Tour ride, which had a section based on ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', which involved a fisherman in a dingy sinking into the dark water, followed by a few sharks, whose rotten, poorly maintained appearance arguably made them more creepy. Not soon after, a GiantSpider animatronic appeared, which your ride vehicles actually passed under. Heck, the whole ride could be considered creepy, due to the dark atmosphere (including films that really shouldn't be dark, such as ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'') and the UncannyValley of the busted up animatronics.

* The German theme park Phantasialand has the Hollywood Tour ride, which has a secton based on ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', which involves a fisherman in a dingy sinking into the dark water, followed by a few sharks, whose rotten, poorly maintained appearance arguably makes them more creepy. Not soon after, a GiantSpider animatronic appears, which your ride vehicles actually pass under. Heck, the whole ride could be considered creepy, due to the dark atmosphere (including films that really shouldn't be dark, such as ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'') and the UncannyValley of the busted up animatronics.
* ''Justice League: Battle for Metropolis'' in Six Flags: Great Adventure, while also extremely [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments cool]], has several extremely creepy moments. To start, before you even get on the ride, Joker and Lex Luthor reveal that they have already captured Supergirl, Green Lantern, the Flash and now Wonder Woman, leaving only Cyborg, who acts as MissionControl, Batman and Superman left. Once you are actually on the ride, things start simple, with the riders blasting {{Mooks}} and Lexbots, until you run into Joker, who proceeds to blast you with Joker Venom, while your cart speeds up and sends you past flaming barrels and toxic ones that nearly tip onto the riders!

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckWv-Rf-r0M&t=1117s Funtown Mountain in Barren County, Kentucky]]. Originally a Wild West type theme park tucked away in the mountains, it was later bought in 2015 by a local businessman named Will Russell, who modeled it on his obsession with popular culture. Only days after its opening, Russell was arrested on drug charges. [[FromBadToWorse Then things really got weird.]] Russell hit serious financial problems, and started coming to the park at random intervals to thrown paint on attractions and shops, scream at employees, and break stuff. Employees started quitting by the dozen, and city inspectors were called in, deeming the park unsafe. Russell began living in the park, by himself, going on social media to encourage looters to come up the mountain and steal property. Russell was finally arrested and forcibly removed from the area, but the testament to his insanity still stands - broken windows, shredded animatronics, and bottles of alcohol litter the premises. Paint still coats many of the buildings. The rotting attractions still stand, gathering dust. The electricity was cut eons ago, but there's still melting ice cream in the freezers. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you ask), the land was bought in April of 2016, and has since been reverted back to its original Guntown Mountain name and has been undergoing an extensive restoration.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQn__XRDxV4 Here's America Adventure Park in 1987]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wSgUzlOrs here is what's left of it now]].
* [[http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/01/abandoned-amusement-parks-in-asia.html Abandoned amusement parks in Asia]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srpyisJeV5I The amusement park]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prypiat in Pripyat,]] now a ghost town due to being close to UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}}.

** "The Haunt", which was a Paranormal Activity style tour that relied heavily on Nothing Is Scarier in all three examples and actually worked. The entire 1885 Street area was used for it, and drifting from one building to another was nothing short of uncomfortable when it was that dark out. The story concerned a woman who had been abused by the whole town and committed suicide, and the hosts brought you to where she frequented. At one point you were brought to a bridge where the ghost of said woman appeared behind you and screamed at you... and as a nice Surprise Ending, you were brought back to Egge's, where you were trapped in a house full of screaming children and strobe lights.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srpyisJeV5I The amusement park]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prypiat in Pripyat,]] now a ghost town due to being so close to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster Chernobyl.]]

[[caption-width-right:322:[[ComicallyMissingThePoint SWEET!]] [[TooDumbToLive No line]]!]]

* 2010 was focused entirely on zombies, with the whole park being turned into a battlegrounds against the dead. Tons of gore and grotesque makeup was to be seen, and a CrazyAwesome zombie fighter with a battling gun.