Communitas in fright tourism

my latest paper, titled

 Communitas in fright tourism

has been published in Tourism Geographies.

Abstract

Liminality offers an explanation of the threshold one passes through as they enter a tourist destination. Beginning with the anticipation phase of the experience a tourist travels to a destination for an on-site experience. Multiple thresholds occur for the tourist, yet during the periods prior to the actual event, motivations will likely draw or repel the individual. For dark tourism research none have reviewed these liminal experiences in fright tourism, the more entertaining and lighter aspect of the dark elder. To better understand the anticipation stage of the liminal experience, the influence of fear while entering a haunted attraction is explored. Fear is expected to contribute to the fun of these haunted attractions. During this liminal phase, communitas evolve where the social bonding of the visitors develops during the encounter. Characteristics of these groups are examined in this exploratory study.

 Keywords: Liminoid, communitas, fright tourism, dark attractions, fear, tourist travel phases

For a link to the paper. click here.

 Received 23 Sep 2018, Accepted 24 Nov 2019, Published online: 13 Jan 2020