Presenters
Abstract
Writing about the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (TALA) in Weston, West Virginia, Jenell Johnson (2014) notes that the site’s transformation from a state psychiatric facility to a privately-owned tourist attraction was “made possible by a complex network of histories, signs, and affects that lead tourists to pay forty dollars in order to be entertained by their own fear” (153). She adds that the idea of the “asylum” in general has its own master story, which has emerged from two centuries of representation in American culture” (154). As such, TALA is part of an upsurge in “dark tourism” sites, including other asylums and prisons. As Phillip Stone (2016) explains, such sites remain “divisive as a concept” while being “ethically contentious in practice” (22). Yet Stone also encourages analysis of these sites, adding that dark tourism teaches us not only about the past and the dead but also “about life and the living” (24).
In this presentation, we explore how the “master story” of the American asylum intersects with contemporary culture’s interest in “dark tourism,” true-crime narratives, and concerns about ethical and responsible depictions of mental illness. We focus specifically on the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum’s “Criminally Insane Tour,” showing how TALA’s management and staff attempt to thread the delicate needle of creating a successful and profitable tourist destination while avoiding charges of exploitation, sensationalism, and insensitivity. As such, TALA’s tour serves as a fruitful if complicated model for charting the intersection of history/historic preservation, the tourist industry, and popular culture’s interest in mental illness and crime.