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.
About the presentersHeidi M Hanrahan
Heidi M. Hanrahan is a Professor at Shepherd University, where she teaches American literature, British literature, Women’s Studies, and composition. She earned her doctorate in American Literature before 1900 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her articles have appeared in The New England Quarterly, Studies in American Humor, MELUS, Poe Studies, and the collection Narratives of Community.
Amy L. DeWitt
Amy L. DeWitt is a Professor of Sociology at Shepherd University. She earned her doctorate in Sociology at the University of North Texas. Her areas of teaching include marriage and family, research methodology, gender and women’s studies, and race and ethnicity. Her research interests include gender and parental portrayals in children’s literature and animated film.