There is something so disquieting about a amusement park long abandoned, decaying rides standing forlorn in a field or being slowly swallowed by creeping forests. Perhaps, like creepy kids and evil clowns, it is the juxtaposition of the joyous things of childhood with the looming inevitability of death and decay that is so very unsettling.
The gallery below features 50 photos selected from abandoned amusement parks around the world. Some, like Lincoln Park and South Korea’s Okpo Land, closed due to safety fears following fatalities and accidents. Others, such as Seaside Heights and Six Flags New Orleans, were suddenly and irreparably decimated by natural disaster. In the case of Pripyat’s abandoned amusement park outside the Chernobyl nuclear plant, the closure was caused by a rather more man-made catastrophe. Still others merely succumbed to the unrelenting march of time, ominous reminders of happier times as they loom silently, decaying in place. Whatever the reason for their abandonment, these pictures will surely give you a chill, darlings. Enjoy!
(Check here for lists of Standing but Not Operating (SBNO) and abandoned amusement parks; For more photos, visit Forgotten Ohio, Surreal Coconut, Dark Roasted Blend, Illicit Ohio, Love These Pics, and Spiral.)
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Categories: History (Haunted and Otherwise), Oddities
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Great post, these always fascinate me.
Thanks, Brian. It was a real pleasure to put this one together. 🙂
Great pictures. It’s such a shame about Six Flags though.
There were rumors this year of a renovation in the works, but unfortunately no formal plans have ever materialized.
This is one of my favorite subjects! This is a good site too, focusing on Japan. http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2011/06/japans-abandoned-wild-west-town/
Wow, nice link. Thanks, Christy!
Dang…and I thought roller coasters were scary before!
Step right up, darling. There’s always room for one more…ride, that is. 😉
Great pics…love these kind of things!
Glad you enjoyed it, Shawn. Stop back any time!
These are great! I envision zombies dragging around in a few of these. I’d love to see ghostly children in that first one with the duck roller coaster — the amusement park where people died.
You’re not the only one – Six Flags New Orleans has a painted-over sign that says “WELCOME TO ZOMBIE LAND, KIDS” 🙂
Good stuff. All the graffiti kinda bums me out, but what do you expect, you know?
Oh, I don’t know. Some of it adds a little to the whole ambiance, like the Chippewa Lake one with the dead clown art and poem (“The old fortune teller lies dead on the floor, nobody needs fortunes told anymore”).
These are fantastic. It might be fun, if a bit dangerous, to wander through some of these sites.
What’s fun without a bit of danger for spice, darling?
I need to make one of those my new lair.
I agree. The bats have really gotten out of hand at your present manor.
Great post – something so creepy about all these.
Thank you, darling. Always happy to help creep you out. 😉
Wonderful post. I love the beauty of urban decay.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, b.h. Come back and visit any time. 🙂
Most of these seem to be in Ohio; I can’t believe I never got to explore any of these ruins when I lived there! The creepiest amusement park I’ve been to that was still in operation has to be Praterland in Vienna. Why do Europeans love clowns so much?
Oh, that sounds terrifying. I’ll have to look for pictures!
Reblogging, sweetie! 🙂
Thank you for sharing, darling. 🙂
Absolutely my pleasure! 🙂
Reblogged this on Vampyre Fangs and commented:
Reblogging ‘Burty the Carnival: 50 Eerie Photos of Abandoned Amusement Parks’ by the amazing Eva Halloween!
Delightfully creepy! Deliciously eerie!
Enjoy! 🙂
I soooo want to do a photoshoot at one of those. the Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan opens in an abandoned park. Zombies and amusement parks are just meant to go together.
Like mad scientists and castles, darling. 😉
I loooove images of abandoned amusement parks. I don’t know why and I can’t explain it. I just absolutely love them.
Based on the comments, I’d say you’re in good company!
Awesome. I had been writing a story about a dead carnival but stopped. I think you have inspired me with these pics!
I hope you share it with us once it’s finished! 🙂
What a cool collection–spooky, evocative, and so sad.
I think abandoned places always have a certain eeriness to them, but there is just something so affecting about seeing childhood things in ruin.
Eva, no joke, I live like fifteen minutes away from the abandoned Chippewa Lake amusement park. My dad used to drive me by it as a kid. You could see one of the roller coasters from the road, but it was so overgrown that it was hard to see anything else. It was absolutely amazing. I was devastated to hear that the city was planning on tearing it down to build a resort there. I was out there a few months ago and most of it is gone. The ferris wheel is still standing and the ticket booths are still there (and boy, are they cool). There is also the dance hall, which was burned down a few years back. There’s also one of the parking lots, which doesn’t sound like much, but there are stil speakers looming over it, which is very eerie. It’s just a shame they didn’t leave it alone. It was so neat to drive out and see. Congrats for being featured on Feardotnet!
Thanks, Steve. We have a few other “urban ruins” articles in the works, but there is something about these abandoned amusement parks that make them my favorite.