We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2025
Travel to sites associated with serial killers (whether that be burial sites, sites of the murders or even simply where the serial killer lived or visited frequently) can be another popular tourist activity. Considering the widespread fascination with serial killers within popular culture (television shows, movies, true-crime books and so on) the popularity of dark tourism sites focusing on serial killers is unsurprising. Demonstrating societies’ widespread awareness of serial killers, Kincaid stated:
Recent surveys of the store of general knowledge possessed by Americans reveal that 11 percent have a firm grasp of evaporation; 23 percent know pretty much where the equator is. … Yet a solid 100 percent, every single adult and child, knows Jeffrey Dahmer, identifies him as a serial killer, homosexual, cannibal, ghoul. (Kincaid, 1997, ix)
Kincaid (1997, ix) asks why this is the case and, in particular, ‘what cultural itches do they [serial killers] scratch?’. Whatever the attraction, tourism associated with serial killers has a long and rich history.
By way of example, the murder sites of Jack the Ripper, whom Gibson (2006, 52) has referred to as the ‘serial killer superstar of all time’, immediately attracted sightseers and continues to be a popular tourist attraction within modern-day London. At the time of the murders, police were required to force their way through the ‘morbid curiosity seekers’ in order the reach the body of Annie Chapman (Wilson and Odell, 1987, 22). Some of Chapman's former neighbours:
were able to cash in on Annie's misfortune by charging sensation seekers a few pence each for a look into the yard where she was done to death. (Wilson and Odell, 1987, 24)
Those lucky enough to have a view from one of the many buildings surrounding the sites sold window seats, and there was no lack of customers. The streets leading to the murder sites were literally choked with thousands of people. (Gordon, 2001, 116)
The murder scene of Annie Chapman not only saw spectators but also vendors setting up stalls to sell fruit and refreshments to the spectators (Begg, 2005). Here we see elements of what we know of today as ‘dark tourism’ with ‘tourists’ paying to see a site of death and having the potential to have a ‘guide’ (acquaintance of the murder victim) providing explanations for spectators as early as 1888.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
