last call lectures: spooky rides and the history of american horror entertainment

last call lectures presents: spooky rides and the history of american horror entertainment

ever felt that drop in your stomach as the cart jerks through swinging doors into the dark? that's a century of american craft at work. this month, dr. joel zika takes us inside the forgotten world of the dark ride. the ghost trains, haunted castles, and old mill rides that taught america how to be scared for fun.

joel is the world's leading expert on haunted attractions and the creator of the dark ride project, a virtual reality archive documenting the handful of vintage dark rides still standing. he's spent years crawling through these machines, interviewing the owners and obsessives keeping them alive, and tracing how small town spook houses shaped everything from disney's haunted mansion to the horror imagery in tim burton and rob zombie's work.

expect a 45 minute talk, then small group discussion, then open q&a. come solo, leave with new people and a head full of beautiful, creepy history.