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This paper aims to investigate the visitor experience at a “lightest” dark tourism attraction, focusing on issues of thanatopsis and mortality mediation.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 visitors to a “Dungeon”-style attraction in the UK (a site of “lightest” dark tourism). The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis; four themes were identified.

Reflection on, and contemplation of, issues of life and death was a common (but not universal) component of the visitor experience. Four forms of such reflection were apparent: considering absent/present death; thanatopsis (reflection on the self’s inevitable mortality); reflecting on the nature of death and dying in the past; and enjoyment of the opportunity to engage with death without fear in the safe setting of a visitor attraction. Some visitors also reflected on issues of individual and collective morality, in both past and present.

“Lightest” dark tourism is not necessarily about shallow experiences. Instead, many visitors are active agents, engaged in acts of making meaning about issues of death and life. This calls for a more sophisticated conceptualisation of such visitors.

The mortality mediation model is widely accepted as a way of explaining the experience of visiting places of death but has rarely been subject to empirical scrutiny. This is one of few studies to explore in detail issues of mortality mediation and thanatopsis in the context of “lightest” dark tourism.

数据是通过对 24 名英国“地牢”式景点（“最轻微”黑色旅游景点）游客的半结构化访谈收集的。访谈采用主题分析法进行分析并确定了 4 个主题。

本文是对“最轻微”黑暗旅游景点的游客体验的实证调查，重点关注死亡冥想和死亡临界问题。

对生死问题的反思和思考是游客体验的一个常见（但不普遍适用）组成部分。这种反思的四种形式是显而易见的：缺席/现有的死亡认知； 死亡冥想（对自我不可避免的死亡的反思）；反思死亡的本质和过去的死亡；并享受在安全的旅游景点环境中毫无畏惧地与死亡打交道的机会。一些参观者还反思了过去和现在的个人和集体道德问题。

“最轻微”的黑暗旅游不一定是肤浅的体验。相反，许多访客是积极的中间人，从事为生死问题赋予意义的行为。这需要对此类访问者进行更复杂的概念化理解。

死亡临界/调节模型作为一种解释访问死亡地的体验的方式被广泛接受，但很少通过经验研究来验证。这是在“最轻微”黑暗旅游背景下详细探讨死亡临界和死亡问题的少数研究之一。

Los datos se recopilaron a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas con 24 visitantes a un calabozo, un estilo de atracción turística en el Reino Unido (se diseña como un lugar de turismo oscuro "más ligero"). Las entrevistas se analizaron mediante análisis temático; Se identificaron 4 temas.

Este artículo es una investigación empírica de la experiencia del visitante en una atracción turística oscura "más ligera", que se centra en cuestiones de tanatopsis y mediación de la mortalidad.

La reflexión y la contemplación de cuestiones de la vida, así como la muerte, plantean un componente común (pero no universal) en la experiencia del visitante. Se identificaron, aparentemente, cuatro formas de reflexión: considerar la muerte presente/ausente; tanatopsis (reflexión sobre la inevitable mortalidad del yo); reflexionar sobre la naturaleza de la muerte y morir en el pasado y disfrute de la oportunidad de relacionarse con la muerte sin miedo a un entorno seguro, dentro de una atracción turística. Algunos visitantes también reflexionaron sobre cuestiones de moralidad individual y colectiva, tanto del pasado como del presente.

El turismo oscuro "más ligero", no se trata necesariamente de experiencias superficiales. En cambio, muchos visitantes son agentes activos, involucrados en actos de dar sentido a los problemas de la muerte y la vida. Esto requiere una conceptualización más sofisticada de dichos visitantes.

El modelo de mediación de la mortalidad es ampliamente aceptado, como una forma de explicar la experiencia de visitar lugares de muerte, pero rara vez ha sido objeto de un análisis empírico. Este es uno de los pocos estudios que explora en detalle cuestiones de mediación de la mortalidad y tanatopsis en el contexto del turismo oscuro "más ligero".

The concept of “Gothic tourism” has recently been proposed within the discipline of English Literature. Such tourism is claimed to be a distinct form of special interest tourism grounded in familiarity with the Gothic, distinctive aesthetics, and experiences of frights and scares. It is increasingly common in towns and cities around the world. This paper aims to examine and critique the concept of Gothic tourism, and consider its similarities with existing forms of urban tourism.

This is a conceptual paper and no empirical data are presented.

Gothic tourism is not as clearly differentiated from other forms of tourism as has been claimed. In particular, Gothic tourism can be conceptualised as a particular form of “lighter” dark tourism, but it can also be considered as a form of literary tourism. A conceptual model is presented which places Gothic tourism at the nexus of dark and literary tourism.

This study is a conceptual exploration of Gothic tourism. Further empirical research is required to test the ideas presented in this paper at established Gothic tourism attractions.

This study examines the recently proposed (but little-researched) concept of Gothic tourism and considers its relationships with other forms of special interest tourism. It also illustrates the broader issue of how typologies of special interest tourism do not necessarily correspond with the motives and experiences of tourists themselves, or of the providers of tourist experiences.