“What if amusement parks from the first half of the 20th Century had the technology to make souvenir t-shirts for their dark rides the way we do today?”
That was the question that inspired these shirt designs. And once I learned that one can now print full color, continuous-tone art on dark fabrics — on demand — things kicked into a higher gear.
I began to imagine how amusement parks would draw upon design trends of their eras to create shirt graphics: “midnite spook show” posters, vintage noir and horror film title cards, retro “flash” (the art applied to dark ride facades), etc. And then I began to think about the names and basic concepts for vintage haunted houses that I know I would have lined up to board.
I am of the opinion that there are no truly ugly babies and no bad dark rides. While I love the groundbreaking mega-budget attractions we have today, I do miss the clankity-clank charm of classic “scary” attractions. We have lost so many.
(Again, these rides and parks never existed. But I do have some ideas for turning these concepts into actual attractions. If you have available real estate and a few million to spare, feel free to contact me.)
ThrillRags are presented by Thrillride.com!
Robert Coker began publishing the ThrillRide! website in 1996. That led to the publication of his book, “Rollercoasters: A Thrill Seeker’s Guide To The Ultimate Scream Machines.”
Today, the site primarily functions as an archive of “Ride Reviews” and “Special Features” from the site’s heyday.
ThrillRide! also presents the “Going Places Doing Things” vlog available here.