The Netflix series examines the trend of holiday makers heading off to unusual and even distasteful locations including a suicide hot-spot, a nuclear disaster zone, and an abandoned prisoner-of-war camp
MOST of us prefer to spend our holidays sunbathing on the beach with a drink.
But for others only visiting places associated with natural disasters or tragedies count as a proper getaway.
In Netflix’s Dark Tourism, journalist David Farrier visits tourism hotspots which are ghoulish and even dangerous to get a holiday experience like no other.
From tours of a notorious Japanese suicide forest to those paying to soak up some nuclear radiation rays, there’s no shortage of unusual – and sometimes distasteful – holiday locations.
Here are some of the grisly locations featured in the series – and how you can visit them if you’re so inclined.
Aokigahara, a forest on the north-western area of Japan’s Mount Fuji, is known locally as the “Sea of Trees” – but it has also become infamous as the grim backdrop of one of the world’s most infamous suicide spots.
The site’s popularity as a suicide hotspot has been attributed to the ending of Seichō Matsumoto's 1961 novel Tower of Waves.
The forest’s grim reputation has not put off tourists from distastefully touring Aokighara. YouTuber Logan Paul faced strong criticism when he filmed the body of a man in the forest for one of his vlogs, in what was widely seen as using suicide for clickbait.
Tours are run by local guides for those wanting to see the forest – whether for its outstanding natural beauty or for more sick reasons.
Expedia offers a tour for £57 per traveller while similarly-priced expeditions are advertised on TripAdvisor.
The Japanese town of Tomioka had been known for its beaches and cherry blossom trees, but following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it soon became a ghost town.
The town’s 15,000 residents were forced to flee from the effects of the deadly radiation that lingers in the area following a 2011 tsunami which caused a nuclear plant meltdown.
The area is eerie and unsettling with abandoned personal possessions lying around – but that doesn’t stop visitors in Dark Tourism travelling to Tomioka to soak up radition rays instead of sunrays.
Tours are run by local residents in co-ordination with the local government in Fukushima, which is also trying to persuade people to once again inhabit the area.
Santa Muerte - or Saint Death - has grown in popularity in Mexico in recent years.
She is a female deity associated with death and healing - and is worshipped in a ceremony which features statues of skeletons and skulls as its centrepiece.
The "bony lady" as she is also known is seen in Dark Tourism when journalist David Farrier visits a small shop which has become a shrine among death worshippers.
She is thought to come from the traditional Aztec goddess who presided over the festival of death in August, but now plays a large part in the world-famous Day of the Dead, held in November.
The religious fusion between Mexican Catholicism and local folklore has been fiercely condemned by the Vatican - but that hasn't stopped tourists flocking to see worshippers.
One town in Mexico offers holidaymakers the opportunity to experience what it’s like to illegally cross the border into the US.
The so-called Night Walk is a 12km obstacle course where tourists pay to be chased and ‘shot at’ by pretend immigration officials with guns.
The tour, which began in 2004, has faced strong criticism for trivialising the harsh conditions that migrants attempting to make it over the border.
It’s also been slammed for training would-be migrants in how to risk the dangerous endeavour.
It takes place within the 3,000-acre Parque EcoAlberto, a recreational park in Mexico that’s staffed by indigenous Hñahñu Indians – many of whom have immigrated to the US.
Despite the criticism, the organisers say it has “the aim of raising awareness among our young people in the community.”
Tickets for the intense experience are still available on the Night Walk’s website for $350 (£271.)
Familiar to Bond fans as the secret headquarters of villain Raoul Silva, Hashima is an abandoned island about 10 miles away from Nagasaki in southern Japan.
At the beginning of the 20th century the island was mainly used for coal mining, before it was turned into a Chinese and Korean prisoner of war camp by the Japanese.
In 1959 the tiny ‘Battleship Island’ reached a peak population of over 5,000, the most densely populated place anywhere on Earth.
The island was abandoned in 1974 when the coal mines were depleted – but the island and former labour camp was re-opened for tourism in 2009.
Boats run every thirty minutes to the island and organised tours are run by the Gunkanjima Concierge.
Close to Hashima Island is another one of Dark Tourism’s locations – the world’s weirdest theme park, the Huis Ten Bosch.
Robots stroll alongside mock dinosaurs, while tourists stop off to enjoy VR rides and chat to manga characters.
The replica buildings are largely Dutch inspired, contrasting with the theme park’s Henna Hotel – the world’s first to be staffed by robots.
If futurism meets Amsterdam meets rollercoasters is your ideal holiday the tickets to the Sasebo-based attraction are £45.
The museum claims to be the largest collection of true crime exhibitions anywhere in Europe and its contents are truly grisly.
The former prison in scenic Gloucestershire has controversial exhibitions dedicated to the serial killer Fred and Rose West – and even a Nazi-era lampshade made out of human skin.
It’s not for nothing that the museum’s website warns those who are easily offended, disturbed or scared from visiting.
The unsettling artefacts may not be one for the kids – despite that a child’s ticket is £9 from 10am-5pm.
However, those who are aged 100 and over are promised entry into the dark museum free-of-charge.
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