12 Theme Parks That Closed for Disturbing Reasons
These abandoned theme parks closed under chilling and tragic circumstances, leaving behind rusting rides, dark histories, and ghostly echoes of fun turned fatal.
- Alyana Aguja
- 5 min read
Behind the laughs and neon lights of theme parks are darker tales that time couldn’t hide. From deadly mishaps and scandalous crimes to nuclear catastrophes and cult affiliations, these theme parks had to close their gates for unsettling reasons. What’s left are creepy, rotting land that speaks of thrills that went horribly wrong.
1. Action Park (Vernon, New Jersey, USA)
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Nicknamed “Accident Park” for a reason, Action Park was notorious for having ill-conceived rides and inadequate safety controls. Between 1978 and 1996, at least six individuals died, while innumerable others were badly injured on such attractions as the looping waterslide and alpine slide-like thing. Litigation and public indignation finally resulted in its 1996 shutdown, although it later reopened with a different name.
2. Pripyat Amusement Park (Pripyat, Ukraine)
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This park was set to open on May 1, 1986, but the Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred just days earlier. It temporarily opened on April 27 for several hours to distract residents prior to the evacuation of the city, subjecting them to fatal doses of radiation. Today, stuck in time, its rusty Ferris wheel is an unsettling testament to one of the worst nuclear accidents in history.
3. Six Flags New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)
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This one-time thriving park was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Floodwaters inundated the park with 6 feet of poisonous water for more than a month, rendering restoration impossible. It has been abandoned ever since, haunted by rot, looting, and urban myths.
4. Gulliver’s Kingdom (Kawaguchi-mura, Japan)
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Constructed adjacent to the Aokigahara Forest — Japan’s notorious “Suicide Forest” — and not far from the old headquarters of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, this park was a failure from the beginning. Its quirky theme on “Gulliver’s Travels” didn’t attract visitors, and the nearby ghoulish connections didn’t help. It shut down in 2001, and the massive statue of Gulliver in shambles became a chilling photo reproduced everywhere on the internet.
5. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park (Princeton, West Virginia, USA)
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Constructed over a Native American burial site and an area where there was brutal settler fighting, the park appeared to be cursed from its 1920s opening. Various children lost their lives on the rides, including a female who was run over on a swing by a delivery truck. It closed during the 1960s and now only has ghost tours operating.
6. Okpo Land (Geoje Island, South Korea)
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Following a deadly mishap when a child fell off a duck-decorated ride late in the 1990s, the park remained in business — until the second time the same ride led to someone’s death. Public outcry followed rapidly, and the park quickly closed in 1999 on account of unofficial statements. The abandoned duck coaster came to embody abandonment before it was eventually bulldozed.
7. Spreepark (Berlin, Germany)
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Following years of fiscal distress, park owner Norbert Witte disappeared to Peru and took several attractions with him on an attempted reboot. Witte was arrested in 2003 for attempting to bring $14 million in cocaine into Germany, packaged in a ride shipment. Spreepark is still shuttered, shrouded by weeds and tags, a pale shadow of the Cold War site.
8. Heritage USA (Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA)
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Developed by televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, this Christian-themed park attracted millions before a scandal erupted. Bakker was revealed in 1987 for fraud, embezzlement, and sex scandal, leading the ministry to fold. Heritage USA was left to decay shortly afterward, with lawsuits and federal probes blemishing its formerly devout reputation.
9. Land of Oz (Beech Mountain, North Carolina, USA)
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Designed to bring The Wizard of Oz to life, the park was beset by strange occurrences. In 1975, it was torched in a suspicious fire that ravaged major attractions and resulted in the theft of original film costumes. While it struggled for a couple of years, the increasing troubles culminated in its closure in 1980, although it now reopens seasonally in spooky, nostalgic flurries.
10. Dadipark (Antwerp, Belgium)
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Originally constructed as a religious retreat, Dadipark deteriorated into a disorganized and unsupervised playground. In 2000, one boy lost his arm on a dangerous ride, leading to probes of the park’s dilapidated infrastructure. It shut down in 2002 amidst lawsuits and was allowed to rot for a decade before being demolished.
11. Jazzland (Louisiana, USA)
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While it has already been stated, it should be noted that Jazzland had a dark history prior to its incarnation as Six Flags. Constructed on shaky ground and suffering from poor financial management, it was renamed but never properly fixed. Its post-Katrina abandonment served as a graffiti canvas and a refuge for urban adventurers, who frequently reported bizarre encounters and ghostly whispers.
12. Yongma Land (Seoul, South Korea)
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Once a humble family theme park, it declined through competition and neglect. A young girl’s death on a ride allegedly prompted its last closure in 2011. Today, it’s a favorite spot for photographers and K-pop videos, although the rusting attractions and vacant ticket booths give it a profoundly unnerving atmosphere.