By Amanda Mlekush
Recreation Management faculty member Dr. Susan Weidmann’s research has a spooky niche–centered around Halloween, ghosts, haunted spaces and their place within the recreation and tourism industry.
Her interest in exploring the topic began during her doctoral studies when a mentor advised her to choose a topic that she loved for her thesis.
“I love all things spooky–including Halloween, horror movies and haunted houses,” she said. “During graduate school, I began investigating the industry of immersive horror recreation and commercial haunted houses and realized this industry had been mostly ignored by academia, despite having a large financial impact with millions enjoying these type of attractions.”
For Weidmann, spooky season is year-round.
This summer, she plans to lead a study abroad session for App State students entitled “Haunted Tourism in Scotland,” (image shows her at a recent App State Study Abroad event; photo submitted) and in March, a chapter she wrote about halloween symbols and heritage will be published in the book: The Routledge Handbook of Dark Events: Celebration, Heritage, and Customs of Death and the Macabre.
Weidmann has authored several articles that were recently been published, including Halloween Event Design in Parks and Recreation Magazine’s October issue and an article in the Journal of American Culture called “It’s like a horror movie you walk through: experiencing horror through immersive recreation.”
With Halloween looming, Weidmann says she likes to take the opportunity to take a break from research and enjoy her favorite holiday.
“For Halloween, we host a haunted birthday party for my son whose birthday is just before Oct. 31, visit haunted attractions or ghost tours, and, of course--tell spooky stories by candlelight after trick-or-treating!”
Woman stands at a table with a Halloween display
Dr. Susan Weidmann at an App State study abroad fair