shades fills you in

Dark tourism -- also known as black tourism, thanatourism, or grief tourism -- is in right now. It means visiting sites of death, suffering, and tragedy -- TourismTeacher.com

WaPo: It isn’t a new thing -- dark tourism has been going on for centuries. But new documentaries about disasters and morbid pieces of history have made dark tourism more popular

Cultura-Obscura thinks dark tourism is important and shouldn’t be controversial: Tourism isn’t bad, but people can be

TheTravel.com: Maybe dark tourism is popular now because people feel we’re living in dark times today! And it might help put life into perspective

The Conversation agrees on the perspective point: Dark tourism is important for understanding and learning from the darker parts of history

But in another piece, The Conversation counsels caution: Dark tourism can be problematic and exploitative if not handled with respect

Forbes compiled a list of some of the world’s darkest places to visit. It includes places like Alcatraz, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and the 9/11 Memorial

Want more dark tourism? There’s a whole community surrounding the practice, with its own website full of advice and guides for over 1000 dark tourism sites in over 115 countries. Check it out here