Halloween might have been months ago now but that doesn’t mean that we’ve had our spook fill for the year. What is it about an amusement park, that when abandoned, becomes a spooky place where only an eerie silence descends and the dammed roam at night?

When driving through Louisana this fall en route from New Orleans to the swamp (more on that to come) I saw huge signs on the freeway for Six Flags – the biggest theme park in Louisiana. Excited by the prospect of candyfloss and corn dogs on a Saturday afternoon I was most disappointed to discover a huge sign outside the entrance that read “closed for storm.” Confused and a bit sulky I went home to do a bit of research – puzzled as to why it was closed for a storm when the weather was glorious – 30 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky!

As it turns out, closed over 6 years ago on the eve of Hurricane Katrina (one of the costliest & deadliest natural disasters in US history), Six Flags is still abandoned today. Situated about thirty minutes outside New Orleans, the theme park stands in one of the hardest hit areas during the hurricane and post storm flooding; in the aftermath of Katrina 80% of Louisiana was flooded and the region was submerged under 15 feet of water

Though many of the rides still survive, authorities say that saltwater from the floods corroded them beyond a point where they can be saved; the only salvageable piece, a ride called Batman was moved to a theme part in Texas shortly after the disaster.

The defunct park is apparently too expensive to rebuild yet too expensive to abandon, so it sits and waits. However the post-apocalyptic / disaster-zone atmosphere of Six Flags strikes me as the perfect place to make a zombie horror movie (starring a few backpackers in heels …)

If the photos aren’t enough to creep you out, this video of Six Flags shot by Louisiana photographer Teddy Smith gave me goose bumps all over.

Beware; you might just spot something supernatural:

PS. If abandoned theme parks is your thing have you heard of Spreepark

Photos credit (in order of appearance): Richard Thompson III, willcrusta, Bob McMillan/FEMA, John Morrison, Mischelle Dawn Wright (pic 5-9) and Keri Nash Watson

Tags photography, theme park, usa