Fairground: Thrill Laboratory – Frisson

This event at the Fairground: Thrill Laboratory will capture film noir-style suspense with the Ghost Train. The history of ghost trains can be traced back to the spectacular 19th century travelling menageries, horrific freak-shows and fearsome Victorian ghost shows. Speakers will include Richard Cadell, the UK’s most admired Ghost Train creator (who previously found fame as Sooty and Sweep presenter) and Professor Michael Apter, Danger Psychologist from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

This event at the Fairground: Thrill Laboratory will capture film noir-style suspense with the Ghost Train. The history of ghost trains can be traced back to the spectacular 19th century travelling menageries, horrific freak-shows and fearsome Victorian ghost shows. Speakers will include Richard Cadell, the UK’s most admired Ghost Train creator (who previously found fame as Sooty and Sweep presenter) and Professor Michael Apter, Danger Psychologist from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

The fairground is being installed in the Dana Centre - the Science Museum’s adults-only bar and café for exploring contemporary science, medicine and technology – for three weeks only as it explores the science of thrill.

Lucky volunteers will be hooked up to video and audio transmitters coupled with heart rate monitors, as their live physiological data is broadcast directly into the Dana Centre.

The data will be analysed by international commentators, including the UK’s only space flight surgeon who will look at the effects of rides on the body, as well as psychologists, ride creators and scientists.

Launching on Tuesday 17 October, each event will focus on a unique aspect of thrill - pleasure, frisson and excitement - through the Miami Trip, Ghost Train and Booster rides, as the Dana Centre transforms itself into a fairground ride observatory and thrill laboratory.

The series promises to be an eclectic mix of psychological and sociological experimentation, cultural and historical observations, art and design, archive film, lively presentations, commentary and discussion.

Fairground: Thrill Laboratory is being curated by Brendan Walker – thrill aficionado, designer, and author of The Taxonomy of Thrill.

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