Promoting phantasmal tourism for America’s ‘roads to hell’ could help drive rural economic development

With increasing concerns about the economic and environmental impacts of traditional mass-tourism, ‘niche’ destination’ tourism is becoming an increasingly popular alternative. David J. Nemeth looks at ‘phantasmal’ tourism, which attracts visitors to experience imagined supernatural, magical, or mystical allure. He argues that by capitalizing on the perceived ‘dark’ aspects of roadways numbered 666 authorities in America can encourage tourism and development to revitalize depressed local economies.