8 Of The World’s Most Brutal Amusement Park Accidents, From An Uncontrollable Fire To A Stomach-Churning Free Fall

Published September 22, 2022
Updated September 23, 2022

The Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle Fire

Haunted Castle Fire

Fascinating Horror/YouTube“I assisted with the removal of bodies and will never forget the smell of burning tires and plastic,” said Frank Mcdonnell, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter when the fire happened.

Six Flags Great Adventure has changed a lot since a terrible tragedy on May 11, 1984, took the lives of eight teenagers who were trapped inside the park’s Haunted Castle when it caught fire.

The Haunted Castle was constructed with seven interconnected aluminum trailers and plywood frames, so when a foam pad inside caught fire, the entire structure went up in flames. Windy conditions that day made the fire spread too quickly for those stuck inside to escape. One parkgoer described flames “leaping 100 feet in the air… Thick black smoke was billowing up.”

At the time, The Washington Post reported that the eight bodies found among the debris were burned beyond recognition — investigators had a hard time distinguishing them from the fake skeletons that had been used as props in the attraction.

The incident was so widely publicized that author Peter Smith later wrote a book about the fire, called Doorway to Hell: The Mysteries and Controversies Surrounding the Deadly Haunted Castle Fire at Six Flags Great Adventure.

“Everyone who was at Great Adventure that day and anyone who lives around here will never forget that day, as long as they shall live,” he said.

After the fire, Six Flags began updating the park with new sprinkler systems, smoke and heat detectors, and emergency generators, as well as adding an in-house fire brigade.

As App reported, the fire also spurred state legislators to enact new fire-safety requirements for amusement buildings, particularly those which disorient, reduce vision, present barriers, or impede the flow of traffic.

“It’s a shame all of those people had to die for a national law to be written,” Smith said, “the most strict fire code in the nation.”

author
Austin Harvey
author
A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid covering topics on mental health, sexual health, history, and sociology. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Point Park University.
editor
Leah Silverman
editor
A former associate editor for All That's Interesting, Leah Silverman holds a Master's in Fine Arts from Columbia University's Creative Writing Program and her work has appeared in Catapult, Town & Country, Women's Health, and Publishers Weekly.