Los Angeles

Los Angeles - darkometer rating : 2 - The largest city in California, and the second largest (after New York ) in the whole of the USA . Famous mostly for being the centre of the mighty US entertainment industry, especially in Hollywood, and the many superstars residing in the city associated with this industry. For the dark tourist, however, it is primarily a number of significant and/or unusual museums with grim themes that are of primary interest, namely the following institutions: - Museum of Tolerance (MOT), Wiesenthal Center - Holocaust Museum LA (formerly LAMOTH) - Museum of Death Furthermore there is a “ Crimes of Passion Interactive Museum ” that opened only in 2022, so years after I’d been to the city. Hence I’ve not seen it myself. It’s a “true crime connection adventure” where two visitors (not necessarily couples, but ideally so) go through a host of interactive games related to the “darker side of love”, including a substantial section about death. So it should certainly qualify as a dark site. I’m personally not so sure about all that “interactiveness” (I tend to prefer traditional museum set-ups), but it sure sounds intriguing and is supposed to be innovative and thought-provoking. And given that it’s the brainchild of a psychology professor I would expect it to be well grounded rather than sensationalist. The museum is located at 4326 Melrose Avenue (with free parking at the back) and is open daily from 2 to 7 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays until 9 p.m. (last admission two hours before closing). You have to pre-book tickets online on the museum's website (external link, opens in a new tab). Because of the interactive nature of the museum, tickets are for two people (i.e. you can’t really do it as a single visitor) and cost 68 USD.