Research Blog #10: Abstract and Works Cited

 Presented below are my works cited and abstract:


Abstract:

This research paper investigates the growth of tourist locations associated with the paranormal as viable components of local tourist economies, and how this could point towards a positive feedback loop of tourists visiting the locations, spreading the word about it, and driving more people to visit. This loop fuels both the economic revenue of the locale and supernatural lore surrounding the history there. The paper examines the four main aspects of “curiosity” to frame the discussion of the paper, and applies it especially to the Mothman Festival and Mothman Museum of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.


Works Cited (Note: the last two citations appear to be duplicates, but are actually for two different breakdowns of the same set of data. Since I referenced both and both are displayed on seperated pages online I figured I'd add both links):

Edwards, Emily D. “Morbid Curiosity, Popular Media, and Thanatourism.” Australian Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 20, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 113–138. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=147786411&site=ehost-live.

Houran, James, et al. “Paranormal Tourism: Market Study of a Novel and Interactive Approach to Space Activation and Monetization.” Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, Aug. 2020, pp. 287–311, doi:10.1177/1938965520909094.

Johnson, Erin. "Mothman Festival Returns Sept. 21-22 - The Point Pleasant Register". The Point Pleasant Register, 2021, https://www.mydailyregister.com/news/44780/mothman-festival-returns-sept-21-22.

Keel, John A. The Mothman Prophecies. Tor, 2002.

Kruse, II, Robert J. “Point Pleasant, West Virginia.” Southeastern Geographer, vol. 55, no. 3, Fall 2015, pp. 313–337. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/sgo.2015.0026.

McClanahan, Gil. "Mothman Festival Brings People From All Over The World To Point Pleasant". WCHS, 2021, https://wchstv.com/news/local/mothman-festival-brings-people-from-all-over-the-world-to-point-pleasant.

McGinnis, Shelley E. Dallas, Roswell, Area 51: A Social History of American "Conspiracy Tourism." ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2010.

"MothmanFestival.com". MOTHMAN Festival, 2021, https://www.mothmanfestival.com/.

"Mothmanlives.com". Mothmanlives.Com, 2003, https://web.archive.org/web/20030119034532/http://www.mothmanlives.com/indexMAIN.html.

"Mothmanmuseum.com". Mothmanmuseum.Com, 2021, https://www.mothmanmuseum.com/.

Roswellufomuseum.Com, 2021, https://www.roswellufomuseum.com/.

Statista. "If You Think about Your Favorite Series, Which Genres Describe It Best?." Statista, Statista Inc., 19 Sep 2017, https://www-statista-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/forecasts/752723/genres-of-us-consumers-favorite-tv-series

Terry, Neil et al. "Bikers, Aliens, And Movie Stars: Comparing The Economic Impact Of Special Events". Journal Of Business & Economics Research (JBER), vol 7, no. 11, 2011. Clute Institute, doi:10.19030/jber.v7i11.2356.

Timothy, Dallen J., and Daniel H. Olsen. Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys. Routledge, 2006.

YouGov. "Which of The following Genres of Reality Tv Shows Do You Typically Watch?." Statista, Statista Inc., 25 Sep 2016, https://www-statista-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/statistics/617828/popularity-reality-tv-genres-usa/

YouGov. "Which of The following Genres of Reality Tv Shows Do You Typically Watch?." Statista, Statista Inc., 25 Sep 2016, https://www-statista-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/statistics/623265/popularity-reality-tv-genres-age-usa/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visual Aspect

Image
  NOTE: The original image found on the Mothman Festival website was pretty blurry, so I did take the liberty of sharpening the image somewhat. Otherwise, I did no other edits. In the image above, the camera has captured a view of the large crowd that is flooding the streets of Point Pleasent, West Virginia during one of their annual Mothman Festivals. Lining the sides of the streets are temporary stands for vendors that set up shop for the festival with a variety of festival and or Mothman-related paraphernalia. While I couldn't find any hard numbers about the number of visitors during the festival, estimates have placed at least around a thousand attendees during the festival, which is believable when looking at an image like this. This helps illustrate just how powerful and important paranormal tourism is and can be for a local economy.
Read more

Literature Review #4

Image
Source Citation: Terry, Neil et al. "Bikers, Aliens, And Movie Stars: Comparing The Economic Impact Of Special Events". Journal Of Business & Economics Research (JBER) , vol 7, no. 11, 2011. Clute Institute , doi:10.19030/jber.v7i11.2356. The article explains the history of three towns in brief detail as well as the origins of each town’s respective festival, though my main interest was in the UFO Festival of Roswell, New Mexico. In the section following these backgrounds, the authors compared some economics from the residents as well as the average economic stats of each festival, and then discussed some potential reasons behind the size and profit of each festival. The biggest draw of the article was the data on the profit of the UFO Festival, which I needed to help prove that paranormal tourism is a viable economic option. All three authors are professors in Economics/Finance at the West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Dr. Neil Terry is also a dean at the un
Read more

Topics Under Consideration

Image
 The topic I'm currently considering the most is the Mothman of Point Pleasent, though I'm sure I would end up talking about the reports of it from over the world. Mothman always interested me since my parents showed me the Mothman Prophecies movie growing up, which also likely got me interested in the unexplained in the first place. The mystery over what Mothman is has always been alluring. Is it a giant humanoid moth? An alien or divine being? Or is it a bird or a secret government experiment? What connection does it have to the mysterious Indrid Cold, who stopped several people on highways in the area and talked to them telepathically in the period prior to the Mothman?  Image Source: Title card for the Mothman episode on Monstrum , a PBS Youtube series on creatures of folklore from around the world, their inspirations, and their effect on society. I personally recommend the series. If Mothman turns out not the topic I wish to pursue, I would look into ghosts. More specific
Read more