In the early 1990s, while most people were busy pretending to enjoy neon windbreakers and the Macarena, German Goths were out here building cemetery-themed amusement park rides. Yes, really. At a goth festival in Leipzig, some delightfully morbid minds created Totentanz—a fully functioning ride that took attendees on a thrilling tour through a fake graveyard. Because who wouldn’t want their existential dread served with fog machines and skeletal decor?

Dubbed “Dance of the Dead”, the ride wasn’t just about cheap Halloween thrills. No, no—this was art. The roller coaster weaved its way through gravestones, crypts, and theatrical mist, all while spooky organ music played like it was auditioning for the Phantom of the Opera’s gothier cousin. Naturally, everyone waiting in line was dressed like they’d fallen out of a Victorian vampire novel and were deep in discussion about Nietzsche.

This wasn’t Six Flags. It was Sick Flags, featuring velvet, platform boots, and a reminder that joy is fleeting and death is stylish.

Totentanz was part of the now-iconic Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival, which has grown into one of the world’s largest goth gatherings. So basically, while mainstream culture was building Disneyland Europe, Goths were over here making NecroLand—and honestly, it sounds way more fun.

Because nothing says “we reject the mainstream” like constructing your own spooky ride through the afterlife… and charging admission. Goths: making morbidity fabulous since forever.