Dante's Inferno: The Ride

Out of curiosity, I typed in “Dante’s Inferno” into Youtube. One video that caught my eye was “Dante’s Inferno, Coney Island”. When I clicked the link, I realized this was an amusement park ride at the famed Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York – an amusement park that I had frequented as a child. Upon further research and watching the video several times, I realized I had actually been on this ride many times – it was a very mild bumper car/roller coaster type ride (akin to a “Mouse-Coaster”, which isn’t incredibly fast but has random drops and sharp jerky turns), that took you through two levels of a house, displaying “horror show” like exhibits along the way, with various noise and special effects. Though meant to portray a haunted house level of terror, I distinctly remember it being absolutely hilarious rather than scary. Parts of the ride were completely in the dark and uneventful, the exhibits meant to look grotesque didn’t look remotely real, and there were cobwebs, painted flames that looked out of place, and random sounds of evil laughter. It seemed like the creators of the ride had attempted to take you through a journey into hell, in the form of a haunted house that was haunted by the demons of hell, but it seemed like a colossal mess.

            My child hood observations weren’t entirely false, but I did some reading and this ride is actually a really interesting, albeit a bit far reaching, interpretation of Dante’s Inferno. The ride exterior is decorated with a purple Cerberus statue, as well as a large devil. The artwork on the walls includes Medusa’s severed head and a Grim Reaper over the entrance, which could be a reference to Phlegyas, the one who mans the boat that transports Dante and Virgil across the river Styx, or Charon, the initial guardian of the entrance into Hell. (Though, the Grim Reaper I believe is an Angel of Death of sorts, and not actually the one that ferries the dead souls over, so that wasn’t entirely accurate. Perhaps it is a reference to all the guides in Inferno). I also remember one of the “exhibits” had a coffin with limbs climbing out of it – perhaps a reference to the fiery tombs the Heretics were trapped in. The long periods of darkness in the ride, which were meant to build suspense, could have been a reference to Dante waking up in the dark, lost and alone, as well as periods throughout Inferno where he passes out. I remember random flame designs along the walls of the ride, and I also distinctly remember the one part of the ride where there was lighting: it was a semi-steep, very short but very abrupt drop, where the walls were lined with flames, the lights were bright, and it was accompanied by evil laughter. The flames, prevalent in Inferno, as well as the laughter that was perhaps an allusion to Satan, could be interpreted as a descent into Hell.

The rest of the ride has little bearing to Dante’s Inferno or Hell – cobwebs lined the walls and occasionally draped over the unsuspecting riders pathway, there are fake werewolves, a mummy case, and, for some reason gorillas. But it was an entertaining Haunted House type ride, and I am sad to report that it was torn down in 2009 after Coney Island went through some renovations. Click here to "experience" it for yourself.