Sean McCarthy
Astroland’s Dante’s Inferno is back thanks to 22-year-old preservationist
Sean McCarthy (above) who is selling off parts from the spooky attraction
(left) that lived in Astroland for years to Brooklyn’s history buffs
looking to own a piece of Coney Island lore.
COURIER LIFE, OCTOBER 1-7, 2021 3
MEMORY LANE
now be seen as an attraction
next to the century-old Wonder
Wheel.
McCarthy has had a knack
for preserving old haunted
and funhouse rides since
he was a child. He says the
hobby was born out of his interest
in a local amusement
park that closed before he was
even born, but was a place his
parents both enjoyed in their
early lives.
“I started collecting Rocky
Point items when I was 9 and
I still do to this day,” said Mc-
Carthy.
His collection started
with pieces from Rocky Point
Park in Warwick, Rhode Island,
and expanded to include
keepsakes from haunted, indoor
amusement and carnival
rides as he grew to love
the history behind each attraction.
“After I really started getting
into that stuff, I decided
why not buy more amusement
park and carnival pieces,” Mc-
Carthy said. “They have such
a rich history to them, and everything
is pretty much a one
of one and is like an art piece
to me.”
The young preservationist
said he has a particular interest
in dark rides and funhouses,
and was contacted
about Dante’s Inferno by Obnoxious
Antiques, who suspected
this was something in
McCarthy’s wheelhouse.
His purchase included almost
every prop in the antique
ride except for its sign,
the coaster’s cars and the 40-
foot demon once situated outside
of the haunted attraction.
Now, he’s selling off another
150 parts, except for a few favorites
he will keep for his
collection — a three-headed
dragon, a couple of exterior
panels, two devils and a cauldron.
McCarthy told Brooklyn
Paper that he also plans to
parcel smaller pieces of the
exterior panels he isn’t keeping
to give everyone a chance
to own a piece of the ride.
And one day, the collector
intends to display his collection
in a museum-like space
that he plans to construct
in the backyard of his own
home.
“When I get a house, I am
having a building in my backyard
built where I am going
to display all my carnival
and amusement park items,
and make its like a small museum…
just a spot where I can
go and have everything on
display,” McCarthy said.
The Coney Island History
Project has already salvaged
many signs and artifacts
from the shuttered Astroland,
including parts from Dante’s
Inferno, and the history buffs
are happy to see what’s left of
the ride being cared for by the
young collector, as opposed to
the fate of many gutted funhouses,
which often land in
the trash.
“This person did the right
thing,” Vita said. “He clearly
has a passion for it.”
ride ‘Dante’s Inferno’ alive
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