The Dead Walk Designs team often refers to books for knowledge or inspiration during projects. The books listed below are some that we have found particularly useful, or that members of our team have used for guidance early in their careers. If you are new to attraction design, you might find some of these handy!
4. The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic (2015), Jason Surrell
When the Dead Walk Designs team was working on the refurbishment of a ghost train in Northern Ireland, we had this book out on the table at our accommodation. The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic tells the story of the classic Haunted Mansion ride through artwork and photographs. As the Haunted Mansion is considered one of the best themed attractions in history, and as many of its illusions are easy to replicate, this book is a source of inspiration for those starting out in attraction design, as well as those experienced in the industry!
3. Planning Your Escape: Strategy Secrets to Make You an Escape Room Superstar (2021), Laura E. Hall
At Dead Walk Designs, we are often designing or building escape room experiences. Whether you end up working on escape rooms or not, having an understanding of gameplay can be very useful in different attraction contexts. For example, many museums today employ escape room style gameplay for educational sessions, and theme park experiences like Universal’s Super Nintendo World tie gameplay into their environments.
Planning Your Escape by Laura E. Hall is a brilliant guide through different types of escape rooms and puzzles. Members of the Dead Walk Designs team have had this book at their sides as a source for quick referencing when incorporating gameplay into attractions.
2. Marc Davis: In His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks (2019), Pete Docter & Christopher Merritt
This two-book set is sure to inspire. Legendary Imagineer Marc Davis’ concept design work is laid out chronologically, attraction-by-attraction, demonstrating storytelling excellence that would have an incredible impact on the early attractions industry.
Early industry pioneers like Marc Davis continue to provide inspiration to us here at Dead Walk Designs. Whether you are looking into the ways stories can be told quickly and clearly through visuals (which is important at many attractions), or if you’re simply after a good drawing reference, this set will impress!
1. Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment (2016), David Younger
This hefty book by David Younger is widely considered the ultimate guide to theme park design! Virtually every element of the topic, including rides, land layouts, business models and even firework types, is covered. A great aspect of this book is its readability, meaning you can open it up and just enjoy a short section, or you can study the chapters in greater depth. This makes for an excellent introduction to the many areas of theme park design available to explore, acting as a springboard for further reading and career trajectory.
Of course, many of the elements discussed are relevant to other types of attraction too, like museums, zoos and escape rooms, meaning this book is not exclusively useful for theme park projects.
