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1 Cocaine Bear: Fun Mall, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

  • Travis Linnemann
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50 Dark Destinations
This chapter is in the book 50 Dark Destinations

Abstract

On the eastside of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, inside a non-descript industrial building turned gift shop sits an unlikely attraction, a medium-sized taxidermied North American Black Bear. Sometimes wearing a bright blue cowboy hat, other times a sideways baseball cap lampooning 1980s hip-hop style, around the bear’s neck hangs a gold chain and plaque telling its story – this is that story.

In 1985, ‘“Cocaine Bear’” a.k.a. ‘“Pablo EskoBear’” was found dead in Tennessee’s Chattahoochee National Forrest, ‘“overdosed on 40 kilos of cocaine dropped by Andrew Thorton. You might remember Andrew from the Bluegrass Conspiracy. Don’t do drugs or you’ll end up dead (and maybe stuffed) like poor “‘Cocaine Bear”.’’” [emphasis original] (Smallwood, 2017, emphasis original)). And that’s pretty much it, no mention of how American hedonism and the drug war’s ecological degradation is so powerfully captured in the ‘“Cocaine Bear’s’” grim biography. The

On the eastside of Lexington, Kentucky USA, inside a non-descript industrial building turned gift shop sits an unlikely attraction, a medium-sized taxidermied North American Black Bear. Sometimes wearing a bright blue cowboy hat, other times a sideways baseball cap lampooning 80s hip-hop style, around the bear’s neck hangs a gold chain and plaque telling its story – this is that story.

It’s unsurprising really. Americans veraciously consume drugs, using more of it legal or otherwise than arguably anywhere else on the planet (Gusovsky, 2016)

Abstract

On the eastside of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, inside a non-descript industrial building turned gift shop sits an unlikely attraction, a medium-sized taxidermied North American Black Bear. Sometimes wearing a bright blue cowboy hat, other times a sideways baseball cap lampooning 1980s hip-hop style, around the bear’s neck hangs a gold chain and plaque telling its story – this is that story.

In 1985, ‘“Cocaine Bear’” a.k.a. ‘“Pablo EskoBear’” was found dead in Tennessee’s Chattahoochee National Forrest, ‘“overdosed on 40 kilos of cocaine dropped by Andrew Thorton. You might remember Andrew from the Bluegrass Conspiracy. Don’t do drugs or you’ll end up dead (and maybe stuffed) like poor “‘Cocaine Bear”.’’” [emphasis original] (Smallwood, 2017, emphasis original)). And that’s pretty much it, no mention of how American hedonism and the drug war’s ecological degradation is so powerfully captured in the ‘“Cocaine Bear’s’” grim biography. The

On the eastside of Lexington, Kentucky USA, inside a non-descript industrial building turned gift shop sits an unlikely attraction, a medium-sized taxidermied North American Black Bear. Sometimes wearing a bright blue cowboy hat, other times a sideways baseball cap lampooning 80s hip-hop style, around the bear’s neck hangs a gold chain and plaque telling its story – this is that story.

It’s unsurprising really. Americans veraciously consume drugs, using more of it legal or otherwise than arguably anywhere else on the planet (Gusovsky, 2016)

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of figures x
  4. About the editors xi
  5. Acknowledgements xiii
  6. Introduction 1
  7. Cocaine Bear: Fun Mall, Lexington, Kentucky, USA 9
  8. Whitney Plantation: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 14
  9. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Washington, DC, USA 24
  10. From Newgate Prison to Tyburn Tree: the Old Bailey, London, UK 29
  11. Jack the Ripper tour: Whitechapel, London, UK 35
  12. The Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA 41
  13. The Museum of Death: Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA 50
  14. The Royal Armouries Museum: Leeds, UK 55
  15. The Black Dahlia tour: Los Angeles, California, USA 59
  16. The ‘Execution Dock’: Wapping, East London, UK 65
  17. Auschwitz: Oświęcim, Poland 71
  18. Jeju 4:3 memorial: Jeju Island, South Korea 80
  19. Museum Dr. Guislain: Ghent, Belgium 88
  20. Karosta Prison Hotel: Liepāja, Latvia 92
  21. The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK 98
  22. The 9/11 memorial and museum: New York, New York, USA 104
  23. The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 107
  24. Choeung Ek killing field: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 116
  25. Blue lights in the Red Light District: Amsterdam, the Netherlands 122
  26. Trophy hunting: sub-Saharan Africa 128
  27. ‘The ugly side to the beautiful game’: Qatar 135
  28. Burning Man festival: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA 140
  29. Magaluf: Majorca 147
  30. ‘Holiday Hooters’: Hong Kong 153
  31. Scilla: Calabria, Italy 159
  32. The Kray twins tours: London, UK 165
  33. Backpacking in the outback: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia 171
  34. The hippie trail: Nepal, South Asia 177
  35. The Museum of Confiscated Art: Brest, Belarus 182
  36. Steroid holidays: Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 187
  37. The souks: Tunis, Tunisia 194
  38. Mezhyhirya Residence Museum: Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine 200
  39. The great British seaside: various locations, UK 207
  40. The Biggie mural: Brooklyn, New York, USA 213
  41. The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK 217
  42. Volunteer tourism – ‘doing it for the ’gram’: Cambodia, Southeast Asia 223
  43. The staycation: home 230
  44. The ‘suicide forest’: Aokigahara, Japan 235
  45. Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean 245
  46. Favela tours: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 251
  47. Skid Row walking tours: Los Angeles, California, USA 258
  48. The 2019–20 anti-extradition protests: Hong Kong 264
  49. The Maldives: Republic of Maldives, Indian Ocean 271
  50. Death Road: La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia 276
  51. Vulture brains and muthi markets: Johannesburg, South Africa 282
  52. Dark tourism, ecocide and Alpine ski resorts: the Alps, Europe 288
  53. Boho Zone: Middlesbrough, UK 293
  54. One Hyde Park: London, UK 299
  55. Amazon warehouse tours: Rugeley, UK or virtual tour 305
  56. Disney World: Orlando, Florida, USA 315
  57. Conclusion 322
  58. References 325
  59. Index 394
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781447362210-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of figures x
  4. About the editors xi
  5. Acknowledgements xiii
  6. Introduction 1
  7. Cocaine Bear: Fun Mall, Lexington, Kentucky, USA 9
  8. Whitney Plantation: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 14
  9. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Washington, DC, USA 24
  10. From Newgate Prison to Tyburn Tree: the Old Bailey, London, UK 29
  11. Jack the Ripper tour: Whitechapel, London, UK 35
  12. The Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA 41
  13. The Museum of Death: Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA 50
  14. The Royal Armouries Museum: Leeds, UK 55
  15. The Black Dahlia tour: Los Angeles, California, USA 59
  16. The ‘Execution Dock’: Wapping, East London, UK 65
  17. Auschwitz: Oświęcim, Poland 71
  18. Jeju 4:3 memorial: Jeju Island, South Korea 80
  19. Museum Dr. Guislain: Ghent, Belgium 88
  20. Karosta Prison Hotel: Liepāja, Latvia 92
  21. The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK 98
  22. The 9/11 memorial and museum: New York, New York, USA 104
  23. The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 107
  24. Choeung Ek killing field: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 116
  25. Blue lights in the Red Light District: Amsterdam, the Netherlands 122
  26. Trophy hunting: sub-Saharan Africa 128
  27. ‘The ugly side to the beautiful game’: Qatar 135
  28. Burning Man festival: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA 140
  29. Magaluf: Majorca 147
  30. ‘Holiday Hooters’: Hong Kong 153
  31. Scilla: Calabria, Italy 159
  32. The Kray twins tours: London, UK 165
  33. Backpacking in the outback: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia 171
  34. The hippie trail: Nepal, South Asia 177
  35. The Museum of Confiscated Art: Brest, Belarus 182
  36. Steroid holidays: Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 187
  37. The souks: Tunis, Tunisia 194
  38. Mezhyhirya Residence Museum: Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine 200
  39. The great British seaside: various locations, UK 207
  40. The Biggie mural: Brooklyn, New York, USA 213
  41. The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK 217
  42. Volunteer tourism – ‘doing it for the ’gram’: Cambodia, Southeast Asia 223
  43. The staycation: home 230
  44. The ‘suicide forest’: Aokigahara, Japan 235
  45. Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean 245
  46. Favela tours: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 251
  47. Skid Row walking tours: Los Angeles, California, USA 258
  48. The 2019–20 anti-extradition protests: Hong Kong 264
  49. The Maldives: Republic of Maldives, Indian Ocean 271
  50. Death Road: La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia 276
  51. Vulture brains and muthi markets: Johannesburg, South Africa 282
  52. Dark tourism, ecocide and Alpine ski resorts: the Alps, Europe 288
  53. Boho Zone: Middlesbrough, UK 293
  54. One Hyde Park: London, UK 299
  55. Amazon warehouse tours: Rugeley, UK or virtual tour 305
  56. Disney World: Orlando, Florida, USA 315
  57. Conclusion 322
  58. References 325
  59. Index 394
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