A bad dream. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town. Sometimes there are topics that I can't even believe we haven't covered in our six

seven years of doing this podcast because they truly encompass so many themes

that we like to explore. Surprising cultural histories, paranormal sightings, true crime, persistent ghosts,

reality TV, ripping off Disney, killer buzz saws, just to name a few.

And yet here we are in the thick of October exploring a place

that is intriguing, problematic, and as mysterious as they come, one that is

still in use and part of Australia's rich cultural identity.

Welcome to Dream World, a Queensland theme park with a chilling history all its own.

The history of Dream World really begins in 1968 when Australian entrepreneur John

Longhurst took his children to a zoo in Sydney and he was not impressed.

With the opening of Disney in the US, Longhurst was amped with entertainment

possibility, thinking that it would inspire Ossies to level up in the great race to provide

amazing children's entertainment. But to his dismay, his country was still sorely lacking.

After reading it another newspaper article about the Wonders of Disneyland, one piece of reporting caught Longhurst's eye. The description of Disneyland as quote,

a real dream world. The phrase dream world was the kicker and on May 10th 1973

he took matters into his own hands,

registering the name Dream World as his own trademark.

One year later, he purchased 210 acres of land in Kumera Australia,

a sleepy town off of Australia's gold coast.

It was there that John Longhurst's Dream World would be born.

A hands-on perfectionist through and through, Longhurst was involved at every phase of Dream World's development.

For example, he personally spent 12 hours a day, every day for two and a half years,

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