Tennessee haunted house will pay $20K upon escape
The ‘scariest’ haunted house in Tennessee requires a doctor’s note and waiver to enter. FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone with more.
Forced to eat things, waterboarded and shoved underwater. That's how critics are describing what happens in the haunted house otherwise known as McKamey Manor.
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On the eve of Halloween, an online petition on Change.org has drawn more than 76,000 signatures urging Tennesee officials to shut down the attraction, which bills itself as an "audience participation event in which (YOU) will live your own Horror Movie."
McKamey Manor The "extreme" haunted house is an interactive experience designed to play on each visitor’s worst fears, revealed during a thorough screening process: "Each guest will be mentally and physically challenged until you reach your personal breaking point," the website warns. The experience is so "rough, intense and truly frightening" that visitors must sign a 40-page waiver, hand over a signed medical release and choose a safe word. And if they do make it out — without tapping out — they are awarded $20,000. McKamey Manor The attraction's website provides a detailed description of what guests should expect before that happens, including low visibility, wet conditions, physically demanding environments and close contact with “very real and graphic scenes of horror. So far, no one has made it through the entire experience, which lasts as long as 10 hours, owner Russ McKamey has reportedly said. “It’s literally just a kidnapping and torture house,” the petition says. “Some people have had to seek professional psychiatric help and medical care for extensive injuries.” HALLOWEEN CANCELLED! WHY CITIES ARE TRICKING KIDS WHO WANT TREATS McKamey didn't immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment. He told The Washington Post that he wouldn’t confirm which claims in the petition are accurate and which are not, but he said no torture or illegal activity takes place and law enforcement keeps a close eye on the manor. The attraction uses mental techniques to convince people they are experiencing things that are not actually happening, McKamey said, and films every visit so he has proof of what actually occurred and what didn't. “There’s no torture, there’s nothing like that,” he told the Post. “But under hypnosis, if you make someone believe there’s something really scary going on, that’s just in their own mind and not reality.” MOST DANGEROUS TRICK-OR-TREATING CITIES IN AMERICA: REPORT Participants are allowed to quit once they hit their breaking point, but the petition says that wasn't always the case. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS "Previously, no safe word was allowed. He changed that, but there have been reports that the torture continues even when people repeat their safe word for several minutes," the petition adds. "One man was tortured so badly he passed out multiple times. Workers only stopped because they thought they had killed him." Residents who live near the house of horrors told a local Fox affiliate they have heard screams of terror and have wanted to shut the house down since it opened. “People come out screaming and hollering,” a neighbor told WKRN. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE The petition notes that participation is free, "which is technically the loophole," because they're doing it for fun. "It’s a torture chamber under disguise," the creator wrote. "They do screenings to find the weakest, most easily manipulated people." McKamey Manor is open year-round but performances only occur once a week. In addition to the Nashville site, McKamey operates one in Huntsville, Ala. FOX Business' Angelica Stabile contributed to this article. Source: Read Full Article
