Every year during the Halloween season, thrill-seekers and horror enthusiasts flock in masses to haunted house attractions across the United States. Most haunts use similar tactics to scare their audiences. But there is generally a no contact rule in order to protect both the actors and the participants. Although this doesn’t make being chased by a chainsaw-wielding maniac, or being screamed at, any less scary, there is a hard line between the fantasy of being in danger and actual, threatening physical contact.
Most who brave these attractions have some good scares and great stories to tell later. But McKamey Manor stands out among the rest. Situated in Southern California, McKamey Manor is an eight-hour tour (similar attractions clock in at around two hours). The haunt’s official website describes the ordeal as an “intense, rough, and very scary experience”. Moreover, the attraction is a strict, no-quit tour.
McKamey Manor has a Waiting List of Willing Participants Ready to be Tortured. The Legality Is Something of a Grey Area.
We’ve historically seen reports of a waiting list of 27,000 people who want to enter the McKamey Manor experience, all of whom are in excellent physical health and want to test their limits. However, one of the first things one does after starting the tour is sign a waiver used to explicitly clarify that there is no safe word. So unless the staff pulls you, it will not stop.
In any other instance, the safe word clause seems like organisers simply trying to hype up their event. But in the case of McKamey Manor it has very real consequences. With no safe word, haunt workers sip participants, stomp on them, sometimes cut their hair, and even administer water-boarding, or worse. In the spirit of integrity, I have to mention that the haunt has reportedly added a safe word to the waiver. But unsurprisingly, even when people use it, haunt workers reportedly ignore their pleas.
The abusers inside the Manor are untrained sadists, with one of them even bragging to a Guardian reporter that, “I am here to make sure no one makes it out. I get carried away. I don’t really have a line.” This is very dangerous and can even be deadly because pressing on, after someone screams for you to stop can induce panic attacks, anxiety attacks heart attacks, or even a loss of consciousness in order for the body to protect itself.
Wicked Horror TV Has Classic and Independent Horror Films to Stream for Free!
Also, reports of actors that left the ‘haunt’ last year claim that, in the fake drowning portion, the owner’s only advice was “try not to drown them.” There is also no real EMT on site in case something goes horribly wrong, even after someone suffered a heart attack there several years ago.
McKamey Manor Founder Russ McKamey Is Nothing if Not a Controversial Figure
The owner, Russ McKamey, is a 23 year Navy veteran. He claims that McKamey Manor is a “survival horror boot camp, where people feel they’re living their own horror movie.” Disturbingly, he told The Guardian that he delivers the “product of fear” by imposing physical and psychological stress until the victims break. He also claims McKamey Manor is a live theatrical performance and that it “isn’t real because, if the haunt was inflicting harm authorities would shut it down. This seems fair, since McKamey claims to record the entire ordeal to keep the abusers in check and protect the victims from harm.
However, when complaints arise and participants receive their footage, the parts pertaining to the events in question often conveniently disappear. For example, Amy Milligan gave the attraction an excellent review, only because she wanted to make sure she would receive a tape of her entire experience.
McKamey Manor Patrons Report Receiving Censored Footage
When she reviewed the footage, she found organizers cut her near-death experience. The video reportedly doesn’t show when the abusers pushed her head underwater and she begged for them to stop. She said she told the actors she couldn’t breathe. But they just laughed and continued the torture. McKamey has admitted that he gives reporters and bloggers “sissy tours” that are more toned down.
McKamey and his Manor have found a way around the legalities more traditional haunted attractions have to be subjected to. For one, McKamey runs his attraction as a nonprofit. He collects food for an animal shelter onsite. The haunt’s non-profit status means he doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Better Business Bureau or any federal or state regulatory organization. However, this does not excuse local and state authorities who ignore the complaints.
McKamey Manor Exploits Participants by Getting Them to Sign a Ridiculous Waiver to Minimize Legal Liability
The second reason McKamey gets away with it has a lot to do with the waiver. Right off the bat, haunt workers abuse the participants. The abuse begins before they have even signed the waiver. As employees explain the rules, they are slapping and grabbing haunt patrons. But, because participants sign a waiver, McKamey and his fans have a nasty penchant for victim-blaming. A dedicated Facebook Page called The Truth about McKamey Manor has several vulgar, victim-blaming comments directed at people who’ve reported abuse. Some posts remark the following (I left the spelling errors in for accuracy):
All you people crack me up. What a waste. And pathetic!!! People sign up for it! End of story! If they didn’t want this treatment then don’t go. It’s pretty simple. You can’t pay someone for this treatment then after u get it say “I’m offended how dare they do that to me
It seperates the boys from men, the weak from strong, mindful from the mindless. Just like social darwanism. If you can’t survive you can’t survive. The way these ‘whiners’ think is completely different from these people that they call ‘physco’. Everyday in society when you go out about your day you stare murders and ‘physco’ in the face everyday. You also stare REAL VICTIMS in the face too. People that have really been tortured. If their minds couldn’t distinguish the difference between really being kidnapped and tortured REALLY tortured! And signing a waiver knew completelyyyyy what they signed up for.
A Liability Waiver Only Goes So Far
Using this logic, the ridiculous argument that rape victims deserve what was coming to them because of what they were wearing should be a legitimate defense for those accused. Of course, this statement is completely untrue, so why is there a difference with a signed waiver when illegal acts are taking place? Did Amy Milligan ask to be drowned several times to the point of almost passing out? Is this acceptable because she signed a waiver? You simply cannot justify these actions without following the rules and having medical help on standby, like everyone else has to.
The online backlash ultimately became so severe that McKamey shut down the manor and relocated cross country. However, he reportedly still conducts ‘tours’ out of his home. What’s especially frightening is the idea that he doesn’t have actors participating anymore. It’s just him. That means there is even less oversight than before.
Updated June 8, 2024
