If you’re planning to visit a haunted house this Halloween, you might want to think twice before signing any waivers. One haunted attraction in Tennessee has become notorious around the world for pushing visitors far beyond fear, and into what some call real-life torture.
The Horror Experience Known as McKamey Manor
Located in Summertown, Tennessee, McKamey Manor has built a chilling reputation as one of the most extreme haunted attractions ever created. Participants who enter report being chased by masked figures, submerged underwater, locked in coffins, and covered in unsettling substances.
The attraction was originally based in San Diego, California, but relocated multiple times due to public backlash and growing controversy surrounding its practices.
Claims of Violence and Psychological Trauma
Some former participants have made shocking allegations about what they endured inside. One visitor, Laura Hertz, told Nashville Scene that she was “waterboarded,” “tased,” and “whipped” during her visit.
“I still have scars from everything they did to me,” Hertz said. “I was repeatedly hit in my face, over and over again. Like, open-handed, as hard as a man could hit a woman.”
She also claimed she was blindfolded with duct tape, submerged underwater until her body convulsed, and forced to dig her own hole in the dirt before being buried with only a straw to breathe through.
The Owner Denies the Allegations
McKamey Manor’s founder, Russ McKamey, has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as exaggerated and part of the attraction’s mystique. Speaking to LADbible, he said that if guests were truly being harmed, he would have been arrested long ago.
“If somebody actually pulled their tooth out, don’t you think somebody would have gone and reported it?” McKamey said. “It makes a good story, doesn’t it? It gets people talking. But it’s all smoke and mirrors.”
He insists that everything that happens at the manor is staged and designed to test people’s limits without causing real injury.
The $20,000 Challenge No One Has Won
Despite the terrifying reputation, McKamey Manor offers a $20,000 prize to anyone who can complete the full experience. So far, no one ever has, and many don’t make it past the first hour.
Participants are required to sign a 40-page waiver beforehand, which, according to The Guardian, warns of “drowning, electric shocks, and exposure to poisonous animals.” It also lists possible injuries including “broken bones, dislocation of limbs, crushed limbs, and blackouts.”
Before entering, each participant must also record a video stating they understand the risks, an “exit interview” designed to prove they agreed to every condition.
Growing Calls for Closure
The attraction’s extreme nature has sparked widespread outrage. A petition demanding that McKamey Manor be shut down has gathered more than 193,800 signatures.
While critics call it abusive and unsafe, others defend it as the ultimate test of endurance, a horror experience designed for only the bravest (or most reckless) thrill-seekers.
McKamey Manor remains one of the most controversial and unsettling haunted houses in the world, a place where fear feels dangerously real.