‘Extreme’ haunted house accused of being a ‘torture chamber under disguise’ comes with a 40-page waiver as calls for it to shut down intensify

<p>A Tennessee haunted house dubbed a “torture chamber under disguise” is still operating — despite the owner being probed for traumatizing visitors and calls for the sadistic experience to be permanently axed. McKamey Manor, the controversial house of horrors in Summertown about 70 miles southwest of Nashville, has for years been dogged by complaints of violence and inhumane treatment against participants, who at one point were forced to sign a 40-page waiver just to enter . Some participants said they were waterboarded, tased, whipped, taunted with spiders and trapped in boxes during their no-escape nightmare. The twisted attraction’s waiver indicated that tooth-pulling, finger-breaking or head-shaving also might have to be endured. “We’re known for no quitting and no safe word,” boasted owner Russ McKamey, who has been running the haunted house in Summertown since 2017, in a recent Hulu documentary about the house of horrors. “Either you actually complete the tour, which is not going to happen, or you mentally or physically are at such a breaking point that it’s not safe for you to continue and I need to take you out,” he said. Still, McKamey told DailyMail.com over the weekend as he revealed his attraction is returning again this year, “If all of those crazy horrible things said about me are true, I wouldn’t be free, running around doing what I want to do.” After years of on-and-off backlash, McKamey and his extreme haunt were again catapulted back into the national spotlight when the Hulu piece — “Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House” — started streaming last year. Some participants featured in the documentary complained on camera about the violence and claimed there was no way to escape their ordeal once it was under way — prompting Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to launch an investigation into the gory attraction’s practices, WKRN reported . “A 2019 promotional video from McKamey Manor’s YouTube page depicts some of the horrors visitors are subjected to, which includes getting dragged via heavy chains or locked into confined spaces while water pours in,” Skrmetti said at the time. Participants have been required to present proof that they recently had a healthy physical exam and take a background check, according to the spooky house’s website . One online petition attracted tens of thousands of signatures in a bid to have the site shut down. “Advertised as ‘an extreme haunt’ when in fact it is NOT a haunted house. It’s a torture chamber under disguise,” Frankie Towery, the organizer of that 2019 appeal, wrote alongside the petition. “They do screenings to find the weakest, most easily manipulated people to do the ‘haunt.’ If Russ doesn’t think you’re easily manipulated, you aren’t allowed to go,” Towery added. “It’s literally just a kidnapping [and] torture house.” It wasn’t immediately clear what plans McKamey had put in place for this year’s event or when it is slated to open. Last year’s tour — titled “DESCENT” — was billed as “survival horror” show. The outcome of the AG’s investigation also wasn’t known. Separately, the saga surrounding this year’s haunted house comes just months after McKamey found himself embroiled in another legal drama: He was arrested over the summer for attempted murder, rape and domestic assault involving an incident with his girlfriend. The charges were later dropped, according to the local outlet. McKamey did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment.</p>