Broken bones, bruises, extracted teeth, shaved heads, and crushed spirits are just some of the things that have allegedly resulted from an extreme haunted house experience that is at the heart of a new Hulu documentary, Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House.
The full-length feature documentary centers on the haunted house’s creator Russ McKamey and the allegations swirling around him that he is “a manipulative abuser, according to three people who realize the horror is never over once you decide to enter the Manor,” according to the film’s description.
In a nutshell, McKamey Manor is a survival horror attraction in which participants sign pages upon pages of waivers in order to agree to being physically and psychologically tortured. Originally founded in San Diego, CA, the attraction has a cult fanbase online thanks to McKamey posting videos from the debaucherous experiences to a closed Facebook group. The extreme haunted house experience has since moved to Summerville, TN and Huntsville, AL, in 2017, after locals complained, according to Country Living.
With each tour being tailored to an individual’s fears, the liability waiver allows “volunteers” associated with the experience to subject participants to torture ranging from “waterboarding, being tased, drugging, being forced to eat and drink items including vomit, restraints, and much more,” the article said.
Is McKamey Manor legal?
Even when McKamey Manor was located in San Diego, it drew a number of complaints from past participants. In one such case, Amy Mulligan claimed the cameras were shut off for the worst portions of her experience, in which she had her head held underwater, with her hair wrapped around her neck, and begged the “actors” to let her go home, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
McKamey even had the cops called on him during his tenure in Tennessee in which witnesses saw “a screaming woman being dragged from a vehicle,” according to Nashville Scene. However, the police left without incident after it was established the woman was actually there consensually. Ever since then, McKamey has taken to calling the police ahead of any tours he gives to let them know they may be getting calls of strange occurrences on his property that is all part of the show.
Despite these disturbing accounts, which have drawn the scrutiny of local Lawrence County Commissioner Scott Franks among other critics, McKamey Manor is still in operation to this day. As Lawrence County District Attorney Brent Cooper explained to Nashville Scene, “It’s legal because basically the people that are subjecting themselves to the McKamey program, or whatever you want to call it, they’re doing so voluntarily […] That was one thing we went over at length with Mr. McKamey.”
With that said, Cooper clarified that “Tennessee is a state where you can withdraw your consent at anytime,” meaning that if a contestant doesn’t want to participate any more, they should be allowed to stop it when they want. If not, McKamey could be considered to be “committing a crime.”
Torture accusations and supposed grand prize
One woman, Laura Hertz Brotherton, claimed her San Diego-based McKamey Manor experience in 2016 amounted to brutal physical torture in which the “actors,” with McKamey behind the camera calling the shots, did not stop hurting her until several minutes after she repeated her safe phrase. She later shared photographs on social media of injuries documented from a hospital, such as having a swollen face, a lump on her forehead, wearing a neck brace, having red and puffy lips, and her mouth corners having small cuts from alleged “fish-hooking,” which also scraped the inside of her mouth. She also claimed to have a hairline fracture in her foot. Though she tried to go to the police, they told her she didn’t have a case due to the waivers she signed.
Supposedly, the grand prize for surviving the entire 10-hour experience is $20,000, which no one has ever achieved. However, that hasn’t stopped adrenaline junkies from all around the country from applying and participating in McKamey Manor. The only cost of admission, which requires a lengthy vetting process that includes interacting with McKamey himself beforehand and joining the closed Facebook group, is a bag of dog food that he supposedly donates to a local shelter. With that said, there is a $500 penalty for any curses uttered during the attempt and any challenges that contestants fail, according to Parade.
You can check out Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House on Hulu.