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America’s scariest haunted house requires doctor’s note, 40-page waiver, safe word

Steven Adams
By Steven Adams
2 Min Read Oct. 23, 2019 | 6 years Ago
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This is no neighborhood fundraiser haunted house. In fact, you’ll be paid $20,000 if you make it through. No one has.

Russ McKamey runs the scariest fright house in the country and it’ll cost you just a bag of dog food (McKamey has five dogs) to enter, reports WFLA.com.

The Summertown, Tenn., attraction is so severe that visitors who think they can handle it must prove their fortitude with these seven items:

• Visitors must be at least 21 years old, 18-20 with parents approval.

• Complete “sports physical” and doctor’s letter stating you are physically and mentally cleared.

• Pass a background check provided by McKamey Manor.

• Be screened via Facebook, Facetime or phone.

• Provide proof of medical insurance.

• Sign a detailed 40-page waiver.

• Pass a portable drug test on the day of the show.

The screening at McKamey Manor involves watching a two-hour video.

Every person who fails to complete the experience must utter their safeword and the phrase, “You really don’t want to do this.”

The attraction has been featured on Netflix’s “Haunters: Art of the Scare.”

Plenty of people have shown up confident they can complete the tour but everyone has quit. Yet McKamey has made his new version, “Desolation,” even more extreme.

“Nobody’s even made it to the starting clock with this new show,” McKamey told WFLA. “With the new mental game, it’s much more difficult. And because of that, no one’s even started the clock.”

McKamey makes a video of every show. It’s entertaining but also provides evidence when guests try to take him to court over their experience.

“You’d be surprised over the years how many people have claimed something happened to them inside,” McKamey told WFLA. “And I need to go back and show whoever needs to see it the raw and unedited footage, saying ‘here ya go, here’s the complete show.’”

Read details about the experience and learn more about Russ McKamey at WFLA.com.

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About the Writers

Steven Adams is a Tribune-Review manager/photography. You can contact Steven at sadams@triblive.com.

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