Haunted House Waivers
By Jebulon – Own work, CC0, Link (This is basically as scary as I can handle.)
‘Tis the season!
No, not that season–yet–although last week I was shopping and noticed that the shelves are full of Christmas merchandise already so maybe it is that season.
But the real season is Halloween! Now I enjoy Halloween well enough but I’m not much of a haunted house person (or even a scary movie person), so I don’t know much about them, and I was fascinated to learn that there are several haunted houses around the country that require attendees to sign waivers. In the words of this Cosmo article, “A ‘if you’re so scared that you actually die, your family won’t sue us into oblivion’ type of waiver.” (Some haunted houses even involve electric shocks, I was told. Electric shocks!! I had no idea.)
I was able to locate a couple of these haunted house waivers online. Here’s one that acknowledges risk of animal bites and contacts with poisonous plants (yikes!). Here’s another one (with I have to admit a fair amount of typos) that contains a little clause down at the bottom acknowledging that you’ve been offered safety glasses.
At least one article queries whether this practice is entirely legal. The article asks, “Is it okay to mentally and even physically abuse individuals if they sign a waiver? Is there a limit to what should be legally acceptable?” and notes that few people are able to complete the experience and that it frequently leaves participants bruised, cut, and apparently shivering with shock. The haunted house they’re talking about in the article requires guests to go through a health check first, I guess to try to minimize the possibility that they will suffer any lasting harm–either physically or mentally–from whatever crazy thing is going on in there. While this might sound terrifying to me, it apparently just sounds like an awesome time to a bunch of people. According to this article, there’s a 17,000-person waiting list to get into this haunted house.
Another interesting thing I learned while researching this stuff (peering at the scary descriptions from between my fingers) is that apparently some of the haunted houses also make the guests sign confidentiality provisions? I guess to preserve the surprise for others. At any rate, now I’ve creeped myself out just looking at this stuff and I need to go watch some HGTV just to stop shuddering!
Btw, if you are a haunted house person and you’re curious if one of these extreme you-would-have-to-pay-me-a-million-dollars-to-go-in-here experiences is near you, I found lists here and here. Or feel free to leave your personal favorite in the comments! Happy haunting!