Owner Of 'Most Extreme' Haunted House Accused Of Rape, Attempted Murder Of Girlfriend

The owner of an extreme and controversial Halloween attraction was arrested Friday on suspicion of the rape and attempted murder of his girlfriend.

Russ Alan McKamey is the owner of McKamey Manor in Lawrence County, Tennessee, a terrifying haunted house at the center of a state investigation and Hulu documentary for its practices.

McKamey has been charged with repeatedly assaulting, raping and attempting to murder his girlfriend over a three-day period, according to court records reviewed by HuffPost.

Police described multiple instances where McKamey was violent with his girlfriend, including one “domestic altercation” in which he strangled her until she was unconscious, according to an arrest affidavit cited by local Nexstar affiliate WKRN. McKamey was reportedly arrested following another alleged rape and strangulation, during which the woman lost consciousness again.

McKamey is due in court on Aug. 6, and an attorney listed as his representative did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s a request for comment.

His haunted house now faces a potential state probe after participants reported being brutally tortured during their visit.

According to McKamey Manor’s website, guests are required to complete a sports physical, obtain a doctors letter, pass a background check and sign a 40-page waiver before participating.

Disturbing promotional videos on the haunted house’s YouTube page show guests covered in red liquid, with one guest forced to put their head in a toilet bowl and others in tears as they beg to stop their experience. Photos on the manor’s website depict participants appearing terrified, with duct tape covering their eyes.

An online petition was launched in 2019 to shut the attraction down, calling it a “torture chamber under disguise.” The petition has garnered over 190,000 signatures.

Onetime attendee Laura Hertz Brotherton told local outlet the Nashville Scene in 2018 that she visited McKamey’s previous haunted house in San Diego and said the experienced nearly ruined her life.

“I was waterboarded, I was Tased, I was whipped,” Brotherton told the outlet. “I still have scars of everything they did to me. I was repeatedly hit in my face, over and over and over again.”

McKamey told Business Insider in 2019 that no one has ever finished his tour.

The attraction and McKamey’s business practices were examined in the Hulu documentary ” Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House .” Following its release, the Tennessee Attorney General’s office launched an investigation if McKamey Manor was violating consumer protection laws.

The attorney general’s office said in an Oct. 21, 2023, letter that it was particularly concerned by reports that McKamey refused to stop tours and didn’t allow participants to review the waiver until they’d signed up. The letter also questioned whether the $20,000 prize offered to anyone who completed the tour actually existed.

McKamey then filed a lawsuit against the attorney general’s office, seeking a court order to ensure he would not have to testify in a state investigation, the Tennessean reports . In April, McKamey filed another lawsuit against Hulu, the production company behind the documentary and participants, claiming they invaded his privacy.