Tennessee McKamey Manor haunted attraction owner arrested, charged with domestic violence

The owner of an immersive haunted attraction in Tennessee was arrested Friday on domestic assault charges.

An arrest affidavit shows Russ McKamey was taken into custody around 4 a.m. Friday at his Stephenson Road home in Summertown.

Police say McKamey physically assaulted a woman they say was his girlfriend, according to a Lawrence County arrest affidavit.

The Tennessean does not name victims of domestic assault.

More: McKamey Manor Hulu documentary: 5 things we learned from controversial Tennessee haunted house

McKamey is scheduled for an initial court appearance at 9 a.m. on Aug. 6, in Lawrence County General Sessions Court. He posted a $1,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

McKamey owns McKamey Manor, a haunted attraction he operates from his Summertown home.

The Hulu original documentary Monster Inside: America's Most Extreme Haunted House , looked at three people who signed up for McKamey's brand of horror and believed he took things too far.

The documentary spurred an investigation by Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who sent a letter to McKamey sharing concerns about his "business practices" in operating the "extreme haunted attraction."

In the letter, Assistant Tennessee Attorney General Kristine Knowles sent to McKamey Manor on Halloween, she expressed concern over the haunted attraction's business practices.

Knowles said in the letter that McKamey Manor either does not offer or honor participants' wishes to stop during the haunted tour, referencing the Hulu documentary and McKamey's comments in it, or more specifically, "We're known for no quitting and no safe wording."

The state's letter also details a second concern, noting that tour participants do not have access to a waiver that describes the risks involved before they sign up.

"Former participants describe the adrenaline and pressure they felt when reviewing the waiver at the start of the tour," the letter reads.

"One interviewee on the Hulu documentary said they had 'too much excitement going through my veins at the time,' and if the waiver would have said that, 'a man is going to come out of the woods and murder you during this event, I would've signed it.'"

The state is also questioning whether a $20,000 prize, offered to those who complete the tour, actually exists. It may be impossible to win, the letter says.

McKamey has been asked in the past if anyone has ever won the challenge.

"Of course not, and they never will, because it's so mentally and physically challenging, but it will be the most exciting thing you've ever done," reads his response, as noted in the letter.

The attraction owner filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Attorney General's office seeking a court order to ensure he would not have to testify in a state investigation he believed to be politically motivated.

In April, McKamey filed an $8.4 million lawsuit against Hulu and multiple defendants that included a production company and a participant in a documentary about the popular Tennessee haunted attraction, which premiered last October.

The haunted attraction relocated from California to Sumertown in 2017 after it was shut down there due to public outcry, Knowles pointed out in the letter.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee McKamey Manor haunted attraction owner arrested, charged with domestic violence