For years, Rust McKamey built his fan base by terrifying people for entertainment.

His haunted attraction, McKamey Manor, located in Summertown, Tennessee, promised to be the world’s scariest haunted house. However, now the man behind it is the one surrounded by lawsuits and criminal charges. 

McKamey turned his once-famous attraction into a real-life Horror Story. McKamye Manor isn’t just a normal haunted house. There are no jump scares, fake ghosts, or plastic skeletons.

 Instead, participants go through hours of intense psychological and physical challenges, all while being filmed before they enter the house. They must sign a six-page waiver and agree that they can potentially get bruised, cut, or even lose teeth.

 It sounds insane that anyone would agree to lose teeth, yet many people still chose to sign. At least now, it is all illegal.

 In 2023, a Hulu documentary called Monster Inside America’s Most Extreme Haunted House brought demeanor back into the media, with a film featuring former participants, all of whom described being tied up, slapped, force-fed dog food, and even waterboarded. These disturbing stories went viral, leading the Tennessee Attorney General to open an investigation into whether McKamey’s Haunted House was crossing the line from entertainment to physical and psychological abuse. 

As if that weren’t enough, in July 2024, McKamey was arrested on serious charges, including attempted murder, rape, and domestic assault. A woman came forward accusing him of attacking her over several days. 

The arrest shocked everyone, from his supporters to his critics. But just 2 months later, in September 2024, prosecutors dropped all charges, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward. 

McKamey later called this accusation false and damaging. Even with the scandals, McKamey has continued to defend himself and his attraction. He says everything that happens inside his haunted house is part of an elaborate performance meant to test human limits. 

He stated that no one is ever really hurt. He even said in an interview that it’s all psychological, even though many have come forward and said that they have experienced truly traumatizing and unforgettable torture. 

However, his former participants disagree, with some saying they were actually injured by Bruce’s broken teeth or lasting drama. One man claimed his life was never the same after going through it, and others said they begged to leave but weren’t allowed. Critics argued that even if people sign a waiver that doesn’t give them the right to sue. 

People have come forward and said that the agreement stated they had a safe word, and even when they screamed the safe word, the employees didn’t listen and kept on going. They begged and begged for it to stop. 

Over time, more and more people have demanded that McKamey’s haunted house be shut down. Petitions have gathered more than a thousand signatures, and the story has sparked debates about the safety of his environment and whether entertainment should draw the line. He says that this is all psychological and entertainment, even though this is brutal torture. 

Everyone who has gone through that supposedly haunted house has come back with traumatizing feedback and unforgettable trauma.