All language subtitles for Monster.Inside.Americas.Most.Extreme.Haunted.House.2023.hoetinkhof79

[♪ creepy rhythmic pulsing]

[♪ eerie music playing]

[♪ horror sting]

♪♪

[speaker 1]
So, very young...

[branches rustling]

...I got obsessed with horror.

[chair squeaking]

[heavy breathing]

I just think it would be fun
to survive a horror movie.

♪♪

[buzzing]

-[light clicks]
-[indistinct murmuring]

[slice]

But you make it to the end...

[screaming]

♪♪

...and the credits roll,
and everyone's fine.

[screaming]

That's just always been, like,
super appealing to me.

I think I googled,
"Survive your own scary movie,"

which is where
the beginning of this started.

♪♪

[speaker 2]
But, every horror movie...

[♪ horror music playing]

[screaming]

-[static hissing]
-...has a monster.

[♪ music fades out]

[screaming]

Hey, everybody. It's Russ.

[screaming]

This is Immersive Horror,

where you become the star of the show.

[screaming] No!

[speaker 2]
No, Russ. Please...

[Russ McKamey]
[panting] Stay with me, honey.

-[speaker 2 pleading]
-[Russ] Hold your breath.

On the count of three, hold your breath.
One. Two.

-[water pouring]
-[echoing hyperventilating]

-[speaker 2] Please--
-[silence]

[speaker 3]
An immersive horror experience is...

[overlapping screaming]

...you are basically putting yourself
inside of a horror movie.

[indistinct screaming]

My legs hurt, and my arms hurt,
a-and my hands are freezing.

And I can't feel them 'cause there's still
shocks running through my hands.

[interviewer]
You had a good time, though?

Yes! I had a great time.

-[people screaming]
-[♪ horror music playing]

I don't know too many people
outside of my small little group

that know about this stuff.

[♪ creepy music playing]

It is relatively underground,

and right now, we have
the worst salesman for it

in the history of bad salesmen.
That's Russ McKamey.

♪♪

I am the owner and creator
of McKamey Manor,

the world's most extreme haunted house.

-[♪ creepy music playing]
-[inaudible screaming]

Russ has positioned himself to be

-the great danger.
-[liquid splashes]

You're in boot camp,
you are in North Korea,

you are in Stalinist Russia,

and you're gonna see
if you can make it out or not.

-[person panting]
-[Russ] We're showmen.

I am the P.T. Barnum of the haunt world.

Look at her. Look at her.

I spent hours trying to convince her
not to show up here.

But she wouldn't listen to me.

The show's never over with Russ.

-[gasping]
-[splashing]

Please stop, Russ. Please, please.

Russ has crossed the Rubicon.

There's no goin' back.

I'm leaving McKamey Manor, thank God.

Do. Not. Come. Here.

[projector clicking, whirring]

[♪ eerie music playing]

[♪ eerie crescendo]

[wind blowing]

[birds chirping]

[Russ] McKamey Manor
has a history of, um, cities and towns...

-[♪ dramatic sting]
-...not wanting us in their location.

You know, we were kicked out of Illinois.
We were gonna move out there.

Um, the city saw the movies
after we were there,

basically, and freaked out.

And they were, you know,
they just went crazy,

you know, praying in front of the building
to keep us away,

shooting out the windows, slashing tires.
I mean, they really did not want us there.

[bees buzzing loudly]

[♪ pulsating creepy music playing]

[jet engine whining]

[muffled thud]

[♪ dramatic sting]

-[people clapping]
-[♪ guitar playing]

[emcee] Hey, everybody, welcome to the
Captain's pizza party! It's time to party!

♪ I really, really, really, really,
really, really, really like girls ♪

♪♪

♪ Yeah, I really, really, really, really,
really, really, really like girls ♪

[interviewer] You are from the military,
you were in the Navy.

[Russ] Oh, absolutely. Yeah,
I've-I was in the military for 23 years.

Even on a ship, I had a haunt going on.

[♪ foreboding music building]

[news anchor]
Russ McKamey created a house of horror

that would rival anything
at a carnival or theme park.

-Nine rooms, animated ghoulish figures,
-[cackling]

you wonder what he spent on it.

This year, about $30,000.

-[cackling]
-[♪ scary music playing]

It took me six months to do
what I did in there so far,

so, and we just ran outta time.

[news anchor] A Navy veteran
who now works with the VFW,

he's just always loved Halloween, he says.

[♪ foreboding music playing]

[Kris] When we first met,
I started doing video work for him.

Russ was my friend.

I thought that me and Russ
were-were best friends.

[♪ curious music playing]

When the manor started originally,
it was an awesome thing.

It was kids working it,
jumping out, scaring you.

You know, there was a line
to get in on Halloween.

-[guests chattering]
-It was a cool thing.

♪♪

That was when the news
on what we were doing got big.

This is considered the scariest
haunted house in America.

-[eerie cackling]
-[Kris] We were on Good Morning America,

every news station,
everybody was doin' a story on us.

[narrator]
McKamey Manor is completely interactive.

-A two-hour visit to hell on Earth.
-[screams]

And then every year,
he had to one up it.

[screaming, shouting]

Had to get a little more intense.
A little more intense to the point,

though, finally,
they got rid of the kids.

-[screaming]
-[Russ] Here they come! They're coming!

[chainsaw roaring]

McKamey Manor promises
an extreme experience

that can last up to 10 hours,

requires participants to be
medically cleared by a doctor

and sign a 40-page waiver.

This place has been
known to break the minds...

It was invented by
this crazy gentleman...

Russ McKamey videotapes
every single second...

...inducing is a form of
psychological torture, but for fun.

[voices overlapping]

[news anchor] They say it amounts
to a torture chamber. Yikes.

-[static hissing]
-[Kris] The phones would not stop.

His phone would constantly ring,

my phone would constantly ring,
with people trying to get in.

It was insane

how quickly and how big it got.

[♪ unsettling music playing]

And that's when it got violent.

-[person wailing]
-[Russ] Don't fuckin' move.

[panting]

[muffled yelling]

-Stop resisting!
-[slam]

I probably wouldn't do the haunt

-if I wasn't able to film it.
-[person yells]

-That's nice.
-[person whimpers]

[crying]

Because I want the world
to see what I'm doing.

[inaudible]

[static, bars & tone]

[breeze blowing]

I am here because I want everyone

to know the truth on Russ.

[clicking]

[inaudible]

I don't feel like I'm,
like, mentally weak,

but it messed me up.

I'm over five years past it...

[clicking]

...and I'm just now coming to terms

with how fucked up it was.

[inaudible]

[speaker 4] The dude lives in the dark.
The world needs to see

what this man has done to people.

[clicking]

If someone asked me my story,
I would tell it to 'em.

There's actually a lesson
to be learned from Russ.

[♪ eerie crescendo]

[TV static buzzing]

[static hissing]

[♪ eerie music playing]

[W.P. West] I am a producer and creator
of immersive horror.

♪♪

I'm putting them through what
I would perceive as horrific.

♪♪

I'm putting them through a scenario
that I'm terrified of.

I love traditional Halloween.
Like, I love old school haunted houses.

An immersive horror experience

is definitely evolved
out of a haunted house,

-but...
-[♪ horror sting]

...you can't compare
these things together.

If you wanna put 'em in a hierarchy,
you know, you have boo haunts up here.

[kids chattering]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

The normal boo haunted house,
they pop out of a hole in the window,

-they scare you around a corner.
-[kids scream]

[Brandon]
Those are just walkabout haunted houses

that everybody can go to.

[inaudible]

[screams]

[♪ creepy music playing]

[screams]

Followed by more extreme haunts...

[people screaming]

...but without necessarily
actors touching you.

[screaming]

As you kind of get into
the more immersive experience,

-they can separate you from your friends.
-[screams]

They can tie you up,
but it's nothing super extreme.

[cuffs clicking]

At the very bottom is...

-[screaming]
-...immersive, extreme type experiences,

where it is full contact.

There's no topic that's off the table.

-[thud]
-[lights click]

[W.P.]
They're longer, they're more intense,

they're more narrative-driven,

more task-driven, and personal.

[♪ music building]

[♪ dramatic sting]

Some of these ultra personal experiences

are made to make you face

all the things that you don't wanna face.

[panting]

[haunter] Hands and knees,
Hands and knees!

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Brandon] And they go about it
in extremely creative ways.

[muffled]
Fuck!

[snapping]

[breathing heavily]

They put you in situations that you
didn't realize you were even scared of.

♪♪

[incoherent shouting]

People just enjoy the rush of it
'cause it is a thrill.

♪♪

The point is how much
can you take, right?

How much physical and mental abuse

can you put up with
before you just cut out?

But, you can take away
consent at any time,

and a good extreme haunt owner knows that.

You constantly have to
ask the participant,

"Do you still consent?
Do you still consent?"

Even if it's seven hours,
they're going to make sure that I'm safe.

[W.P.]
But it isn't just the torturing people.

There is subtext to the show.

There's subtext to the things
that I'm talking about.

[♪ horror music playing]

But, that isn't always the case.

There's one person

basically running a torture chamber.

♪♪

[panting]

[Russ] [echoing] You made a big mistake.
Come on.

Russ was, like, a celebrity. You know,

every YouTube video at the time,
every Facebook link

was Russ' face, mentioning this haunt.

[laughs] We're here waiting for you.

Russ McKamey's a divisive figure.

[Russ]
Just get him in here! Get him in here!

He uses his divisiveness

to get your attention,
to grow in attention.

[Russ]
You understand what I'm telling you?

[indistinct shouting]

[Russ] Yes what? Tell me what
I just told you, Christina.

He started to put little bits
of information out there

to make himself more infamous, I guess.

[Russ]
You look scared Steve.

-I'm terrified, sir.
-[Russ] Yeah, you need to be.

[Brandon] It billed itself as the most
extreme haunted house in the world.

They do all kinds of crazy stuff to you.

I don't like you here.

I am gonna make sure you have
the worst day of your entire life.

They drugged you,
that they pulled your teeth,

that if you threw up,
they make you eat your throw-up.

And I was like, "How is this possible?

But, man, this is fascinating."

[muffled]
[screams] Let me out!

Let me out! Let me out!

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

[Russ] We only do one
or two shows a week.

-The list is long.
-[muffled screaming]

[Brandon] One of those things
that Russ liked to say was

he had this 27,000 person waitlist.

-[haunter 1] You won the lottery.
-[haunter 2] Out of 20,000.

-[Russ] 27,000.
-[haunter 2] 27,000!

He's so big with this huge waitlist.

[Russ]
I'm offering you 20 grand,

and you know we're probably
not gonna kill ya, so...

There was a $20,000 money prize.

Oh yeah, well, the 20 grand,
that's a big part of it.

Well, here I am.
Today's the day for my McKamey Manor tour.

[Brandon] Some people see that 20 grand,
and they're enticed by that money.

♪♪

[gasps] Everyone on the internet
told me I could do it,

they wanted me to, and I didn't listen.

Do not come here.

[sobs]

♪♪

[Russ] Price of admission
for this eight-hour-plus adventure?

Four cans of dog food
or a bag of dog food.

[Gabi]
He's not making money.

I think most of the money that went into
the haunt was from his previous wife.

But I think it is just to keep himself,
keep himself clean.

♪♪

Haunted houses, like,
this is not a money thing.

You gotta do this for the art,

-or 'cause you're a sociopath.
-[Russ inaudible]

You wanna run a torture chamber.

[Russ] We're known for no quitting
and no safe-wording.

[person panting]

I make it simple 'cause I'm a simple guy,
and I can't have too many rules,

otherwise I'll get confused.
So, either you actually complete the tour,

-which is not going to happen...
-[person panting]

...or you mentally or physically
are at such a breaking point

that it's now not safe
for you to continue,

and I need to take you out.

[♪ scary music playing]

Russ doesn't want you to quit
until you are a pile of bones and flesh.

And then, you're not probably done either.

[static hissing]

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

[insects chirping]

[Brandon] All that bad stuff,
it's selling point.

It's not a reason not to go.
It's a reason to go.

How bad can it be?

[♪ tense music playing]

That's my number one rule
before I go to any extreme haunt.

If a felony's not gonna be taking place,
I don't wanna go.

I love the adrenaline.

[gunshot]

There was no second thought,
there was no nothing. I had to do it.

I had just moved to Los Angeles.
I was, like, trying to be an actress.

I had a group of friends
that were creative,

so we would just do fun little
short films that were scary.

[screaming]

And I wanted something more extreme.

And it was like
a full send point in my life,

where I just didn't think about anything.

I was like, "Okay, like,
you only live once.

Like, why not just try to, like,
get into this haunted house?"

♪♪

[Melissa]
My day-to-day activities,

my normal routine gets dull,

and I wanted to branch out.

And I'm not gonna lie.

I honestly thought that
this was gonna help

get me a little bit of fame.
And I wanted a video of me up on YouTube.

♪♪

And the more people that
I talked to about this that said,

"No, don't do it, don't do it,
don't do it,"

the more it motivated me.

My first conversations with Russ
involved going to his website,

finding out what his email address was,
and I just sent him an email.

And I contacted the admins
about doing a tour.

"I wanna be an actress. I love horror.
Um, I'm trying to start a YouTube channel.

Like, I would love to do this haunt."

Not even two days later,
I actually got the email back from him.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

"Hey, Gabi, are you available tomorrow?

I have, like, a spot opening up.
Someone bailed."

We kind of bonded because
we were both in the service.

He says, "This is your only opportunity
to get in. I got 20,000 people waiting,

I'm bumping you
to the front of the line."

People get so obsessed,
and Russ is feeding their ears,

and they're like,
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,

because I'll never get this chance again."

Then, I had to do this little video
that Russ asked me to do,

live on this private Facebook group.

I had a friend hanging me
by my ankles upside down,

and I actually ate night crawlers

mixed with toothpaste and mustard.

[friend] [on video] She's done.
She's ate all the worms.

♪♪

And it was horrible. Absolutely horrible.

But I felt like I needed to be

over the top in my creativity,

because he was a big deal,

and I wanted to stand out from the rest.

He announces, you know, I can do a tour.

I said yes.

And I was over the moon excited.

I was like, I guess, for some reason,
he liked my email.

And he was very kind at that time.

He made me feel like I was important

and that I was already this huge celebrity

and I had a fan base.

You know, I'm gonna rock this.

[♪ tense music playing]

[wind chimes jingling]

[jingling stops]

I'm super scared.
I don't know who my partner is.

Um, I'm waiting until it gets
a little closer to the time,

then I'm gonna go sit
in the spot and wait.

He said, "Find parking near the park.
There are bleachers. Sit at the bleachers,

face forward.
Don't turn around or anything."

And then, I went and met Russ at the park

for my waiver signing.

I was nervous. I was shaking.
My hands were trembling,

and I was trying to fake that I was fine.

[Brandon]
Sure.

That was the infamous waiver.

That was the waiver that
you're basically signing your life away.

We're not responsible if you die.
Like, you're agreeing to sign up for this.

No.

-Yes, yes.
-Take this. Don't get it wet.

Why are you doing this?
That's my question. Why would you do this

after everything that's happening,
why would you sign this waiver?

♪♪

"Participant fully understands and agrees
that once participant enters MM,

there is no quitting unless
serious psychological injury is present."

Your hair may be chopped off.
Dentistry may be done.

You may have a tooth extracted.

"Head, neck, back injuries,
death, stroke,

traumatic brain injury, brain aneurysm."

I wasn't allowed to, like,
look at the person

who gave us the waiver.

We had very weird instructions.

"Retinal hemorrhage, subdural hematoma,
loss of consciousness, whiplash,

"harmful heart reactions,

"nausea, headache, dizziness, lacerations,

broken or sprained bones."

[Melissa]
None of this had gotten to me.

I had too much excitement
going through my veins at the time.

If it would've said a man's
gonna come out of the woods

and murder you during this event,
I-I would've signed it.

[♪ tense music playing]

[rustling papers]

[Brandon] I get that feeling,
that adrenaline is just building,

which is reminiscent right before
I left the wire when I was in Iraq.

This was going outside of
the safety of your FOB.

The FOB,
it's a forward operation base.

That's where we lived.

There's a clear delineation
of safety there. You know, safe,

not safe.

As soon as you go outside the gate...

[♪ music building]

-...adrenaline's as high as you can go.
-[explosion blasts]

-[soldier] Yeah! Woo!
-[soldiers cheer]

-[explosion]
-Yeah!

[distant excited shouting]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Brandon]
We lost a lot of people over there.

People were dying every single day.

I did 21 years.
I did three combat tours in Iraq,

which spanned over 40 months.

At the start of the deployment,
I had hope.

Very shortly, I realized
you abandon your hope.

You realize that death
can come at any moment.

♪♪

[speaker 5]
Military experience is extreme.

Terror haunt experience is extreme.
Anything that we do that is extreme,

adrenaline, when it's coursing through us,
I mean, it makes us feel powerful.

A lot of times when people
have had combat experiences,

you cannot get that feeling anywhere else.

-So, it almost gets kind of locked in.
-Mm.

I'm Dr. Lindsay Bira,
clinical health psychologist

and PTSD and trauma specialist.

When somebody has had a trauma

and their nervous system
is a little bit hijacked,

like we see in PTSD,

then it drives them to seek
external sensation to try to regulate.

And for anybody with
anxiety, depression, PTSD,

somebody experiencing
emotional abnormalities,

they are more likely to
seek external stimulation.

[birds cawing]

I'm worried about these
types of experiences

because there's no real structure.

There's no limits.
The limits keep getting pushed.

[screaming]

But, the most important thing
is to be very careful

who is leading an extreme experience.

There can easily be abuse of power,

and we don't know how
far to trust somebody.

[♪ tense music playing]

[Melissa]
He stuck me in his truck.

Hey, everybody. Come on in.

I was blindfolded,
I couldn't see anything,

and off we went to the manor
to begin the tour.

[breeze blowing]

-[Brandon] He puts me into his truck.
-[door shuts]

He puts earphones on me,

and then I remember
the sounds of babies crying,

-and it's very, very loud.
-[babies cry]

I'm like, "Okay, I've just lost
my sense of hearing."

-And then, he starts duct taping my head.
-[tape ripping]

He covers my entire head with duct tape,

that I bought, mind you.

Once they kidnapped us and put us
in the van, that's when I, like,

I don't even think I felt anxious.

I think I was in, like,
fight or flight mode,

and I had to fight 'cause there was
nowhere that I could go.

So I was just very focused.

[♪ intense music playing]

[Brandon]
I don't know what to expect.

I knew this was go time, right?

I'm getting what I've been
wanting to do for years.

It's time!
Then, the door swings open.

Come over here.

I was so focused
because he was filming me.

I had camera fright.

This video's live, and so
it was very, very scary.

[Russ] Fans, what color would
you like her base to be?

You got purple, red, pink, yellow.

[Melissa]
He hyped me up, did lives,

and he's reading off the comments.

[Russ]
She's a sport. Guys, she's a sport.

[Kris] You're gonna be the best one,
you're gonna put on the best show ever.

Hypes it up all the time. Really gets
you going, gets the fans going.

And then, that-that starts to get
into, you know, your ego.

You're like, "Oh, my God,

"I got thousands of people watching me.
I was a nobody,

I-- and now I got people rooting me on?"

And you don't wanna let 'em down.

♪♪

They pushed us out of the van.

And I think we had to crawl
through, like, chicken wire.

They had, like, some maze
through a garage.

When we got to the other side,
that's when we met Russ,

and he looked so happy, so excited.

He had a big old flashlight
with a camera on his head.

[panting]

In the moment,
just the way he's, like, talking about it

and the tone of his voice as he's
talking about it as it's happening.

[Russ] [on TV] Are you prepared?
Good. This is your one chance.

I'm gonna give you an out.
If you want out, you can get out now.

-[haunter] Verbalize.
-No, I wanna stay in.

[Russ] Okay, that's what I like.
Okay, cover her eyes.

[inaudible]

[♪ creepy music playing]

It was definitely an endurance test.

-[splashing]
-[groaning]

[Russ] Wall climb! Batman time!
Batman time!

There is no EMTs. There are no medics.

What happens if you're in a stunt,

and somethin' happens to him,
and he's hurt? You could be tied up.

Y-You're stuck, nobody's gonna find you.

-[haunter] Oh! No, you go in there!
-[Gabi screams]

-[rustling]
-[haunter] Sit!

Next thing I know, he grabs my chest
and dunks my head under water.

And he holds my chest there.

♪♪

I'm thinking, "If I just hold my breath

"and don't think, stop moving,

he'll eventually pull me back up",
which he does.

And then I start gasping for air again.

And then he does it
five or six more times.

[dripping]

[Gabi]
What if this isn't fake?

What if I'm really trapped
in this-this freezer now?

Like, and I'm at this guy's house,
I don't know where I'm at location-wise.

-[Gabi] [screams] Let me out!
-[haunter] [laughs] Louder!

So, that just all happened in my mind,
and I just had a panic attack.

-Let me out!
-[haunter] You want out?

-Oh, you crying? I think she was crying!
-[Gabi sniffling]

Oh, beautiful tears, yes!

-Oh, look at this. Look at the camera.
-[sniffles]

Look at camera!

[crying] I wanna get out.

[Russ] This is just the beginning.
You understand that, right?

There's so many dark places
you're gonna go tonight.

♪♪

[Gabi] There's a certain point
where they put us in straitjackets

with chains over our neck,
and I was like, "Oh gosh,

this is uncomfortable and it's heavy."

And then that's when the
water boarding proceeded to happen.

[Russ]
Put your head in there.

[water splashing]

[coughing]

[choking]

[inaudible]

[Gabi] I was like, "Oh, this is what
it means to be waterboarded.

I feel like I'm drowning."

[coughing]

[Russ] So, you're gonna have to be
looking for the big baby bottle.

-[splashing]
-Yeah, go.

-[Melissa] Ew... Oh...
-[Russ] Get on your belly.

-Get on your belly!
-[splashing]

I'm terrified of spiders.
Like, to the point

where if I even see one across the room,
I get, like, a rash, and I just get itchy

'cause I just cannot stand them.
And he knew that.

He asked me going in,
like, what my biggest fear was.

♪♪

-[Gabi whimpers]
-[Russ] [on TV] Shh. Don't make any noise.

Shh...

Don't make any quick motion.

[Gabi] [on TV]
[sobs] Please, no.

They were telling me that
the tarantula was mad,

and I didn't know that, like,

you're not supposed
to handle tarantulas like that.

So he could-- the tarantula,
like, could've gotten mad

and like, at me, and bit me, I guess.

So they were like, "Don't cry.
Quit freaking out, don't cry."

And I was like,
"You have a spider on my face.

How am I not supposed to cry?"
And then he's like,

"We're gonna do it anyway.

So like, if you cry,
you're gonna get hurt."

So like, in the video, I just froze.
I think I just like, stopped breathing,

and I just, like, had an
out of body experience.

[crying] Please don't. Please.

[Russ] Look at her.
Look at her, Mary, look at her.

-[Haunter Mary] Isn't she pretty?
-Please! [gasping]

-[Russ] Look at her.
-Please don't.

-Please.
-[Haunter Mary] Oops. Oops.

Please don't. Please don't. Please don't!

-[Russ] Shh...
-[Gabi whimpering]

It was, like, that moment that
it kind of shifted for me.

[inaudible]

[♪ tense music playing]

[screams]

I think I'd went seven, eight hours.

-[splashing]
-[Melissa groaning]

[Russ]
Find that baby bottle.

[clicking]

Alright, guys.
She's doing really good tonight.

[Melissa] But, in that moment,
I'm like the celebrity.

I have this huge fan base.

That was big for me. That was huge.

She's a trooper,
and she wants to continue on, so,

so we're just,
we're doing stuff right now.

[Haunter Mary]
You're a rock star.

He closed this cage gate on top of me,

and this water was freezing cold.

And he said,

"Okay, I'm gonna start
raising the water level."

When I could start feeling the water rise
and when I remember

I tried to put resistance on the cage,

and I-- it wouldn't budge,

that's when I just, I was like,
I'm done. I'm done.

-Exactly, exactly.
-I ended up quitting.

-[Russ] You got punished here.
-[Haunter Mary] This is her punishment

for not findin' the baby bottle.

-[Russ] McKamey Manor just what?
-McKamey Manor just kicked my ass.

-[Russ] And you quit.
-And I quit.

-[Brandon] I didn't wanna die.
-[Gabi] [crying] I'm done.

-[Russ] Tell me you quit.
-[Gabi] I quit.

I don't wanna be
locked in the dark anymore.

Russ is there the entire time,
recording it.

And the joy and, like, pleasure

that he was getting out of it
was extremely weird.

You could see he was unfazed.

I'm here, bawling, I'm bleeding,
and you're just living your best life,

trying to figure out how much
further you could take it.

And I'm just-- that's concerning to me.

But in the moment, I was like,
"Oh, this is Russ, this is the guy.

He has the camera on his head.
Let's do the tour."

[Brandon]
Some of these other extreme haunts,

the trust that I've given them
has not been broken.

Even though I'm telling them to push,
even though I'm telling them

to do worse and worse stuff to me,
I think, deep down,

I know that they're not gonna kill me.

You know,
I know they're not gonna cause

permanent physical danger,

but trust was broken with Russ McKamey.

[♪ tense music playing]

[inaudible]

[Gabi] My experience was fucked up,
but I also am aware

that every experience after mine

was a thousand times worse
because I think he did see

that he kind of was able
to keep us for seven hours,

and kind of do whatever he wanted,
and, like, we didn't do anything about it.

We just, like, left and said,
"Thanks so much, have a great time."

So I think for him that was validation.
Like, "Oh, I could do more."

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Russ] Hey, everybody, it's Russ. Coming
at you right here from McKamey Manor.

[Brandon] Never come here.
Don't let-- Don't let anybody

talk you into it or any of that

because it's, um, it's brutal.

[♪ dramatic sting]

-[quiet street noise]
-[insects chirping]

[Melissa]
The "why."

[♪ unsettling music playing]

[TV static]

Everybody's always
gonna wonder the why,

and the why is different for each
and every individual that goes through.

My name is DJ Williams.

I'm a full professor at
Idaho State University

in Pocatello, Idaho.

I was given the title Dr. Deviant
from a dominatrix who I mentored under.

And my research covers sort of the range

and spectrum of deviance and leisure,

and that can include
a lot of different things.

That can include criminal activity
as leisure.

It can include BDSM
and sexuality as leisure.

The extreme horror,
extreme experiences phenomenon,

definitely fits within the area
of deviant leisure.

And it's hard for people to understand

someone who is clearly an intense
sensation seeker or risk taker

that those challenges are actual needs.

And so, we need to have a space,
an, an acceptance for people

who are craving those kinds of needs.

So, I think it's easy for, sometimes
people to kinda sit back and say,

"Why would somebody do this?
There must be something wrong with them."

And that's not the case, necessarily.

♪♪

[Gabi]
I grew up in private Christian school.

I grew up hearing if you lie,
you're gonna go to Hell.

And it wasn't just, like,
you're gonna go to Hell.

It's like, "Your skin is gonna burn off,
and your eyes are gonna melt."

And I'm, like, 5.

I am queer, so being Black-queer
in a space like that,

was really hard to
navigate as, like, a young kid.

It's, like, pro-conversion therapy,
"Let's get that out of you.

This isn't natural.
You're living a life of sin."

So just growing up hearing that,
I didn't even know that it was okay.

I didn't even know what queer was.

I just knew that, like,
I was really different.

I just knew that it was bad and evil.

To this day, like, I have anxiety 24/7,

so, like, even right now,
my heart's like... [exhales].

It used to be so bad where
I couldn't go to the grocery store,

I would just like sit in my car

'cause just I felt
too overwhelmed with everything.

So, when I watch a horror film,
I have that same feeling,

but it's safely on my couch,
and it makes sense.

♪♪

It's like, oh, there's a guy
with a chainsaw on the TV,

like, gonna hurt somebody.

There's a reason
to be anxious in this moment.

Which is why I started looking into

the whole immersive horror
experience thing.

So, I was like,
"What if I live through something crazy"

and then I know that I can
do anything going forward.

It reminds me, "Hey,

"I just went through
this series of events,

and I survived."

[insects chirping]

As a young child,

I dealt with an abusive mother.

♪♪

Being put into a foster home
at such a young age

was very, very traumatic.

It was scary having to go through
people and people and people,

and tell the same story over
and over again of what happened.

To be one day ripped apart

from everyone you know and everything.

To be told you're taken to a safer place,

and the place you're going to
is just full of unknown and uncertainty,

and it just breaks a part of you inside.

I feel like I do these things
to remind myself

that I'm strong, and I'm a survivor,

and I can get through a lot of shit.

♪♪

[W.P.]
A lot of people go through

really traumatic situations,

and they find something to fill this gap.

And I would see the progress of making it
through something that's terrible

and-and using it to the
advantage of yourself.

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

It sounds like there's a lot of,
kind of pushing, or here's an edge,

but then, "Okay,
I can go beyond that edge.

I just accomplished this.
I guess let's take it further."

Like, I feel like I need--
Like, I need that type of punishment.

Mm-hmm.

Like it's something that--

it's something that I feel like I deserve.

[♪ soft music playing]

When I got back,
I was a completely different person.

Okay and that was after you came back
from the military, right?

Yes, that was after my

-third tour in Iraq.
-Okay.

I didn't see here as home.
This wasn't home to me anymore.

I think I knew I had PTSD.

I sure as hell didn't think
I had survivor's guilt,

but one of the things I did is,

I started giving away body parts.

I gave my kidney away.

I was also signed up to give
a piece of my liver away.

And I also signed up
for the bone marrow transplant list.

[♪ tense music playing]

I was gonna give away as much as I could.

I didn't see any purpose anymore.

There's parts of me that
are essentially broken, you know,

and, emotionally, mentally, physically,
what have you.

[Dr. Lindsay Bira]
It's not a bad thing to push the limits

or to, you know, have a very real
human experience

or to explore the edges
of human experience.

I think that's actually an awesome thing.

But, you are desensitizing yourself
to those natural cues,

where your brain and your body
is saying, "This is my limit."

Yeah.

[Dr. Bira] That's something
really good to think about.

Well, I mean, I just look
at those ultra-marathon runners, right?

They punish their body.
Their feet are torn to pieces, you know?

It's all in the name of,
you know, self-improvement.

[Dr. Deviant]
You have big wave surfers,

you have freestyle mountain climbers
who use no safety gear,

deep ocean divers,

and they're constantly pushing that edge.

[Brandon]
Why is this any different?

I could never run an ultra marathon.
I know I can't.

But, I can, I can get tortured
for 12 hours.

[Russ]
The fun has just begun.

So far, what you've endured
is nothing compared to the last half.

-[♪ dramatic music playing]
-[whimpering]

[speaker 6]
Torture is the intentional infliction

of serious or severe pain
and suffering

-on a person...
-[dripping]

...for the purpose of punishment

or to force them to do or say something.

My name is Alka Pradhan.

I'm a human rights attorney
practicing at Guantanamo Bay

and before the International
Criminal Court.

And my expertise is in
working with torture victims.

And in my work at Guantanamo Bay,
I'm employed by the Department of Defense.

And so, nothing I say represents

the opinion of the Department of Defense.

And nothing I say should be taken
to confirm or deny any information

that the Department of Defense
considers to be classified.

Personally, I am really repulsed

by the idea of anyone using torture

or acts that simulate torture

in a way that is entertaining.

[lock clicking]

Nothing about torture is entertaining.

Undergoing torture doesn't
really strengthen you.

If it doesn't kill people,

it affects them for the entirety
of their lives.

The first thing to keep in mind is that

♪♪

all torture has
psychological effects.

Even if you consent
to some aspect of that,

the fear created in your mind,

what psychologists often call
"uncontrollable stress,"

can literally change your neural pathways.

And it's something that is
almost impossible to remove.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Russ] So, did-did you expect
all that after, you know?

Well, I expected it to be rough,
but I didn't expect to actually cry.

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

-[Russ] Yeah, you did cry.
-[Gabi] Yeah, like five times.

[♪ soft ominous tone]

[Gabi] Russ posted my video on YouTube,
and it went super viral.

[♪ dissonant chords playing]

A few months after going through it,

I, so bad, just wanted to be involved

with, like, anything to do with horror.

Whether it was, like, acting
or, like, writing or anything.

And Russ saw that.

And I ended up running his Facebook group,
I was running his YouTube channel,

I was running his Twitter.
I was like his little assistant.

Get people into the haunt, hype it up.

If people were talking
negatively about it,

I was supposed to, like, undercut them.

Be like, "No, like, I've met Russ.
He's, like, such a great guy."

So, I was just supposed to
be his, like, wingman.

But then, I started to
get some weird feelings.

Um,

I'm just gonna keep this short.
It's actually hard to talk.

As you can see,
my lips are severely swollen.

He likes men that have
been in the military.

I think Russ really got off
on, like, the power dynamic with the men.

[muffled screaming]

There are some tours where

the way that they were
beat up was just too-- like, too far.

Like, broken ribs, concussions,

like, eyes so swollen that
they can't even open 'em.

[♪ tense music playing]

And I think for him, it's power.

Like, "This guy was in the Marines?
Like, look at me kicking his ass."

-And then, like, vulnerable women.
-No, Russ, that water freaks me out.

-You know that! I hate--
-[water hose hissing]

[crying] Please! Please, don't!

Russ feels that if you go
through one of his experiences,

especially if you're female,
you now have a special bond with Russ.

He really only wanted, like, pretty girls.

[rattling]

No. No! No.

[Russ]
Honey, be quiet.

[rattling]

You knew when he had a new girlfriend
because it was nonstop shows.

He would have them come to his house,

and he would just make them

continuously go through a tour

every day that they were with him.

♪♪

-[whimpering, sobbing]
-[Kris] For some reasons, he feels like

with these women he can go an extra step,

and that safety harness just
gets removed a little more.

[Susan] Things like laying in the grass
with a ski mask on my face,

getting sprayed with water over and over,

or submerging into cold water
over and over.

And in one particular activity,

I confessed that I was
actually afraid of dying.

And he laughed and said that if I died,

at least I would be on camera.

♪♪

[Kris]
These are really good-looking women.

And you got this guy
who lives in a trailer

that sprays you in the face with a hose.

What is he doing to keep 'em to stay?

-I don't know.
-[Russ] I like that.

-[dog barking]
-[Russ] There she is!

There she is! The pretty one right there.

[Brandon]
McKamey Manor was "Tinder" to him.

Was his "Plenty of Fish."

That's what he used it for.
That's the impression that I got.

You can do this.
Put your head up, please.

You got this, okay? You got it.

He was my friend. Like, I don't want
to think that he would actually

purposely manipulate
these women, but he does.

Show 'em what you got in your mouth.

-Ah, ah, ah! [giggle]
-That's right.

-Come here, and you can wear that, too.
-Yep!

He knows how to get into people's heads,

he knows the right thing to say,
he can read a person really good.

I've seen Russ talk to a person

that hates everything about the haunt,

and turn them into a friend by the end

and wanting to sign up.

He-He is so good at what he does.

Yeah, I'm that big crazy
haunted house guy! That's me!

-[girlfriend laughs]
-Are you scared of me?

I'm pretty scary, aren't I?

-[♪ soft music playing]
-[TV static]

[Kris] You know, he would try
to manipulate me, too.

-[indistinct sound]
-[water splashing]

When I went through,

Russ had me sit back in, like, a trough.

-[clattering]
-[shivering]

-[Russ] Yeah. You like that?
-[Kris] No.

[Russ] We're gonna fill up this entire
little device right here.

[water dripping]

And we're gonna have a good time, Kris.

-[Kris groans]
-Oh, yeah.

When I started to realize that I was
having the dirt poured over my face...

-No, no, no, no, no.
-[Russ sighs]

-[Kris groans]
-How's that feel?

[Kris]
No, no, no, no.

...and then you're thinking,
"Russ is my friend."

You know, "He's-He's just gonna make
it look good for the camera."

But then, he didn't stop.

-No, no, no, no, no... [continues]
-[Russ] Who's your friend?

-Quiet, shut up. Shut up.
-[Kris stops]

And I can't even tell you

the amount of times in that video
that I said "Stop."

-[Russ] We're gonna bury you completely.
-[digs]

[Kris] Mm-mm. No,
I can't do it. Can't do it.

-No, I can't do it.
-[Russ] You gotta be quiet.

-Be quiet!
-[Kris] No, I'm freaking out.

-[Russ] You're not freaking out.
-[Kris] [spits] No!

I was done. Game over.

And it just kept going
and going and going.

And in that moment,
I didn't know if it was gonna stop.

[Russ] We have hours
and hours to go, Kris.

[Kris]
No, no, no. Russ, no.

-No more, no more.
-[Russ] You're fine.

-Be quiet.
-[Kris] I quit, I quit.

[Russ] You don't quit.
There is no quitting.

-[Kris] [spits] No.
-[Russ] There is no quitting, Kris.

I-I started to question,
"Is this the end?"

I-I can't get out of this.

I was stuck in a spot that
I was not moving from.

[Russ]
I wanna bury you completely. Completely.

[Kris]
No, I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't.

-Russ, I can't. Russ, I can't.
-[Russ yells, laughs]

-I quit. Russ, I quit. I can't.
-[Russ] There's no quitting.

-[Kris] Russ, I-- [spits]
-[Russ] Ooh there!

That doubt starts to seep into your head,
and you're thinkin',

"I didn't say goodbye to people.
Why did I come here?

"Why did I go against that
better judgment?

Am I finally gonna be the one
that the line is crossed for?"

You really don't wanna do this.

[Kris panting]

[Russ] So tell the folks about
whether they should come here or not.

[Kris] No, don't go.
Don't come here. Don't sign up.

[Russ] Yeah, sign up. It's fun.
Come on down. Good times for everybody.

-[Kris] No, it's not.
-[Russ] Yes, it is!

[mud gurgling]

[♪ tense music playing]

-[wind blowing]
-[birds cawing]

[Russ] You know, what I really enjoy
is making my little movies.

So, in a way,
I'm a little filmmaker as well.

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

[projector whirring]

[Carol] He works on those videos,
it seems like 24/7.

And so, I constantly hear
screaming all night long.

[screaming]

[inaudible]

[Russ] People tell me this is fake.
Is this fake right now?

-[participant] No, sir, it's not fake.
-[distorted yell]

[Russ] If you ever question
if we're real or not,

just watch the movies

and watch how these people end up.

[on TV] I quit! I quit! I quit! I quit!

[muffled yelling]

[Russ] You'll see individuals
literally in shock.

[on TV] I can't do it,
I can't do it, I can't do it. [gasps]

[Russ] You'll see them
mumbling to themselves,

not knowing what date it is,
not knowing who the president is.

[Russ] [on TV] Who's our first president?
Quick, hurry up.

-I don't know!
-[♪ dramatic crescendo]

That camera. When that camera's in front,
your limits are gone.

-[Russ] Put your head down.
-[Kris] Anything that you sign,

thinkin' that you were getting into

and those were the rules
that were set in place,

they don't exist.
He wants that Kodak moment.

He wants to be able to see that true fear,
when that person thinks,

"I'm gonna be the first person
to die at McKamey Manor."

So,

it was a person,

they sent me photos I hadn't seen.

♪♪

And it was the photos of Lori.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

I'm seein' this girl that was just beaten,
like a gang initiation.

[clock ticking]

And that's when I said,
"Why did you let that go?"

And the answer I got was,

"You'd be surprised what you would do
to get the right shot."

[♪ dramatic sting]

When I saw these pictures of Lori,
I-I couldn't do it anymore.

[♪ dramatic sting]

[♪ dramatic sting]

[♪ dramatic sting]

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

-[Russ] [on TV] No?
-[Gabi] [on TV] I hate it.

[Russ]
You hate it? Well,

-hold still, my dear.
-No!

[haunters gasp]

[haunter]
Oh... God.

-And just for safe--
-[Gabi whimpers]

[on TV] Don't cry, you're still beautiful.

Gosh. I had no idea what
I was getting myself into.

I don't know how
he's able to legally do this

because I don't feel like it's legal.

Yeah, absolutely. I--
Whenever he's physically abusing

the females who he entraps in his house.

How far can we take it?

I don't think I could legally sue him.

We signed agreements.
We're consenting adults.

I don't think there was ever a time
where I was like, I don't--

Maybe the spider. But,

I don't think I made it clear
with anything else

that I was, like, not consenting.

I didn't really feel like I
could say that, though,

'cause I signed the waiver.

So I think signing the waiver, I just felt
like, I was obligated to stay in it.

[♪ eerie sting]

We all agreed to it.

[♪ eerie sting]

[inaudible]

There may be an element of shame

in the fact that you signed up
for this experience, um,

and this sense that you kind of
brought it on yourself.

But, under the law, even if
they have signed a waiver,

they may still have recourse
for what was done to them.

[♪ soft music playing]

We tend to be pretty liberal
in the United States

about what you can consent to.

It is certainly possible when you attend,
for example,

a haunted house,
to consent to certain acts

that may cause fear
or that may even touch you

in what would otherwise be considered
offensive contact or battery.

[overlapping screaming]

But, the line is drawn
when something constitutes

serious bodily injury.

Examples of that would be

traumatic brain injuries,

fractures,

back injuries,

and psychological injuries
that require prolonged treatment.

So, it is simply not possible
for someone to say,

"Yes, I am okay with permanent physical
or psychological damage.

♪♪

Even if they say that,

under the law, that cannot be valid.

But, the other aspect of it
is that it's a violation of your consent.

If, for example, your mouth is covered,

so you cannot say the safe word,

or the circumstances in that situation

are such that you really
couldn't reasonably be expected

to remember or be able
to say a safe word,

but are acting in other ways that make it
very clear that you've withdrawn consent.

[participant] Please, sir,
I don't wanna do this anymore, sir!

Then, I think the proprietor
may have a real problem.

[♪ dramatic music building]

[buzzing, zap]

I would love to see
the manor just go away.

[Gabi] I would love to sit down
with everybody that's done it

and just kind of band together and
figure out how we can make change

and, like, stop him.

And even if jail isn't where
he ends up, that's fine.

Like, he just shouldn't
be doing what he's doing.

[buzzing]

[Kris] Once the fans are able
to see Russ in his true form,

I'm hoping the following's gone.

And when the following's gone,
the manor's gone.

-[♪ tense music playing]
-[Brandon] The way that you stop him

is to make sure the truth
is actually known.

[speaker 7]
I wanted to do something.

But I didn't know what kind of trouble

I was gonna get into
from getting into somebody's emails.

[speaker 7]
Definitely.

It's gonna be worth it in the end.

One day, I was bored.
I was looking up on the internet,

"Haunted houses that pay you
for going through them."

And I seen this haunted house
will give you $20,000

if you make it through it.

I just got married, I had an apartment,

and, um, I was like, "Man,
$20,000 is a lot of money."

So, I could use that, and there's no way

I was not gonna get that $20,000.

-His hands are shaking.
-[haunter] Oh, I know.

-He is shaking, isn't he?
-[haunter] Oh, yeah.

-[haunter] Pop 'em one, Russ.
-[mumbling, grunts]

[Russ]
Come on. Follow my voice, let's go.

-[Justin groaning, panting]
-[rattling]

-I'm suggesting you quit.
-[Justin] Never.

-[Russ] Never. Never? He says never!
-I was arguing with him back.

Like, I wasn't bein' passive.
I wasn't bein' submissive to him.

And I think that's what
really got him mad.

-Sleep first, then you can do it.
-For the easiest--

I don't fall for that crap. Just sleep.

-Okay, y-you need to be quiet.
-No, I don't, dude. What a joke--

-[Russ] You want a joke, huh?
-[indistinct]

-You know what? You're done.
-[Justin] Don't even do it, dude. No.

-Get the hell off me.
-[Russ] Keep that camera on.

This is what we're seeing right now.
You're out of it right now. You're done.

[Justin]
I thought there was gonna be $20,000.

I thought there was gonna be a haunt.
I wasted all my money

and my work days and all that
going there, just to get humiliated.

What a freak show that was, right?

At that point I wasn't even mad
about the money anymore,

it was just the embarrassment.

[♪ rhythmic dramatic music playing]

So, I started a Facebook page called,
"McKamey Manor Exposed."

[♪ synth music playing]

I wanted it to be a place
where people could actually come,

say what they need to say
without having to worry about threats.

The biggest thing we found, though,
was we actually got into Russ's emails.

[mouse scrolling]

Russ has a very old email service,
and that's where he messed up.

The company that Russ has for the email
has a phone number.

So, I called them, and I was like,
"Hey, yeah, I my password."

So, they says, "Okay, what's your name?"
"Russ McKamey."

He's like, "Okay, when's the last time
you were on your email?"

And I was like, you know,
I'm gonna make a good guess.

I'll say, "Oh it was yesterday."

She's like, "Oh, alright.
Yeah, that was correct."

I changed the password
for my email address,

and then I locked him out.
We hit the jackpot.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

From his email, we found that
he wasn't paying his taxes on his barn.

And Russ wrote this email
back to the tax guy saying,

"This manor is fake.
Everything I'm saying is fake."

"Russ, I talked to my lawyer today."
I got Russ here with his tax problems.

This is from Russ's son:
"You absolutely disgust me."

[typing]

This guy's really obsessed and, like,
really going after his girlfriend.

"What you did was
absolutely unacceptable."

So I took those emails,
I took screenshots, and I showed those.

Here's the proof right here.
This is, like, something

you're never gonna see anywhere else.
I put everything on my Facebook page,

And I was like,
"You guys gotta tell your stories."

-[typing]
-[♪ dramatic crescendo]

All these other groups popped up.

♪♪

[Kris]
People started posting stuff online

that Russ definitely
didn't want anybody to see.

-Guys, he will stuff you in a freezer
full of water upside down until you tap.

[victim] [over phone]
He got his claws so onto my brain.

Once I got away from it, I was like,
I'm just gonna expose him.

This is where
he's reading over the waiver.

[video chatter]

So, I posted the reaction videos
on YouTube.

I was very surprised at
how many people saw it.

I was in water, and I had, like,
this much air to breathe.

Fast forward to now, it's, like,
two-point-something million views.

[Brandon] There's so much drama
in these online communities, right?

It's the McKamey Manor
Facebook group people

fighting these people,

and then those people are
fighting against these people.

[overlapping swearing, yelling]

[Justin]
If you go on his Facebook page,

it's a straight-up cult.

They are obsessed with him.
Like, they don't care.

Russ could say the sky is green,
and they'll say, "Yes, sir, it is green."

They will go after the people

who they perceive as one of their enemies

or one of their haters
with everything that they have.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Gabi]
He would send people to the haters.

He called everyone a hater
that didn't agree with what he was doing,

and he basically encouraged them to, like,
bully, destroy someone on the internet.

I just got jumped on by all these people
from Russ or whatever,

and they just tore me apart.

One guy text me a picture
of where I work at.

"You're gonna get a call from us," and,

you know, "See your online activities
of what you're doin'."

It's not Russ doin' this.
It's his followers.

People started showing
personal pictures of me on the internet.

Then went to phone numbers,
then went to addresses.

I would get anonymous emails
that were saying some godawful things.

Those are all hate groups.
Those aren't the real deal.

[mouse scrolling]

He was very much like
cult leader man.

Like, "Listen to what I'm saying.
This is what's good for you.

"This is what
a haunted house experience is.

"If anyone tells you otherwise,
they're wrong.

"And if you believe that, you're stupid.

"If you're not with me,
you're against me.

And I will make your life
a living hell."

I started asking questions,
and that's what Russ does not want.

That dude is a psychopath!

-I don't even know why you would do it.
-[speaking foreign language]

There's a whole big group of people,

and all they're trying
to do is expose him.

Russ McKamey and the actors
have done some things

that we need-- they need to answer for.

Reason he's not in jail is because
technically no one has been un-alived yet.

Russ actually owes hundreds
of thousands of dollars in taxes.

Some neighbors actually even called 911,
thinking that there had been an abduction.

[news anchor 1] The town
turned against McKamey Manor.

[news anchor 2] There's already
a national movement against Russ.

We need to keep fighting the good fight
and, uh, doin' what we're doin'.

[beeping]

[news anchor 3] More than 13,000...

-[news anchor 4] 18,000...
-[news anchor 5] 56,000 people.

...signing a Change.org petition
to have McKamey Manor closed.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Kris]
The petitions were comin'.

[news anchor 6]
Continuing to get more signatures.

[Kris]
Now, you got the media's attention.

You are getting reporters
wanting to show up on site.

When you're running this big charade

of a haunt that's supposedly there,

how do you not show them that stuff?

So, Russ ran with the petitions
to shut down

and said, "Oh, they got the best of us.
The Manor's down."

♪♪

[Russ]
Right now, we're dismantling the manor.

He literally packed up very quickly

and booked it across
the country somewhere else.

[birds chirping]

[Kris]
Russ is working. He works at Walmart.

I think he was just doing it

because there was a lull

at getting people to the manor.

Russ, the guy that had McKamey Manor,
has moved to around here

where I live the last couple years.

Well, I just found out on Facebook
that apparently,

he works at Walmart
in the Garden Center.

Wait, you stay.
If I need you, holler for back up.

This is where this man
has decided to relocate.

-How are you?
-[Russ] Hey, how you doing?

Want a bag, miss?

[scanner beeps]

Y'all, that was fucking him,

and it just checked me out.
I'm shaking.

I didn't-- I thought I was gonna
be all confrontational,

and I thought I was gonna, like, say this,

but it's like when you're in the fucking--

When you're actually
in the presence of a sociopath,

and you know it,

bro, you lose all that confidence.

Oh, my God, I'm literally shaking. [sighs]

[♪ creepy music playing]

[Kris] There's three types of Russ
that you should know.

There is the fun-loving Russ
that the followers love.

-That's a front.
-[mouthing] Help.

You have the scary Russ
who's going through the show

you're dealing with.
That's a front.

And then, you have the real Russ.

He has so much wrong going on in his head,

and-and it comes out in the haunt.

[static]

[on TV] You know, it's no joke in here.
I mean, people think that,

well, you know, it's a home haunt.

But, I'm telling ya. It's scary.

[Kris]
Russ needs to get help,

or he's gonna keep going
till it's too far.

[♪ pulsing music playing]

♪♪

[Russ]
I'm back.

[sing-songy]
♪ I'm back, I'm back, I'm back ♪

♪ Anybody there? Anybody there? ♪

[♪ dramatic crescendo]

[inaudible]

-You better start begging right now!
-I'm begging right now.

I don't-- I don't wanna go anymore.
I'm done.

[Kris]
Russ is not quitting. He kept it going.

Now, there aren't actors.
You are just with Russ going through.

You are getting
a very dangerous experience.

[Gabi] His tours now, at this point,
he's just doing it to hurt people

and to prove a point to us,

to everyone else that, like,
talked out on him.

Like a, "I'm gonna get back at you
and show you that I can still do this,

people still wanna be
tortured by me."

-[muffled whimpering, yelling]
-[Russ] Are you done?

Back in the day,
he had a haunted house

and now what it is,
is definitely not a haunt.

[panicked breathing]

It's pretty much, you know,
Russ in his yard messin' with you.

[retching, gagging]

[Kris]
You know, you're with a guy by himself.

Everything he does is
justified in his head.

There is no limits.

No, no!

[creaking]

[projector whirring]

[Melissa]
I live in such a small town.

And I'm basically a nobody.

And, you know,
that's how I felt about myself.

♪♪

During my first tour,
you know, you had all these signs,

but, at the time,
I didn't wanna deal with that.

I'd just seen a nice person

that was giving me everything
I needed at the time.

I just felt like I got

really taken easy on, looking back.

I was nobody before any of this,

and I'd wake up with a million messages

from all these people
who supported me.

Like, me. The nobody that was once before,

now has a million people hyping her up

and just being friendly.

And [laughs] it was just life changing,

and I didn't want it to end.

I wasn't anticipating coming back,

but he was up on my phone,

texting or calling or video chatting.

Like, I didn't even have time
to even think about

what had happened
and what I went through.

♪♪

[Kris] I remember when Melissa Everly
was going through it.

She is Russ' type.

I met Melissa,
reaching out and trying

to talk her out of
going to McKamey Manor,

and she was drinkin' the Kool-Aid.

She was buying in and listenin' to Russ.

Russ was the good guy.
All of us were just crazies.

And the first conversation we had,
it wasn't a great one.

She thought I was some loon that was
some hater trying to talk her out of it.

[Melissa] Russ was dangling
everything over my head.

"Look, you're the Abyss Queen."

He gave me a nickname and rolled with it

and had everybody calling me that.

And that's how people knew me.
He was like,

"Oh, well, think of your fans."

I wanted to beat the thing
and be the first to complete it.

He knew that.

♪♪

One day, he messaged me and was like,

"Hey, can you make it
for a tour tomorrow?"

[birds chirping]

[insects chirping]

I drive down for the second tour.

[static]

Russ ends up coming over
to the hotel room.

And I knew from the YouTube videos,

this isn't the first time
he's been in somebody's hotel room.

And so, in my mind, it's harmless.

He was coming over to instruct me
on what to do for the evening.

And he gives me a list of
things that I have to do.

Lunges, singing, pushups, sit-ups.

♪♪

The conversation ended up taking a turn

kind of for the worst.

He started going into

his sexual history with past contestants,

talking about how he liked

a very competitive, athletic girl,

but he wants a woman that's gonna
submit to him when it comes to

being aggressive during sex.

In that moment,
I was feeling very nervous.

Like, I'm just there.
I'm barely participating in conversation,

because I don't really know what to say.

I don't wanna give any leading responses

because I just wanted
to go through the manor.

I was tired. I was exhausted.
I was willing to listen to him,

but I-I was also scared that

if I'm propositioned,

I'm not gonna be able to have
this experience if I decline.

And I was scared to what happens next.

Wh-Whatever I do, and all
of this is ripped from me,

you know, what kind of monster
is he gonna make me out to be?

If this is perfectly fine,

and he's done it with all
these other contestants,

is everybody gonna make
me a laughingstock?

You know, what's gonna happen?

So, he ends up leaving the room,

and I stay up doing these lives.

By the time my tour starts, um, it's--

I'll be up for 26 hours.

Happy Sunday.

That's right. Happy Sunday, Michelle.
Happy Sunday.

Gotta keep my eyes on the road, so...

I do have someone I want you to see.

[Melissa]
My brain was like mashed potatoes

when he came and picked me up,

and we headed out

to go for my next tour.

It's just me and Russ on this tour.

[Russ]
Go ahead and talk to 'em.

[sighs]

-Alright, everyone.
-[Russ] She's not near as bubbly

as she normally is.

-I'm tired.
-[Russ] Tired.

♪♪

[Melissa]
He had no helpers.

[♪ heartbeat-type rhythm playing]

We have our, our young lady here.

Ms. Everly is doing awesome.

Killing it today. Killing it.

[birds cawing]

Why don't you come on out?

Okay, that's good right there.
Stay where you are.

Through the bamboo run

is when he started, like,
whispering in my ear

and, like, complimenting my neck,

and kind of grabbing my
neck and being sexual.

[Russ] You know what you need?
You need a little color.

Would you like a little color?

[Melissa inaudible]

[Russ]
Tilt your head back.

[Melissa] But, in that moment, I'm like,
"Oh, this is part of the tour.

You know, this is part of what he does."

[scoffs] I was dead to the world.

By the end of it,
I was over 30 hours no sleep.

I was beyond sleep deprived.

[Russ] You feel like a noodle, don't ya?
How's your brain?

Seriously,
how's your brain feel right now?

[sighs] All kinds of messed up

in every direction possible.

[Russ]
This is gonna suck.

-[sighs]
-[dripping]

[whimpers]

[Melissa] I remember at that point,
I had fell asleep,

and he told me it was fine, "Go to sleep."
He'd covered me up with towels.

[wind blowing]

[quietly]
Come on, everybody. Come on in.

[birds chirping]

Talkin' quiet because

tryin' to get Ms. Everly to go to sleep.

Well,

sometime after the tour,

and I-I'm gonna fast forward for a moment

because I asked him how the footage went.

And he was like,
"Well, there was this one time

that I didn't get the footage
I really wish I had."

[♪ dramatic sting]

[Russ breathing]

What happened?
What did he do when I was asleep?

Because he never answered me.

And I think I deserve the right to know.

Like, what did he mean?
What footage did he miss?

[♪ dramatic music playing]

That's always going to haunt me.
[crying] I will question myself that

to the day I die.

'Cause I don't want,

and I never have wanted,
to do anything with Russ.

And it-- just the fact that
that may have been a possibility,

disgusts me.

He is a cruel, fucking disgusting person.

[sharp inhale]

[Russ] [on TV]
Good. Put your head back a little bit.

Enjoy that sun while you can.

-You got it right in there good?
-[Melissa] Mm-hmm.

There's always gonna be that doubt.
There's always gonna be that doubt.

We have a tired little puppy here.

♪♪

[Melissa]
Everything finally adds up.

It adds up that Russ is just

a narcissistic,
manipulative piece of fuck.

[insects chirping]

Don't learn the hard way, like we have.

[static hissing]

[♪ tense music playing]

[W.P.] I love getting scared.
I wanna populate our earth with more art

and make it horror. You know what?

Keep doing it, you know?
'Cause eventually,

this could replace movies for some people,
and it does now.

[projector whirring]

[Melissa]
I wanted to find another haunt

because I wanted to fill that void.

I wanted to find something
that can help me cope,

to give me that reminder,
"Hey, if you went through this,

you can go through anything."

Because the purpose isn't
to sexually molest people.

Th-The purpose is not to do
anything untoward to somebody

or to make them a victim.
It's to make you grow.

That little girl, that itch,
is still very much inside of me.

I've just had to not scratch
the itch for a while,

to recover from the manor.

[♪ dramatic sting]

I'm telling you. You wanna do somethin'

taboo and out there?

There's places that'll help you.

♪♪

[producer]
Tell us what you're about to go do.

[Melissa]
I'm about to go do Miasma.

-[♪ dramatic sting]
-[tech] I'm at the fog machine.

[bell ringing]

Give it a longer pause between that.

Diversity is really the norm.
People have very diverse genetic makeups,

people want different things,

people have different
psychological traits.

So, we need to recognize

that there are people who need challenges,

they need risk, they need sensation.

And we need to make sure that
those spaces are available,

so people can get what they need
within the bounds of the law.

[♪ tense crescendo]

[knocking]

[♪ dramatic sting]

[knocking]

[door opens]

-[door shuts]
-[muttering]

[haunter]
Turn around, turn around.

Sign when you're ready.

[♪ tense music playing]

[haunter] When this bell rings,
you're no longer Melissa.

You become Jay. Do you understand?

-Who do you become when this bell rings?
-[Melissa] Jay.

-[haunter] What is the safety word?
-[Brandon] Safety.

[haunter] Do you understand you can
say this at any time for any reason,

-your show will stop?
-[Brandon] Yes.

-[haunter] What happens when this rings?
-I'm Jay.

[bell rings]

[haunter]
Fucking run, Jay! Keep going!

[incoherent shouting]

[♪ tense crescendo]

[distorted voices]
Follow it, follow it! Follow it forward.

[camera shutter snapping]

[plastic stretching]

[inaudible]

[♪ mysterious music playing]

-[electrical zap]
-[scream, groan]

-[bag crinkling]
-[tape stretching]

[blast]

-[click, hit]
-[yells]

[screaming]

-[fire, hit]
-[screams]

[groaning]

-[gunshot]
-[screaming]

Where's the cliff edge, right?

-[panting]
-Or have I already gone over it?

[hyperventilating]

[haunter] No. No. Stay down. Stay down.
Stay down, stay down.

-Hey. Hey, you okay?
-[hyperventilating continues]

-You okay?
-[Brandon] [panting] Yeah.

-[haunter] Do you wanna keep going?
-[Brandon] Yes.

Look at these scars. I'm bleeding.

My heart was beating through my chest.

[gunshot]

It's freakin' awesome.

What the fuck is wrong with you?!

-[Melissa crying]
-[haunter] Tell her you fuckin' hate her.

-[Melissa] I fucking hate you!
-[haunter] Tell her you wish she was dead.

-[Melissa] I wish you were dead!
-[haunter] Scream it!

[♪ quiet music playing]

[inaudible]

[haunter And Melissa]
Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!

Dead! Dead! Dead!

[haunters] Who are you?! Who the fuck
are you?! Who the fuck are you?!

Answer, answer! Answer! Answer me!

I already have an anxiety brain
that can kind of make up scenarios.

So, if someone makes up
a scenario that's crazier than me,

-[screams]
-I, like, give them props for it.

♪♪

-[taser zaps]
-[pained screaming]

-[haunters] [chanting] Jay, Jay, Jay.
-[Brandon screaming]

[Brandon]
Fuck!

-[haunter] Who are you supposed to be?
-Jay.

-[haunter] Louder.
-Jay!

-[haunter] Scream it!
-Jay!

-[haunter] One more time!
-Jay!

-[haunter] Can't fucking hear you!
-[indistinct swearing, yelling]

-Who the fuck are you supposed to be?!
-Jay!

-[knife clatters]
-[gasping]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Melissa gasping, sniffling]

-Who do you wanna be?
-Me. I wanna be me. [gasps]

[gasps]

[inaudible]

[plastic crinkling]

It's very cathartic, right?
In there, it's still--

There's a lot of processing
that's still goin' on, right?

-[haunter] Of course.
-Like, I've done this shit before,

and, you know, you're out of it
in 15, 20 minutes

once you get back to the real world,

but this is gonna stay with me
for a little while, I think.

Like, I don't know--
I don't know how to--

I don't know how to
describe the experience.

There is actually
a great emotional release

after some type of self-harm behavior.

[♪ slow music playing]

On one level, it exhausts us.

Then, it starts to promote
this addiction-like dopamine pathway

that we seek out over and over.

-[haunter] Congratulations.
-Fuck! Fuck!

[sobbing] That was one hell of a show.

-[haunter] Are you okay? Are you okay?
-[Melissa] Thank you so much.

[Melissa]
It meant the world to me.

[sobbing]

[haunter] That's some great news.

Thank you so much, Justin.

[sniffles] That was fucking--

[Haunter Justin] Thank you,
but I'm glad you're okay.

I'm glad you got something out of it.

-[laughs] Thank you.
-You did awesome.

-It's a rough show, and you did so good.
-Yeah.

-It's not-- [laughs]
-[Haunter Justin] No, no.

-And you did awesome.
-Thank you.

[Haunter Justin] Um, so right now,
you can just take a breath.

[♪ slow music continues]

Russ... is damaged himself.

And he has some inner demons or trauma

that he needs to get help with,
and I hope he does.

[W.P.] He is a person who
aspired to be an entertainer

and became the torturer, the tormentor.

I was dragged across asphalt

in a parking lot... [coughs]

after my tour was already over!

None of you even know
what you're talkin' about.

Russ isn't a torturer, okay?
He's a showman.

People are stupid.
That's what you sign up for.

It's his own little narcissism factory,

that people just come to,
to-to-to-to help him feed on it.

And they're still very much
active groups on Facebook.

It's just, you're drinking the Kool-Aid.

You're believing what he says.
You're lapping it up.

Russ, I think you're a good man.

Just a little misunderstood
by some people.

If people wanna do it,
I'm not gonna stop 'em,

but it's not gonna shock me
if someone dies one day,

and Russ goes to jail
because of it.

-[Gabi inaudible]
-[director] What would you like

the takeaway to be
from your participation in this?

That

immersive haunts are okay,

even if it seems crazy and weird.

You can have your kinks,
and that's perfectly fine.

But don't invite people into your kinks
without them knowing

that that's exactly what
they're going to be in.

If I knew I was getting
into Russ's fantasy world

and living out whatever fantasies
he wanted to see,

I probably would've felt different
about it. But I was supposed to be

in a survive my own horror experience,

not survive, like,
Russ McKamey's fantasy experience.

[Russ]
Am I still doing tours? Of course!

I have a tour this weekend!

[on TV] I have a heart murmur
I need to get taken care of.

I have surgery in about a month.
If I, if I can get medically cleared,

um, hopefully, fingers crossed,
in six months, I'll be up for a tour.

My name is Shelby.
I'm from Scotland.

I work in the dental field.

I'm a professional nurse.

I hold a very high position in a company.

I would love to go visit Russ,
and I would love to hang out with him.

I'd love to take a tour at some point
when I can get to the South.

I wanna take the tour because
I love the survival horror movie.

I need to challenge myself
a little bit more,

and this would be the ultimate challenge.

If I were to be put in that situation,

I would be able to survive.

I could get out of that.
That would never happen to me.

McKamey Manor, I'm coming for you.

Drown me, beat me, torture me.

I'm here for all of it.
And my kids are gonna watch all of it.

The manor is safe, it's fun,

and it will take you to your limit.

♪♪

-[wind blowing]
-[birds chirping]

-[exhales]
-[wiping]

[victim]
No. [whimpering]

[Russ sighs]

[♪ soft ukulele music playing]

[♪ vocalizing]

[♪ ukulele, vocalizing continue]

♪ Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ♪

♪ Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ♪

♪ Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ♪

♪ Bum bum bum ba-ah ♪

[♪ vocalizing]

[♪ music fades out]