Woman Said Going Through The World's Most Extreme Haunted House Traumatized Her

A woman who went through what is possibly the world's most extreme haunted house is speaking out, saying the vicious experience was much more than she had expected.

The McKamey Manor is legendary for how extreme it is. Helmed by Russ McKamey, 56, in his Rancho Peñasquito home, the McKamey Manor is a full-contact horror experience, where scare actors touch, manhandle and otherwise torment you. While Los Angeles has a few haunts where actors touch you—we did the dreamy ALONE and the more aggressive Heretic House, the latter of which left us bruised and sticky—McKamey is unique. Guests will undergo simulated drowning, and be bound and gagged. Actors induce guests' vomiting, place roaches on their faces and in their mouths, and sometimes cut their hair. And unlike the other haunts, McKamey has no safe word and the typical experience can go on for as many as eight hours. Filmmaker Jon Schnitzer, who filmed parts of the tour for his documentary Haunters, told us that the Manor smells impossibly bad. What's even more unbelievable is that there's a wait list of people just champing at the bit to go through it.

Participants are filmed during the experience, and are frequently seen begging to be let go and warning others not to come here—the latter may be a bit of showmanship on McKamey's part. Participants are also filmed before and after the experience.

Amy Milligan is seen on video giving a relatively positive review of her experience in the haunt. However, she told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she only gave the positive review because she wanted McKamey to make a video of her time in the haunt for evidence.

McKamey did make a video of Milligan's tour. The video, however, is missing several pieces. You certainly see some aggressive behavior—Milligan is shoved, dragged by her hair, blindfolded, slapped and soaked with water. She and her fellow "victim" are forced to make animal noises and are spun around until they become dizzy. They're both covered in fake blood, dirt and other substances that look gross. She's seen in the bottom of a freezer, covered in dirty water, being repeatedly slapped as her "tormentors" demand she sing songs. In the next scene, Milligan is seen lying down as a woman places live roaches all over her face and hair.

Milligan said one of the worst parts of her experience was when they tied her hands and forced her to lie in a pool of water with a cage over the top. She said her head was submerged several times and she thought she was going to drown.

She previously said that she expected an unpleasant and scary tour, but not the extremities of the actual tour. "I cry over every little thing. If I hear about McKamey Manor, I freak out. I’m so stressed. It gets so stressful. You give so much trust to them and they just break it by waterboarding you and slapping you," Milligan said.

"I'm telling them I can't breathe and they're just laughing and doing it more," she continued.

McKamey admitted that there are moments where guests may feel as though they are drowning, but he said that it's nothing like waterboarding.

"It's psychological what we're doing. [The guests] are safe all the time."

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on in the video, as the shots are from so close up that you can barely see what might be a cage.

At the end, Milligan is complaining that she can't breathe while McKamey is heard telling her that she only made it through part one of four zones, that they didn't really do anything to her, and that she should be embarrassed.

"'Don't come here, you're not tough enough,'" Milligan said.

McKamey threatens to put her back in the haunt unless she cries. Once she begins to sob, he says, "Get her out of here."

The video ends with an interview between Milligan and McKamey done via video chat. In it, Milligan not only says she'd go back, but that she'd also act in the haunt. She also noted that she was sending McKamey a gift from Edible Arrangements.

Reactions to Milligan's tale of horror is mixed. While certainly extreme, some argue that Milligan had more than enough warning as to how intense McKamey Manor would be, as numerous videos exist online showing the various tortures employed throughout, and participants are warned that the haunt is extreme. However, others want the McKamey Manor shut down, even devoting entire Facebook pagesand groups to its demise.

Milligan's video is below. Warning: Some viewers may find the contents of this video disturbing.