They say there is nothing to fear but fear itself, but I am calling bullsh** this Halloween! A 17-year-old from Fenton, Missouri, Jessica Rue, cannot remember what happened last Halloween because while she was working at the local haunted house, something went terribly wrong.
It happened October 27, 2011 on Jessica's second day at Creepyworld. Her job was to scare the hell out of guests as they walked through a bathroom scene drenched in fake blood. The scene included a mangled mannequin and a noose. Jessica lost her balance on the edge of a tub and got caught up in the noose. She hung there anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes before being discovered and cut down. No one is sure how long the teen had the oxygen cut off from her brain. She almost died.
Patrons of Creepyworld passed by, shrieking, screaming, and laughing because, well, they thought she was just another part of the attraction. The episode left her in a coma for three days and with no memory of that night or of anything that happened in the two weeks prior to the incident. She also has short-term memory loss and must write things down in order to remember basic things.
It really is a miracle she is alive -- and so scary because it was clear from footprints discovered on the side of the tub, scuff marks on the wall, and rope burns on her fingers that poor Jessica was fighting for her life. No one helped her. No one knew this wasn't part of the act.
As a parent, I almost feel it is better she doesn't remember the sheer terror of the incident -- but, also, I can’t stop thinking of that poor teen girl hanging there while the rest of Creepyworld shrieked with delight. That must have been the most awful feeling of helplessness that anyone could ever experience. Her eyes begging for someone to save her.
I don’t know about you, but I will never look at haunted houses the same. How can I enjoy it when, in the back of my head, I’ll be inspecting all the props to make sure that it’s not real.
Do you go into these kinds of haunted houses around Halloween? Does this make you look at them a little differently?
Image via stiatska/Flickr
Tie-Dye for the Fourth of July!
Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Predictions!
Moms Love Birthday Parties, Too!
Father Knows Best - Happy Father's Day!
Comments 9
I despise halloween
This story has the makings of an urban legend, except she was lucky to survive, of course.
I love Halloween and haunted house attractions - this story doesn't change my mind.
I worked in a haunted house a few times, and we had 'nooses' there as well, but they were NEVER real! It was always a loop, and the knot was totally fake. It was just a second smaller rope wrapped around and glued in place. If anything or anyone was caught in there it wouldn't have pulled tight, it would have fell apart. To have a real one is just stupid, are they going to give the maniacs real axes to wave around? Or give Jason a real machete?
I'm with Tina on this one, I also worked at a haunted house and EVERYTHING was fake. The worst that I've heard of happening was getting punched for scaring someone. I wonder if she was attempting suicide and figured it'd be an interesting way to go out and changed her mind almost too late.
I worked in a haunted house as a teen and we had a similar situation happen: we had a room with a hanging scene (done with a real noose around the neck but attached to a harness under the clothing of the "victim") and at one point during the evening the noose slipped off the harness hook and the guy was actually being hung. Fortunately in our case safety was a big factor and every room had to have a minimum of three of us (one being an adult) working in it to help prevent accidents like this from turning tragic. I don't understand why they had a teenager working alone in a room in a haunted house in the first place - frightened customers can lash out and become dangerous. Such a sad, preventable tragedy all around. :-(
Anything can happen and it can become dangerous