When Haunted Houses Become All Too Frightening by Causing Serious Halloween Accidents
While it may not come as a surprise to some that Halloween celebrations can be marred by pedestrian accidents and collisions involving those who had too much to drink at a Halloween party, many never consider the potential danger presented by the annual tradition of visiting a haunted house. While you may never have considered the potential risk of injury when visiting a venue designed to scare patrons, it is worth keeping in mind that people are asked to navigate these unfamiliar settings with little or no light. Given this lack of light and people hiding in the dark to scare visitors, falls and similar accidents can occur resulting in head injuries, broken bones and even wrongful death.
Although many never consider that these types of accidents can mar their Halloween holiday, we have provided some recent examples of injuries and deaths that can impact those visiting haunted houses in amusement parks, private residences, ball parks, fairgrounds and other locations.
Strangulation Accident: A teenager who was participating in putting on a haunted house, slipped while standing on the edge of a bathtub which caused her head to become entangled in a nearby noose. Because those in the haunted house presumed that it was part of the exhibit, she remained suspended by the noose between two to ten minutes. By the time she was discovered and cut down, she had slipped into a coma because of oxygen deprivation to her brain, which almost proved fatal. She suffered permanent brain damage.
Wrongful Death from Fog Machine Allegedly Triggering Asthma: The family of a 15-year-old girl sued the owners of a haunted house after the girl spent a year in a vegetative state before dying after suffering an asthma attack that was allegedly caused by the scented fog that permeated the haunted house. The parents not only lost their daughter but also were faced with over a million dollars in medical bills.
These are just a couple of haunted house accidents that made national news, but many others involve accidents involve using dangerous weapons as props, falling because of a lack of visibility and more. In one incident reported in national news reports, a woman alleged that an actor cut her foot with a chainsaw when he went to set the power tool on the floor of the haunted house. It should not come as any great shock that accidents can happen when actors wielding bats, chainsaws, chains, pipes, axes and other dangerous weapons swing these objects around patrons in the dark often under the disorienting influence of strobe lights. However, most people never expect that a haunted house designed for entertainment value will become a true house of horrors.
Put Our Law Firm's Over 39 Years Experience to Work For You
Haunted house accidents can be the result of violation of safety code or fire code regulations or a simple lack of foresight in anticipating foreseeable injuries when patrons navigate their way past potentially dangerous obstacles in the dark. If you or someone close to you is injured in a haunted house accident or other Halloween accident, our Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Montlick and Associates are available to provide effective legal representation to those throughout all of Georgia and the Southeast, including all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. No matter where you are located our attorneys are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you. Call us 24 hours a day/7 days a week for your Free Consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333). You can also visit us online at www.montlick.com and use our Free Case Evaluation Form or 24-hour Live Online Chat.