As the temperature drops, corn fields get harvested, and pumpkin-flavored menu items start appearing, we start to see Halloween stores and haunted houses pop up all over the country. The rules surrounding haunted houses are often quite unclear to the average guest at one of these tours/experiences, and there are many rumors out there on the internet about what haunted house workers can and cannot do and what you can and cannot sue for.
If there is no waiver at a haunted house, the workers at the house will often have strict rules not to touch or injure guests. In many cases, injury claims can be filed for something like a slip and fall, but a lot of these claims need to be tempered by the expectations of potential safety risks that might be acceptable in a haunted house. If there is a waiver, it might lay out a lot of these expectations more explicitly, give actors permission to touch or handle you, and potentially even block you from suing in some instances. Even so, many waivers are ineffective, allowing some injury victims to sue anyway.
For help with an injury case, contact The Reiff Law Firm’s Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at (215) 709-6940.
Can the Actors Touch You at a Haunted House?
To our knowledge, no states have any laws saying that haunted house actors cannot touch you. There is often a bit of a rumor or misunderstanding about this, and people on forums or in line at the haunted house experience will swear up and down that it is “illegal” for the actors to touch you. At the end of the day, the law is a lot more nuanced than this, and a lot of what is and is not allowed comes down to the expectations of the situation and whether the actors were being reasonable.
Expectations
Generally, guests do not expect to be touched. Haunted houses might reinforce this expectation by posting signs saying that the actors are not supposed to touch you. In these instances, you can be pretty certain that they will not touch you, and if they do touch you without your consent, it might be considered assault and battery. However, assault and battery require some actual harm, and it is a simpler case to make a claim for actual injuries than it is for mere discomfort at the touch. However, inappropriate touching could constitute sexual assault and should be something our Montgomery County, PA personal injury lawyers can help you sue for.
Rules for Actors
Haunted houses usually enforce these rules among their staff to avoid lawsuits like this, but it might not be a hard and fast rule at every haunted house. Some specifically advertise that you can be touched at the haunted house, and they may do so. However, they still need to do so reasonably and avoid going above and beyond to injure you or to be inappropriate with their touching.
Waivers
If there is a waiver that specifically gives the cast and actors permission to touch you, they likely will do so. Even so, they still have to be reasonable about it and stay within the bounds of what you agreed to in the waiver.
Assault and Injury by Non-Actors/Non-Employees
In some cases, the people touching other people at a haunted house are not actually actors at all, and you can certainly take legal action against other patrons for assaulting you, tripping you, or otherwise injuring you or touching you in an offensive manner. This may also lead to a claim for “negligent security” against the haunted house for failing to secure its premises from dangerous people.
Can You Sue for a Heart Attack or Other Injury at a Haunted House?
Many people hear stories about people having heart attacks, suffering panic attacks, having an epileptic episode, or otherwise suffering some health emergency at a haunted house. Other cases involve injuries from tripping in the dark, slipping on wet surfaces, and other accidents. The legal analysis here is more complex, but again comes down to expectation in many cases.
Reasonableness Standards
Actors and staff at haunted houses must act reasonably. What is reasonable in a haunted house is very different than what is reasonable out on the street or in a store, even during the Halloween season. In a haunted house, actors should be allowed to scare people and otherwise cause sudden jumps, use flashing lights, and make loud noises. Often, your participation in the haunted house is considered consent to these kinds of interactions, and it can be hard to sue for a surprising health emergency brought on by these kinds of reasonable actions.
However, this does not give the actors and staff an excuse to go wild. They cannot unreasonably scare you, attack you, or otherwise cause direct harm unless you consented to these sorts of things on a signed waiver. Posters might help explain what you can expect, but these do not have the same legal effect as a signed waiver.
Safe Premises
In any case, workers should take steps to make sure the premises are safe. In the dark, accidents can happen, and staff should take steps to make sure walkways are cleared of debris and tripping hazards. Smoke machines and other special effects equipment can leave wet spots, and it is important that patrons have warnings about these areas and that the workers take the proper steps to clear up these dangers to avoid accidental injuries.
The same is true for structural collapses and issues. Staff should make it clear where the guests are to walk to avoid having people walk off ledges or into dangerous scenery by accident. They should also make sure that scenery and effects are properly secured so they do not collapse or fall on guests, injuring them.
Haunted Hayrides
Especially with haunted hayrides, there are additional risks of injury from the vehicles involved. Drivers need to be properly qualified, to drive safely, and to properly secure passengers to avoid injuries from people falling off the hayride.
How Waivers Affect Haunted House Injuries
In the event that you did sign a waiver for a haunted house, this often raises the bar on what you can expect to happen, but it should not work to prevent you from being able to sue for serious harm. Waivers are used to protect the haunted house experience from lawsuits, and they will include language where you waive your right to sue or otherwise “release” the haunted house from liability. However, this should only work to give them permission to touch you or pick you up and to potentially help protect them from lawsuits for minor accidental injuries. It should not be taken, in most cases, to give them permission to do whatever they want to you.
Many haunted houses are still sued every year despite the waivers they put in place, but it is vital to talk to a lawyer about the specific waiver in your case.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers Today
If you were injured in an accident, call the Bala Cynwyd personal injury attorneys at The Reiff Law Firm at (215) 709-6940.
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