Negligence in a Dangling Noose In Fenton, MO's Aptly Named Creepyworld

Halloween week news headlines have been reporting a horrific hanging accident involving a teenage actress found dangling from a noose by a fellow employee at the aptly named Creepyworld in Fenton, MO. Creepyworld touts itself as the world's largest Halloween haunted house attraction. It requires a staff of around 150 people to operate the attraction.

Creepyworld maintains silence on the issue of how the teenage actress, working at Creepyworld, became entangled in the noose. News accounts report that the noose served as a prop used for visual effect. The visual effect of a young coworker dangling unconscious at the place of employ does not bear imagining.

It's unclear from the news reports if the young actress's job involved working in the area of the noose. Reports say that another employee, charged with the job of checking on employee safety, found the young woman dangling unconscious in the noose. That Creepyworld has special employees tasked with the job of checking on each other's safety perhaps tells a lot about unsafe working conditions at the haunted theme park attraction.

Whatever the details of the incident, and however the actress became hung in the noose, the fact remains that leaving a working noose dangling in a public attraction just screams of negligence. At a haunted house attraction, people wander in the dark. They run from imagined terrors. Young people can be expected to prank each other using available props.

People who pay to enter the premises of a haunted house or any public theme park attraction operate under the sometimes unfounded assumption that every precaution has been taken for their safety and that the premises are safe for use.

Leaving a working noose dangling at a public attraction that people, predominantly children, tour in the dark in an atmosphere of fear is not just negligent, it's grossly negligent. It's unconscionable.

Indeed, a working noose should never, ever be left dangling anywhere. That's just a recipe for injury, death, and disaster. It's hard to imagine how harm could be avoided. However that unfortunate young actress came to be entangled in the noose, the owners and operators of Creepyworld remain at fault for the clear and present danger offered by that noose. They must have known-certainly they should have known- that the noose posed an unreasonable risk of harmful injury to employees and visitors to the haunted theme park attraction.

Theme parks like to create a believable illusion of authenticity. Real nooses and real hangings pass far beyond the bounds of acceptable authenticity. And we don't know the details on how the hanging occurred. Creepyworld might be far creepier than visitors ever imagined.