If you have been paying attention to current internet events lately, you may have seen a mention or two about some "haunted house" in Tennessee called McKamey Manor.

You may have seen it described as an "extreme horror experience," but it should be described as a "horrific torture chamber." I won't jump in right away, but to preface what actually happens at McKamey Manor, participants have to sign a waiver acknowledging they may be forced to eat rotten food, have their teeth pulled, get their hair cut or shaved off, forced underwater, and much more. This isn't your fun, average, jump-scare haunted house.

Let's start from the beginning. The man behind it all, Russ McKamey.

McKamey is a self-proclaimed lover of "the haunt" and has been in the scaring business for several years. He is a U.S. Navy veteran, and even when he was in the military, he would organize haunts for his fellow service members. He is a fan of filmmaking and acting, and honestly, it shows. When participants are put through the manor, they are videoed and the videos are actually released to the public. You may ask why someone would want to create a place that puts the participants through so much physical and psychological stress? (Which I will get more to in a moment.)

Well, I won't sugarcoat it.

I believe Russ McKamey is a psychopath.

He appears to enjoy pushing his clients to and past their limits; to see people tortured and broken. According to McKamey, one participant actually had a heart attack and he said, and I quote, "That was good stuff."

No? That isn't "some good stuff." That is horrid.

Let's talk about some victim testimonies.

One "victim," a woman named Amy Milligan, came forward and gave her testimony over what happened at the manor. McKamey Manor posted the video of her visit and you see the torture she endured, which was already intense. Milligan claims, though, that the video did not even show the worst of it.

One of the more famous stories of what happened at this place that may as well be Hell on Earth, and I believe the one to gain the place so much publicity, is the story of "Christina B." (Fair warning, DO NOT watch any of the MM videos, including the one linked, if you are queasy or cannot otherwise handle extreme, torturous conditions inflicted on humans.) The video shows the victims being thrown around by the actors while they read their contracts, getting what appears to be blood splashed all over them, blindfolded, and kidnapped, having their eyebrows and hair shaved and cut off (and then forced to eat it), had drills forced in their noses and mouths, put into a freezer, piercings apparently pulled out, and apparently forced to eat raw dead animals (by raw, I mean fresh, blood and all), along with so many more terrifying events.

So, why would anyone want to go through with this experience? And why and how is it still open?

The idea of over a thousand people being on a waitlist for a place like this begs the question, "why?" Why would people put themselves through this? Why would people be alright with being tortured? Upon further research, I went to the McKamey Manor website and started to just look around. At first glance, without looking at the waiver, it is sort of understandable why someone who is into the intense horror simulation or haunted house types of activities may be drawn to this haunt. It just looks like some sort of extreme haunted house. There is also an alleged prize of $20,000 for whoever can reach the end. That's pretty tempting, right?

The thing is, Ross McKamey is so determined to never let anybody reach the end. Speaking of money, how much does it cost to be tortured like this? Exactly one bag of dog food. That is it. I guess there is one and only one upside to this haunt. All of the "proceeds" (dog food) gets donated to local animal shelters. But in knowing that, chills get sent down my spine because McKamey isn't even making a profit off of what he is doing!

However, MM is not the first intense haunt.

Blackout, considered perhaps the first extreme haunt, also allows the actors to come in contact and interact with guests, but all the torture is very much simulated. Victim Experience, which is no longer in operation, is considered to be less intense than Blackout, but still can be very traumatizing. What sets these apart from MM is that guests left and felt like they genuinely may have had a good time. Many guests report going back years after and having relatively fun experiences, despite potential torture.

After all these people go through, you may be wondering, "Why haven't the police been told of this place?" "How can someone continue to torture these people for so long? "How in the world is it still on operation?" Do you remember that waiver participants had to sign? That is exactly why. They give full consent to be tortured. There aren't even loopholes in the contract.

So, I suppose the best that can be done is to encourage anyone who shows any interest in going to this torture chamber, to not do so. Perhaps one day, Russ McKamey and his psychopathic record will be put to justice, but the day is not today.