Ah, Halloween. The time of ghosts and goblins. The smell of autumn is in the air, and haunted houses are opening across the country. When was the last time you visited a haunted house?
Imagine yourself turning a dark corner and bumping right into the monster of your nightmares. Walking down a hallway and coming face-to-face with a goblin. Open a door and you are met with nothing but darkness. Chances are that if you’ve been to a haunted house, you can picture these things in your mind vividly.
No matter what you picture in your mind when someone brings up haunted houses, it’s rare to imagine an injury. Unfortunately, people are injured in haunted houses and have very few legal rights. But why?
Like with other things in life, the law presumes that you have made the choice to enter a haunted house with certain expectations. You expect to be frightened. You expect to feel your blood pulse through your veins and your hear to pound in your chest. The way you react to these frights is not something that the operators of a haunted house are legally bound to worry about.
For example, say that you turn a corner, are startled by a masked ghoul, turn to run and hit a wall. You fall and hurt your leg. This type of injury is not compensable under law because the haunted house operator cannot anticipate the way you will react when you are frightened.
On the other hand, let’s say that you are walking down a dark hallway in a haunted house. All of a sudden you find yourself face down on the floor, not really sure what happened. When you get yourself sorted, you realize that you tripped over a cord that was running across the hallway. This type of injury is ground for a lawsuit. The operators of the haunted house have a responsibility to make sure that its patrons are not exposed to undue hazard.
If you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury in Charleston, in or out of a haunted house, reach out to our team. We will help you schedule a free consultation where we will review the details of your case. Call today for assistance.