The McKamey Manor waiver is a roughly 40-page liability release that every participant must sign before entering the Summertown, Tennessee attraction, and it is the last step of a screening pipeline that includes a background check, a sports physical, a doctor’s letter, proof of medical insurance, a drug test, and a personal interview. The document lists, in explicit detail, the physical acts that may be performed on you inside, and by signing it you agree not to hold the manor responsible for the injuries those acts may cause. Admission itself costs a 50-pound bag of dog food rather than money.
What You Have to Clear Before You See the Document
The waiver is not something you download and sign. You only see it after you satisfy every other requirement the manor lists on its official site.
- You must be at least 21. Applicants aged 18 to 20 may be eligible with parental approval.
- A physician must confirm in writing that you are physically and mentally cleared for extreme conditions. You arrange and pay for this yourself.
- You must pass a background check, which the manor conducts directly. The public requirements do not specify what databases are searched.
- You must complete a screening interview with staff by Facebook video, FaceTime, or phone. This functions as much as a personality evaluation as an administrative step.
- You must show active medical insurance. The manor does not publicize on-site medical staff, so any injuries route through your own carrier.
- You take a portable drug test on the day of the event. A positive result disqualifies you on the spot.
- Only after clearing all of the above do you receive the waiver itself.
Any discrepancy between the name on your paperwork and your government-issued ID can cancel your scheduled tour. Use your legal name as it appears on your ID, and bring your medical documentation with you on the day.
What the 40 Pages Actually Authorize
This is not a standard amusement release. A participant who testified about the document reported that it lists more than 100 individual conditions the signer accepts, including plastic wrap held tightly over the face, contact with mouse traps, tooth-pulling, needles, and having hands and feet bound with zip-ties. Other risks described in the waiver have included tattooing and fingernail removal. Whether every act listed actually occurs on every tour is unclear; the drafting strategy is to describe the widest possible universe of physical contact so a participant cannot later claim surprise.
The document also authorizes binding, gagging, water immersion, and prolonged physical exertion. Skin abrasions, bruising, and exposure to extreme temperatures are described as expected outcomes rather than exceptional ones. The legal theory is that you cannot sue for something you explicitly agreed to endure.
Rules You Have to Follow Inside
The waiver imposes strict behavioral requirements on the participant. You must remain passive throughout the experience. Cursing, drinking, smoking, running, eating, and touching actors or props are all prohibited. Violating any of these rules can result in removal, and if you are competing for the cash prize, in deductions from your potential payout. Retaliating physically against an actor is treated as a breach of contract.
Filming and Likeness
McKamey Manor films its tours extensively, and the footage has appeared in documentaries, social media, and promotional material. By signing, you should expect that your image, voice, and reactions may be used by the manor without additional compensation. Participants are required to read the waiver aloud, and that reading itself may be recorded. The 2023 Hulu documentary Monster Inside drew heavily on tour footage.
How the Admission Fee Works
There is no cash transaction at the door. Admission is a 50-pound bag of dog food, donated to support the animals the owner keeps on the property. Some accounts have described the cost as four cans of dog food, which may reflect older pricing or a different configuration of the experience.
The $20,000 Prize and What You Give Up to Chase It
McKamey Manor has long advertised a $20,000 cash prize for anyone who endures the full experience, which can run 10 hours or longer. No one has ever claimed it. The prize is not a straight endurance bet: each conduct violation, from cursing to running to touching an actor, produces a deduction from the potential payout, so the number erodes throughout the tour even if you stay in. The Tennessee Attorney General’s office has specifically reviewed complaints tied to how the prize is advertised, which raises the question of whether it operates as a genuine offer or as a marketing device.
The Safe Word Question
This is the most contested part of the waiver, and the facts do not line up cleanly. The manor’s own requirements page lists “create a safe word” as part of intake, and at least one reporting outlet confirmed participants are told to establish one. But owner Russ McKamey has been quoted saying the experience is built around “no quitting and no safe word,” and that the tour ends only when the organizers determine a participant has reached a physical or psychological breaking point.
Early coverage of the manor consistently reported that no safe word existed. Later reporting indicated the policy had shifted. Multiple former participants have alleged that their attempts to stop were not immediately honored. The waiver itself is structured to support the organizers’ discretion over when the experience ends, regardless of what the participant says. If you are considering signing, treat the safe word as contested rather than guaranteed.
How the Signing Process Works
The manor does not post the waiver publicly for download. Access to the document comes after you clear the initial screening steps. Based on available reporting, the sequence runs like this:
- Reach out through the manor’s website or social media to begin screening.
- Assemble your sports physical, doctor’s letter, and proof of insurance. The manor handles the background check on its end.
- Complete the video or phone interview with staff.
- Receive the 40-page document once you are cleared.
- Read the entire waiver aloud and sign it. The reading is recorded.
- Arrive on the scheduled date with your documentation. The portable drug test happens on-site, and your paperwork is cross-referenced with your ID.
Older writeups have described a notarization step, but the manor’s current official requirements page does not mention notarization and no reporting source independently confirms it. If you want to know whether a notary is required, ask the manor directly before paying for one.
Whether a Court Would Actually Enforce It
A release this extreme raises the obvious question of enforceability. Two arguments a participant could raise stand out.
The first is unconscionability, meaning the contract is so one-sided that no reasonable person would agree to it. That argument faces a steep climb. Courts require proof that the signer was unable to make a “meaningful decision or choice” when entering the contract, and the manor’s intake pipeline, the physical, the doctor’s letter, the background check, and the interview, cuts against that claim. A judge would have a hard time concluding a participant did not know what they were signing up for, particularly given how extensively the experience is documented online.
The second is undue influence, meaning the manor exploited a position of authority or targeted vulnerable people. A petition to shut down the facility has alleged that the mandatory mental health screening is used to identify psychologically susceptible individuals and specifically invite them to participate. Whether the $20,000 prize creates an influential financial relationship with participants who cannot afford to walk away from the money is a separate open question.
The facility is currently under investigation by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, opened after the 2023 Hulu documentary brought renewed attention. The office issued a formal request requiring McKamey to answer nineteen document requests and twenty-eight interrogatories under oath, covering when the attraction began operating, its funding sources, whether the $20,000 prize has ever been paid out, and access to all tour footage. McKamey responded with his own lawsuit in March 2024, claiming the investigation violated his constitutional rights. As of the most recent reporting, the investigation’s findings have not been made public, and no criminal action directly tied to the manor’s practices has been brought against the owner.