Griffin v. Haunted Hotel, Inc.

242 Cal.App.4th 490

194 Cal.Rptr.3d 830

Scott GRIFFIN, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.The HAUNTED HOTEL, INC., Defendant and Respondent.

D066715

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

Filed 10/23/2015

Ardalan & Associates, P. Christopher Ardalanand Mark K. Drew, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Murchison & Cumming, Jefferson S. Smith, David M. Halland Scott J. Loeding, for Defendant and Respondent.

Opinion

NARES, J.

In October 2011 Appellant Scott Griffin purchased a ticket to experience The Haunted Trail, an outdoor haunted house type of attraction where actors jump out of dark spaces often inches away from patrons, holding prop knives, axes, chainsaws, or severed body parts. After passing what he believed was the exit and “giggling and laughing” with his friends about how much fun they had, Griffin unexpectedly was confronted by a final scare known as the “Carrie” effect—so named because, like the horror film Carrie, patrons are led to believe the attraction is over, only to be met by one more extreme fright. This was delivered by an actor wielding a gas powered chainsaw (the chain had been removed), who approached Griffin, frightened him, and gave chase when Griffin ran away. Griffin was injured when he fell while fleeing. Griffin sued The Haunted Hotel, Inc. (Haunted Hotel), which operates The Haunted Trail, alleging negligence and assault.

“Under the primary assumption of risk doctrine, there is no duty to eliminate or protect a plaintiff against risks that are inherent in a sport or [recreational] activity.” (Calhoon v. Lewis(2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 108, 115, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 394.) The trial court granted Haunted Hotel's motion for summary judgment, determining under the primary assumption of risk doctrine Haunted Hotel did not breach any duty to Griffin.

We affirm. The risk that a patron will be frightened, run, and fall is inherent in the fundamental nature of a haunted house attraction like The Haunted Trail. Moreover, on this record there is no evidence creating a triable issue Haunted Hotel unreasonably increased the risk of injury beyond those inherent risks or acted recklessly.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Haunted Trail

Haunted Hotel operates four Halloween attractions in San Diego County, including The Haunted Trail located in Balboa Park. The Haunted Trail operates from September through October, ending on Halloween.

The Haunted Trail features actors in ghoulish costumes who frighten, startle and sometimes chase patrons amid loud noises and flashing strobe lights in a one mile loop in Balboa Park. Patrons follow a narrow trail in the natural park setting, passing from one horror set to the next, each telling a different gruesome story. Along the way, actors jump out of dark spaces or spring from around corners, often inches away from patrons, holding bloody prop knives, axes or other weapons, or a severed body part.

If a patron becomes frightened and runs away, one of the actors will often chase after the person. The Haunted Trail played an orientation audiotape for every group of visitors who attended the attraction in 2011, which states:

“Our creatures will not grab you, however, they may accidentally bump into you.

Oh, you will be scared sh—less and try to run away, but in the end our creatures will chase you down like the chickens that you are!”¹

In 2011 the “Frequently Asked Questions” part of The Haunted Trail's Web site stated, “[Y]ou will not be grabbed or pushed,” and warned, “Running is the main cause of minor injuries. Make sure to follow the rules and DON'T run and you should be fine!” Signs at the entrance stated, “Due to natural surroundings of the park the ground may be uneven with some obstacles such as tree roots, rocks, etc. Be careful.”

The parties do not dispute that the ticket Griffin purchased states, “This attraction contains high impact scares” and “is not suitable for people with heart conditions or people prone to seizures; is not recommended for children under age 10; and pregnant women, infants and children being carried will not be allowed entry.” The Haunted Trail instructs its employees to “stay away” if a child is crying, not to chase children at all, and to “stay clear of people who are crying.”

In 2011 The Haunted Trail employed uniformed off-duty San Diego police officers, a private security force, and an emergency medical technician service to be on-site all weekend nights. All were present the night Griffin attended.

Photographs on The Haunted Trail Web site featured costumed actors holding chainsaws. Griffin purchased his ticket on the Web site. The chainsaw-wielding actors are the most popular feature of The Haunted Trail. The chainsaw scenes have been mentioned in radio advertising or shown on television.

At the final scene along the trail, three people with prop chainsaws—gas powered chainsaws with the chains removed—menace patrons as they walk to an opening in the temporary chain link fence, covered with a dark screen, that runs along the edge of the trail. That opening appears to be the exit, the end of the attraction.

What follows is something Haunted Hotel calls the “Carrie” effect, a final scare patterned after the closing scene of the horror movie Carrie when the audience is led to believe that the terror is over, only to be given one last jolting scare. When patrons have walked through the opening in the fence, they regroup on the park access road, thinking the attraction is over. But this is a fake exit. The access road is controlled by Haunted Hotel. A chainsaw-wielding actor with a gas powered chainsaw suddenly appears, starts the chainsaw, and charges at the patrons—providing a final scare. Although the chain has been removed from the chainsaw, it “still has the whole sound, the whole smell of a chain saw, and that's what gives the effect of—people think it's a real chain saw.” During this last encounter, patrons are most prone to run away, with the actor giving chase.

The access road is visible to surrounding public space. Families “actually come and camp out and watch” because “it's fun to see when someone gets freaked out when a chain saw comes and chases an individual.”

In the 14 years The Haunted Trial has been operating, over 250,000 patrons have attended the event. In the three years preceding Griffin's incident, between 10 and 15 people fell while running from the chainsaw-wielding actor in this final scare.

Three people fell the night Griffin attended. None of the 15 who fell reported being injured.

B. Griffin's Incident

Near Halloween in October 2011 Griffin learned some friends were planning to attend The Haunted Trail. Griffin had previously attended Knott's “Scary” Farm and possibly “Fright Night” at Universal Studios. He had been to Balboa Park before, but he had never heard of The Haunted Trail and knew nothing about the attraction.

Griffin and his group entered the attraction, but Griffin recalled little about the preliminaries, acknowledging that he was “not paying attention” to his surroundings, but rather “laughing, visiting” with friends. As he walked through The Haunted Trail, Griffin was, to use his own words, “scared pretty darn good.” He was not chased along the trail and said “it was fun.”

At the final scene along the trail, Griffin heard chainsaws. At first, he was “shocked,” but he just “walk[ed] through ... I knew we were almost ending ... we had already had so much fun already through the thingy, so it was okay.”

After this final scene, Griffin headed for the “gate,” which he believed was an exit, “ending the experience.”

“[T]here was clearly, to me, an exit that the event is over because inside everything is roped off, you are on a path. It's very clear where you're going. And the gates and the exit, to me, were clear that we were done with the experience.”

Griffin and his friends were standing on the access road, “giggling and laughing” and saying “how fun was that?” This area, a “well-lit even surface,” is actually controlled by The Haunted Trail and is part of the show.

Griffin testified in deposition that suddenly, a “gentleman” started a chainsaw and “came at me with it.” Griffin tried to “back away from him” but “he just kept following me.” Griffin asked the man to “stop” and when he did not stop, Griffin “started running away because it felt unsafe with his chainsaw because he was pointing it at me....”

Griffin testified, “I started to try to get away from him, and, boy, he seemed to really enjoy that” and “I really got scared because he was really at me, with me at it, he was unlike the other people. And we had already exited the venue. He was right into my space.” “He was literally coming at me. He selected me.... [¶] ... He was pointing it [chainsaw] right at me and it was live and active; you could literally smell the gas ... hear the sound and everything. Yes, I felt like he was handling that very dangerous [sic].... [¶] ... [¶] It was a real chainsaw.... [¶] ... [¶] ... This gentlemen did not keep a safe distance ... and the more I backed away, the more he followed me. I asked him to stop; he wouldn't. I started running. He was literally running after me. And I really felt unsafe. And then I started getting really fearful that something was going to happen, because here's some stranger—I don't even know who he is—with a live, active chainsaw running after me with it. [¶] ... [¶] ... I was fearful for my safety big time.” “I really felt that he could have tripped, that chainsaw could have fell down, and I could dangerously [sic] get hurt by it. That's what I felt.”

While being chased and running an unspecified distance, Griffin fell, injuring his wrist. In deposition, Griffin acknowledged “it is the point of The Haunted Trail to scare the people who attend” and “not many people would attend the event if it were not scary.”

A representative of The Haunted Trail testified in deposition, “you scare the hell out of them as much as you possibly can, and that's what they're paying us for, that's why they come.” He stated...