Can you sue for the stuff that Haunted Houses are made of?  You can try!  But beware, dear visitors, of The House…The Haunted House, that is.  When it comes to October, Halloween, and jump-scares, the Louisiana court system tends to rule in a rather seasonal manner.

It appears that the Louisiana court system gets into the spirit of Halloween as much as anyone else does.  Scares and spooks go hand-in-hand with Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Jack-o-Lanterns, and chillier temperatures.  Did you know that Louisiana has a statute prohibiting the wearing of masks in public?  Halloween, however, is an explicitly stated exception to the rule (La. R.S. 14 § 313).

The Louisiana courts don’t just think it’s okay for patrons to be frightened, but it’s the duty of the Halloween tricksters to do so!  In the words of the First Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeals:

 “Defendants' insureds and other trick-or-treaters owed a rather special duty to plaintiff. On any other evening, presenting a frightening or threatening visage might be a violation of a general duty not to scare others. But on Halloween at trick-or-treat time, that duty is modified. Our society encourages children to transform themselves into witches, demons, and ghosts, and play a game of threatening neighbors into giving them candy. And, to put it directly, plaintiff knew the rules of the game. “

Bouton v. Allstate Ins. Co., 491 So. 2d 56 (La. Ct. App. 1986)

Still think that a Haunted House could or should be liable for personal injuries sustained?  This may be true is some outstanding cases.   As we’ve seen from history, however, it’s not very common in Louisiana.  The aforementioned case was hardly the first or last Halloween personal injury matter that passed in front of the Louisiana court system.  

In 1996, a ten year old girl ran into a covered cinderblock wall upon being frightened by a spooky character in a Gretna-owned Haunted House, causing a nosebleed.  The Louisiana court, once again, ruled in favor of the haunted house, stating, simply, “the very nature of a Halloween haunted house is to frighten its patrons”, and that “the operator does not have a duty to guard against patrons reacting in bizarre, frightened, and unpredictable ways.  Operators are duty bound to protect patrons only from unreasonably dangerous conditions, not from every conceivable danger.”

In 1982, (Reech v. Optimist Club of Downtown Baton Rouge, 408 So. 2d 399), the Plaintiff, Ms. Reech, made an argument that she did not go to the haunted house to be frightened, but to accompany her children. When Ms. Reece was injured in the aftermath of a small crowd-scare, getting “bumped” in a chain reaction of attendees, she filed suit. The decision the court made? She should have known better:

“She necessarily assumed the risk of being startled, jostled and pushed about when she entered the "haunted house," which was an ordinary risk of attending such attraction.”

In sum, don’t go into a haunted house with the assumption that it assumes liability for every possible reaction that you or others might have.

Another assumption you shouldn’t have:  that when you say goodbye, the scares are over.

In 1997, a woman was visiting a Haunted House put on by New Orleans’ charity organization Covenant House.  While she felt as though she were “out of the woods” following her exit and goodbyes to the group leader, one last spook was waiting for her that she did not anticipate.  “Jason” (of the film Friday the 13th) waited for visitors behind a covered fence with a make-believe chainsaw.  The plaintiff did not appreciate the unanticipated terror, stating that its unexpected nature created an unreasonable risk.

The Louisiana Court of Appeal felt differently, stating that the Haunted House “owed no duty to plaintiff to guard against her reactions at any point while in the attraction.”  Think the walk from the Haunted House to the parking lot is safe from scares?  Think again.

To inquire about your personal injury, car accident, family law or divorce case, click here and leave us a quick note.  The Law Office of Jon Bethune wishes everyone a safe and happy Halloween season!