TikToker @albertsrt4 posted a viral clip showing the aftermath of what appears to be a potentially violent incident that occurred inside of a haunted attraction. In the clip, a security guard, along with several actors at the Fear Overload Scream Park can be seen outside of the venue. A text overlay in the video reads: “An actor uhh…was threatening uh.. to uh..with a weapon.
The clip has been viewed 9.4 million times since being uploaded on Oct. 28. Here’s what we know about the incident.
@albertsrt4 ♬ original sound – AlbertSRT4
At some point in the 31-second clip, Albert approaches individuals dressed as scary clowns, who are presumably actors in the attraction, who tell the TikToker not to go inside of the venue as it isn’t safe. Other users on the platform pressed the video’s uploader to divulge more information, which he obliged.
In Albert’s first clip, it appeared that the incident was initially blamed on the scare actor, however, it appears that a visitor was the one who brought a knife into the Fear Overload Scream Park, based on what the TikToker said in his subsequent storytime video.
In it, he addressed comments and gave context to his viral clip:
“So everything you guys see right there, the questions about ‘Why would anybody go in there with a knife?’ Nobody would get in there with a knife [because] the front they scan everybody…so… nobody can sneak a weapon in… the guy in the black that came out he was an employee and he was on the phone calling 9-1-1 cause I guess apparently he saw something and then there was another manager right before that said “Come out, oh my gosh turn on the lights it’s serious, it’s serious,” and as soon as I walked out the lights turned on and where everything was dark the whole haunted house thing was dark but the lights were on finally and then so he said [somebody had] a weapon and apparently what I overheard was somebody threatened an actor that worked there. Apparently he had fucking made a joke or something, like I’m gonna bring a weapon or something, but apparently somehow it fucking came true… And yeah, somebody got stabbed the lights were on, OK maybe not stabbed but something happened, the lights were on, fucking they were all freaking out, that’s when I started recording, and me, I just got out.”
He finishes his video by telling everyone to “be safe” and to “watch out for any creepy-ass clowns cause there’s hella clowns there.”
Comments were disabled in Albert’s follow-up video, but throngs of people left remarks in the initial clip the TikToker posted. Many folks stated that they refuse to go to haunted houses because of the pandemonium involved, others just wanted to know more information about what happened, while other haunted attraction actors said that they often fear visitors will retaliate against them while they’re simply doing their job.
“This is exactly why I will not go to haunted houses. You never know who’s actually hiding in there,” someone said.
“When a scare actor says to get somewhere safe, you better trust them and go,” another added.
Haunted house actors chimed in, too: “As a haunt actor, this is what I fear every shift.” Another said that “as a scare actor, always and I mean always, listen to scare actors even if you think we are joking around.”
Many commended the actors in the clip for reacting heroically and breaking character: “When the scare actor in the black hoodie actually told you to get to a safe area you could hear the actual fear in his voice! He was actually terrified himself! Even scare actors are humans with Emotions and he was genuinely SCARED FOR HIS LIFE, YOURS, And His Co-Workers Lives!”
The Fear Overload Scream Park, per its Instagram, concluded its seasonal operations over the weekend.
Frighteningly enough, this isn’t the first time there has been a real-life attack enacted in a haunted attraction. In 2017, the owner of Scream Hollow Haunted House in Texas sexually assaulted a volunteer minor and was subsequently arrested years later.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Albert via TikTok comment and the Newark, California police department via email for further information.
