Six Flags Wins - Missouri Court Upholds Assumption-of-Risk Defense at Fright Fest

This Missouri appellate decision provides a significant victory for haunted attraction operators and a clear statement of assumption-of-risk doctrine applied to Halloween haunt events. A patron was injured at Six Flags Fright Fest—the specifics involved becoming startled and falling as a result—and the court rejected the injury claim based on assumption of risk.

The court’s reasoning was straightforward: when a patron voluntarily attends a haunted attraction expressly designed to frighten and scare guests, they necessarily assume the risk of being startled. The startle response is not a flaw in the operation; it is the entire purpose of the experience. Falling as a result of being startled is thus an inherent, obvious risk of the activity that patrons voluntarily accept when they pay for admission.

This decision reinforces that assumption-of-risk doctrine provides meaningful protection to haunt operators when injuries arise from the very risks that define the haunted attraction experience. However, this protection does not extend to injuries from premises defects, reckless conduct, or hazards not inherent to the scare experience itself. The key limitation: the injury must flow directly from the startle and fright experience that the patron came to experience.