TODAY.com: For all you prudes out there, no need to get your panties in a twist over that haunted house that was planning to allow visitors to tour the place naked.
Pennsylvania’s Shocktoberfest has canceled the nude part of its “Naked and Scared” tour after local township officials asked the scream park to reconsider.
12 comments:
This was a very weird article. It boggles my mind why someone would want to visit a haunted house naked. There is nothing appealing about that in the slightest. Haunted houses tend to be scary, and by walking around naked you are taking the attention away from the skeletons and werewolf, and putting all of the attention on you. Now you will probably startle people at the Haunted House when you are not wearing clothes because that is just not normal.
I couldn't disagree with Jason here more. The explanation the creators had behind their "naked" haunted house is completely justified. While not wearing clothes may not be considered "normal" in our society, that does not mean it cannot or should not be done. In the arts, and particularly in theatre, I believe we often try to redefine or defy what is "normal" for new experiences that are worthwhile of our audience's time and attention. While the experience of a nude haunted house may not be for everyone, for some it has the potential for a heightened experience. Haunted houses are meant to take you out of your "normal" world, and by physically having nothing to hide behind, being naked could have the potential to take someone out of their "normal" world even more.
I agree with Jess on this. The rationale behind why the company would offer a "Naked and Scared" option to their Haunted House experience makes complete sense. It's all about making the audience feel even more vulnerable in the haunted house for a heightened experience in an environment created to terrify it's audience. It also sounds like the company went about it in the right manner. There were separate tickets for the naked tours, which implies that the attraction would be closed to anyone who didn't have that kind of ticket. That way only those who wanted to participate could, and no one else would be put into an awkward situation of being around the attraction when the naked tour was going through. Haunted Houses are also usually very dark, so realistically, you wouldn't be able to see much of anything about the people around you. The company also was doing everything by the book and made sure that everything was legal before they went ahead with anything. All in all, though, it seems like the company made a smart business move by not making anyone else in the town angry, even though they had every right to do the naked tour.
I agree with both Jess's here. I think that the explanation that was given justified their plan to allow audience members to enter the haunted house naked. I am actually very upset that they have decided to cancel this aspect of the haunted house. I think that being naked in a haunted house would truly make me more vulnerable and susceptible to the world around me. I would have loved to experience this haunted house in the nude and get a chance to see if the haunted house was thrilling. I think that it would be interesting to be able to go through this twice and see the differences, but, at the same time, the second time would automatically be less scary if it was the same set up.
What a wonderful idea for the ultimate scare, stripping people of our most basic form of protection that we never go without. Going naked through a haunted house sounds like a great idea (for people who like that kind of thrill, of course), and the decision to do such a thing should be left to the patrons of the haunted house company. The fact that people are forcing their own ideals upon the endeavor and causing it to be shut down before it even opened speaks volumes about our society. Human beings are born naked, our natural state of being is without clothes on. Why, then, is nakedness always sexualized in American society? Why does the sight of a person in their birthday suit automatically scream "erotic?" This is a narrow-minded attitude that needs to change; it is time for us to be comfortable in our own skins - and just our skins. I'm not claiming that it is necessary for us to go prancing to work with nothing on, but a little nudity every now and then is natural and does NOT need to be considered wrong or inappropriate.
This seems like a great idea. The idea behind the Naked and Scared Haunted House is really clever, being vulnerable and scared is exactly what people want when they go into a haunted house and this would provide that. However, the one issue that isn't discussed that I feel could be is inappropriate touching within the haunted house walls that may cause legal issues, but otherwise having to cover up because of others getting upset is annoying. I agree with the article, why should we change things because of other's moral codes? If I want to go naked in a haunted house, then I should be able to, especially when there are other options for those who don't want to go in naked. It's annoying and I wish people would start being more open to things like this, whether it goes against their moral code or not.
So most definitely not something I would do, but I do not got to haunted houses any way. That just means it is like a double negative to me. Well it is awesome that the owner was nicest enough to just play ball, even though he feels he had every right to be as naked as he wanted. So that was nice to hear. I am not saying we should not push the system a little but there is a time and place for all things, it just seems that he felt like this was not the time and place for that. To me that shows that this gentlemen has a solid character. Sounds great so hopefully everyone feels supper vulnerable in their undies or if people want to feel vulnerable we could just actually talk to another person, never mine that is just crazy.
Let people do what they want to do. There is no reason that the county needed to say that they could not do it. If there is a local statute against this happening that is all well and good but if it is not a legal thing why would you care. I am surprised that a haunted house that went viral would not have contested this intrusion by the government unless it all was a publicity stunt. Also if you are going to let people walk around the haunted house in their underwear why not let them walk through it naked? I would think that a greater objection to this would come from the personnel that work the haunted house because they would have to witness the people streaking through the house and it will most certainly not be only beautiful people running through the haunted house. As far as reading into the psychology of feeling more vulnerable and getting a bigger rush, I am sure that people would have had different reactions to the fear and some would feel more vulnerable. Realistically though some people just like to be naked in public and if they want to do that in a haunted house more power to them. The promoters I am sure will see a bump in sales from the publicity and they will see the economic benefits of being controversial without getting fines or other legal trouble because they are not doing what they got famous for proposing. This seems like a great con.
I love this idea! The concept and realization of lack of clothing is not only a self confidence thing but a security thing as well. People who are willing to wear less generally have a greater sense of security and their bodies well being. If you are willing to wear less you are putting less in-between you and the outside world, whether it is good or bad. So the idea of putting people naked in a haunted house is a great idea on how to reduce layers of security and intensify the experience. I have a great sense of security and self esteem and am able to wear little to no clothing where ever I am, however, I would be terrified to do so in this haunted house. I have never dealt well with horror and the idea of reducing my ability to defend it is truly terrifying. I do believe that if I could tour through this haunted house without my clothing on it would increase my general security afterwards. I am disappointed to see the park taking back their initial, to remain in legal safety I think this is a unique idea that if it went to fruition would bring a great deal of business. Maybe next year they will follow through.
I find this concept to be very stimulating. I have to agree that I'm supper surprised that nobody hasn't done a naked haunted house before, but I can see many concerns behind this attraction. Konopelski said, "Its not about sex, its not about erotica." I do agree that this is his intent, but not everyone in the general public has a family with children and is morally strong. Many things can go wrong with this concept, nudity, darkness, and strangers just done mix. I would love to experience something like this, but it would have to be with very close friends and a place I was comfortable with.
This is so hilarious to me! Its kind of like real life stage fright tactics being put to use. I mean could you imagine seeing a bunch of cared naked people running around screaming everywhere! AS a worker there Im not sure I would be able to keep a straight face! I also disagree with Jason in that i dont think the people who are naked would be any less amazed by the work that went into the haunted hose, and I dont think the people trailing with the group would be too distracted either, if its a good enough haunted house then the people wouldn't even notice a bunch of naked people they would be too scared to notice anything like that. However I do see a huge risk for something bad legally to happen here. It seems like a lot of law suits just waiting to happen. So I guess I dont blame them but I do wish we lived in a world where it was okay to be naked in public, or at least that we as humans were more comfortable with the idea of it.
The idea of the "Naked and Scared" attraction at Shoctoberfest seems interesting. The idea of stripping naked, essentially taking away all defense of a person is a feeling that would probably make a person more scared than any other haunted attraction in the area. Though I might feel a bit apprehensive about doing this I think that the experience would be interesting. As for the fact that it has been shut down I feel like it is unnecessary. For people going into the haunted house they are volunteering, the attractions purpose, as stated in the article was not anything sexual, they just wanted to present a new experience for people to be frightened like never before.
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