FENTON, Mo. -- A 17-year-old girl who works as an actress to scare guests at a haunted house in Fenton was seriously injured Thursday night when she somehow got caught in a noose being used as a prop.
At about 8:45 p.m. Thursday, a co-worker found the girl unconscious in the noose at Creepyworld, in Jefferson County.
Sheriff's officials said she was unconscious when she was taken down from the noose, and she was rushed to an area hospital.
Creepyworld appeared to be set up like a small town, with a butcher shop and drive-in theater, among other makeshift buildings. Mangled dummies were strewn across wrecked cars while others hung upside down, their feet chained to a high bar, near the exit where people would have to walk between them to leave.
Creepyworld is operated by a St. Louis company called Halloween Productions Inc., which also runs the Darkness Haunted House and the Lemp Brewery Haunted House.
State business filings identify Larry Kirchner as the company's president and one of two corporate directors. In a brief phone interview, Kirchner refused to discuss the accident, or whether the company was reviewing its safety standards.
"It's a situation that's under investigation," he said. "The only thing we're concerned about is our actor."
Kirchner said Creepyworld would be open for business on Friday night.
Capt. Ron Arnhart of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the girl was working as an actress, and the noose was used for visual affect. She was in critical condition Friday.
"How she wound up in there is still under investigation," Arnhart said. "Right now, it looks like an unfortunate accident."
Arnhart said he didn't know if the girl was working that specific section by herself. A co-worker who makes rounds to check the safety of the employees found her in the noose.
The girl's name has not been released. Arnhart said she is from Fenton.
Arnhart said police haven't had any other problems at Creepyworld.
According to the company's website, adults pay $23 to tour Creepyworld, which has seven haunted houses at one location and bills itself as having the most monsters and live actors of any attraction in St. Louis. A YouTube video from last year says Creepyworld needs 150 employees to run the place.
(c)2011 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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