This Haunted House Is So Scary, They Make You Sign a Waiver Before Entering

Here at POPSUGAR, we love haunted houses — whether they're here in the States or across the pond, spooky legends about ghostly abodes keep us awake at night (in a good way). To replicate the bone-chilling experience of paranormal terror, many "haunted house" attractions open during the Halloween season, serving up frights to the fear-obsessed. Thousands are drawn daily to spooky events like Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights for the promise of a scary-good time . . . but when does a haunted house become too scary? One such attraction, The 17th Door Haunt Experience in Tustin, CA, aims to find out.

The 17th Door requires visitors to sign a waiver before entering the experience, which offers more than 30 minutes of scares in — you guessed it — 17 different rooms. The people behind the haunted attraction boast about the "psychological terror" that they inflict on guests, allowing their fright-fueled actors to touch guests, get them wet, and do everything in their power to make attendees feel like they're truly in peril. And by the end of the experience, many come to believe it . . . since The 17th Door opened in late September, over 250 visitors have shouted the attraction's designated safe word ("mercy") in order to escape.

It's worth noting that The 17th Door is not your average haunted house for reasons outside of the waiver and safe word. According to an NSFW trailer released as a preview for the attraction, the "Haunt Experience" is based on a young college student's mental illness. Various aspects of the attraction include references to eating disorders, suicide, and horrifyingly accurate depictions of animal mutilation. If the scares you seek lean more toward the ghostly variety, then you won't find what you're looking for at this haunted house — in fact, it's quite likely that you'll be offended by this brand of "horror."

So, is this haunted house truly the cream of the terrifying crop? Watch the disturbing trailer for The 17th Door below and decide for yourself. Horror-seekers, you can buy tickets to the blood-curdling experience ($21 to $35) through Nov. 1 — if you dare.