This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A woman and her teenage daughter are suing a Pennsylvania amusement park, saying the costumed ghouls at its Halloween attraction were too terrifying.

Shannon Sacco and her daughter are seeking more than $150,000 from Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom and its parent company, Cedar Fair of Sandusky, Ohio, according to a report by the Morning Call newspaper of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Their lawsuit, filed last week, says the teen was visiting the Allentown-area amusement park when several of the park’s costumed ghouls approached. The filing says the girl asked them to leave her alone because she didn’t want to be scared.

The teen says a costumed employee then ran up behind her and shouted in her ear, causing her to fall. The suit says the girl suffered injuries, but didn’t go into detail. A Dorney spokeswoman declined comment.

The family alleges the companies were negligent in their operation of the Halloween Haunt attraction, in part because they did not inform the visitorsthat they could buy a glow-in-the-dark “No boo” necklaces to indicate to staff dressed as monsters that they didn’t want to be pounced on and startled.

The mother and unnamed daughter, and lawyers representing them in the action, did not respond to calls for comment, news outlets said.

The lawsuit says that the girl was approached by costumed ghouls and pleaded with them to go away because she did not want to be scared.

Nevertheless, according to the filing, a staff member dressed as a monster came up behind her and shouted loudly in her ear, shocking her so acutely that she fell over.

She “fell forcefully to the ground, suffering severe, permanent and debilitating injuries”, the filing says, without giving details of the alleged injuries.

The injuries needed medical treatment that may be ongoing and the girl has suffered consequences in her normal life, and has been unable to hold a job as a result, the lawsuit claims.

The family claims that the companies were negligent for disregarding the girl’s safety, especially in light of her request not to be made scared, and for “unreasonably startling” patrons.