By Sarvesh Mayilvahanan | Staff Writer

Can a haunted house be too scary? In 1998, Cleanthi Peters, a 57-year-old woman sued Universal Studios over their Halloween haunted house. Peters was attending Universal Studios’ annual Halloween Horror Nights along with her 10-year-old  granddaughter. She claimed it was “too scary” and that it caused her emotional distress.

As Peters and her granddaughter were exiting the haunted house, they were being chased by an employee dressed as Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. On the way out, they slipped on a wet spot in the floor and fell. According to the lawsuit, the employee playing Leatherface, instead of helping them up, continued to terrorize them and stood over them with the chainsaw.

As Peters and her granddaughter were exiting the haunted house, being chased by an employee dressed as Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, they allegedly slipped on a wet spot on the floor and fell. According to the lawsuit, the employee playing Leatherface, instead of helping them up, continued to terrorize them and stood over them with the chainsaw.

According to Cleanthi Peters, as the employee dressed as Leatherface scared them, they were “extremely fearful and in mental distress and anguish”. She also claims that she sustained several unspecified injuries. On these allegations, she sued Universal Studios for $15,000. After several trials, the case was ruled in favor of Peters and she won. However, there were no consequences for the employee acting as Leatherface.