Controversial haunted house depicts serial killers

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There's a controversial haunted house in Manhattan.

The house features gruesome depictions based on real-life serial killers.

Families of their victims are outraged and offended.

The exhibit is on Suffolk Street on the Lower East Side.

Sometimes a true story is the spookiest of all. That's what Timothy Haskell was going for when he designed "Killers: A Nightmare Haunted House" on the Lower East Side.

"They're bogeymen. To me they're monsters, scary, terrifying and awful," Haskell said.

So the house comes "alive" so to speak with actors playing the real serial killers and the spooky things associated with them.

But unfortunately, not everyone sees this as art.

Eyewitness News talked with one man whose brother was murdered and an advocacy group for victims' families.

"Have they gotten their approval to glorify murders of their loved ones?" the man asked.

"The whole world knows who a John Wayne Gacey and Jeffrey Dahmer, or a Ted Bundy is, but nobody can ever name their victims," said Andy Kahn, of Parents of Murdered Children.

Meanwhile, Haskell sees this more, as history than hype.

"I don't identify the people. You know it, because they've already been sensationalized," Haskell said.

So whether it's Dahmer or some other dose of reality, he believes this real-life horror, certainly has its place, especially around Halloween.

"Artistically, it's a really strong haunted house," Haskell said.

For more information on Parents of Murdered Children please visit: www.pomc.com

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new york city, lower east side, halloween, new york news, stacey sager

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