SAN FRANCISCO – As Halloween draws near, the progressive news outlet Mother Jones has unveiled a haunted house unlike any other.
“It’s scary because it’s real,” said Shannon McCarthy, a 32-year-old mother of two. “You walk through this makeshift construction site and these guys just catcall you but you can’t leave. It’s really unsettling.”
This continues the long tradition of Mother Jones spooking the public; past haunted houses have included standbys such as candy and spooky music, along with seminars in locked auditoriums about lead in drinking water. This year’s idea came from CEO Monika Bauerlein in an effort to replicate the “haunted society that women face every day.” While some of the men who do the catcalling are paid actors, other are “some random men who wandered in when we left the doors open.”
While the reception of the haunted house has been primarily positive, not everyone has been thrilled about it. Stephanie Kozak, a 22-year-old waitress, was not impressed. “This just never felt real enough,” she said. “Where are the guys trying to film up your skirt or the ones grabbing your arm or leg as you pass by?”
