Behold Bill Tracy’s original depiction of a damsel in distress, trapped in a damp environment with no hope for escape. Tracy’s cabinet for this stunt was built to precise specs of 8 feet long, 5 feet deep, and 6 feet high and included a recirculating pump that provided a waterfall to a rocky back wall spilling on to the damsel, surrounded by snakes, rats, and doom. A single light brought the effect to life. Two notable locations of the stunt were at Trimper’s Haunted House in Ocean City, Maryland and Westview Park’s Haunted House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, later relocated to Erieview Park’s Fright Zone.

Trimper’s version was retired in 1998. No information is known regarding Tracy’s other iterations of this stunt.

Original catalog depiction.
Original catalog photo.
Photo from Fright Zone at Erieview, clearly identical to Tracy’s original catalog photo above.
Original installation at Trimper’s Haunted House at Ocean City, Maryland. Photo taken in 1996.
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Published by Brandon Seidl

Brandon is a longtime enthusiast, chronicler, and author of Ocean City, Maryland's amusement and boardwalk history and is the creator & author of Trimper's Haunted House Online (ochh.net), co-author of "Images of America: Trimper's Rides," co-author of "History Press: Ocean City Oddities," and co-creator & author of The Bill Tracy Project.

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