Another Ohio haunted house is under fire for questionable business decisions, this time, Haunted Hoochie (aka Dead Acres) in Pataskala is making headlines for their "Swastika Saturday" promotional special.
Questionable iconography is commonplace at haunted houses, featuring the likes of pentagrams or other symbols imitating ancient runes, but the Swastika, an image that was used a symbol of empowerment for people who assisted in the genocide of over six million Jewish people and is continued to be used as a symbol to embolden white supremacists, is in arguably poor taste.
Haunted Hoochie claims that Swastika Saturday, has been an unofficial annual promotion for the last 28 years, but this year, Swastika Saturday fell on the same day that a domestic terrorist opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people, including a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor.
A Facebook comment from Haunted Hoochie on the image above said, "git in free with a haunted hoochie or dead acres logo tattoo for swastika Saturday including all kindsa freaky fun including only flesh live on stage ..hell yeah." Even after hundreds of angry commenters flooded the Facebook page asking why the hell they'd think this was still acceptable, Haunted Hoochie had no plans to end the event.
Ah, yes. We can now add Swastika Saturday to the long list of things defended under the guise of "it's tradition, not racism" like Confederate Civil War monuments and Chief Wahoo.
Of course, while there were hundreds expressing disgust on the haunt's Facebook page, there were plenty of people openly supporting the event, calling anyone with a problem a "snowflake" or "sensitive."
Only Flesh, the Pittsburgh based band scheduled to perform on Saturday pulled out of the event, saying “Whether it was done for shock factor, racism or just plain ignorance, we cannot promote that kind of message,” Lower said in response to a Facebook message seeking comment. “I personally live 10 minutes from the synagogue that was attacked, and I cannot even try to understand what the families and friends of the murdered are going through. We need to stand for them" in a statement posted to the band's Facebook page.
As could be expected, Haunted Hoochie's website contact page was taken down as of today, and they posted a non-apology on Facebook to try and cover their asses.
One commenter said it best, "This post is absolute BS. The whole day leading up to it, you were defending your actions. You even admitted that it was something you've done for years. Even the first 'apology post' backtracked to defend the event by pretty much saying 'It's what haunted houses do.' Now the posts went viral, the news catches wind, Only Flesh cancels on you, the community's outrage grows like wildfire, and now you're 'sincere?' GTFOH... This is a sad attempt to save face and your business. The screenshots don't lie. Those of us who followed it from the beginning know what was said and how you acted in response to other's complaints."
