St. Louis- Wentzville officials say a haunted house where workers perform in sexually suggestive and violent scenes must get an adult entertainment permit from the city before it can open.

A spokesman for the group trying to open the attraction, dubbed the Mall of the Dead, is crying foul, saying the scenes are just “adult scary fun.”

“It’s not like they’re doing it,” said Dean Kemper. “They’re not touching genitals; they’re not touching breasts. If it were a movie, it would be rated PG-13.”

One scene shows two women touching each other on the arms and legs and then kissing each other on the shoulders and neck. It culminates in the simulation of a woman cutting off a man’s penis.
Another features several people shackled to a wall and a dominatrix whipping a man attached to a leash.

The attraction has a total of 16 different vignettes in nine rooms, Kemper said. It occupies 200,000 square feet of space at The Mall at Wentzville Crossing, near Interstate 70 and Highway 40-61.

Kemper, 44, said he applied six weeks ago for a conditional use permit to conduct the show and was ready to open last week. Then the attraction was put on hold because of safety code violations.

Police Chief Bob Noonan said he learned this week that Kemper was planning to employ young people in the sexually suggestive and violent scenes. He consulted with the city attorney and then had a letter hand-delivered, telling Kemper he would need to apply for a city adult entertainment permit.

Kemper said no one under 17 is used in the sex scenes. Employees under the age of 18 are required to get a consent form signed by a parent or guardian.

But even if people younger than 18 were not allowed in sex scenes, Kemper apparently would still be in violation of the city ordinance governing adult entertainment. It states that only people 18 or older are permitted on the premises where live performers depict certain sexual activities, including sadomasochistic abuse.

Andy McCown, the city administrator, said Thursday that if Kemper removed the sex scenes from the show, building and safety concerns had not been addressed and would keep its doors from opening.

Kemper said that he has corrected all of the safety complaints and claims the city is dragging its feet because it doesn’t like the content of the show.

“This isn’t about safety; this is about censorship pure and simple,” he said.