Animal House Party: 2,000 Gate-Crashers!

LONDON, March 19, 2008— -- Sarah Ruscoe will never forget her 18th birthday bash, but not for the right reasons. To celebrate turning the big 1-8, Ruscoe organized a costume party at her parent's 20-acre Georgian mansion.

The hostess with the mostest chose to don a dominatrix outfit, to stand out from the crowd. But what she didn't know was just how big the crowd was going to be. The birthday girl was expecting 100 or so friends.

Almost 2,000 people, mostly teenagers, showed up at her doorstep determined to party.

Ruscoe's father, Reg Brooks, described the scene to the BBC saying, "I saw people breaking our windows, and once they had been shut out, they tried to break windows to get back in again. They smashed up the bar. They jumped up and down on tables until they broke. "

"I expected to find a dead person in one of the rooms," said Brooks.

"That things just got a bit out of hand is probably an understatement," Ruscoe said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

She also admitted to knowingly adding to the guest list. "I put up a poster at school inviting 'everyone.'

"Admittedly, perhaps, I was foolish and naive, but how often does a poster cause chaos and devastation?"

Ruscoe's mistake was compounded by an announcement on national radio. A famous British DJ by the name of Pete Tong gave a "shout out" on his BBC radio show. According to the BBC's Web site, he said, "We're getting ready for a huge mansion party -- 500-plus people going -- it's in Bovey Tracey in Devon, tipping us off on that, anyone who's listening can come along, apparently, just say hi to Marilyn Monroe on the door."

After that tipoff and mention of the party on social networking sites, chaos ensued and the more than 200-year-old, 21-bedroom mansion was turned upside-down and inside out -- a costume party that turned into the house of horrors.

Ruscoe's mother, Rebecca Brooks, told the BBC that the event was "terrifying." She said, "Bottles and cans were strewn from the house to the village, which is 2 miles away."