Are You Up For It?

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Ever since I was a kid, I've been going through haunted houses. When I was eight, I finally convinced my dad to take me to one. As we were standing in line to buy our tickets, I chickened out and cried to go home.

"You begged me to take you here!" my dad said.

Alas, he took me home anyway.

I tried again the next year, and at nine years of age, I successfully went through my first set of haunted houses.

I was hooked.

Pretty much every year since, I've visited haunted houses during the Halloween season. I'm not big on Halloween parties (I'm not a fan of spending $100+ on a costume I'm only ever going to wear once) so this is my way of being in the Halloween spirit.

Last year, a friend told me about a haunted house that he heard about in New York. It's called Blackout. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter and you're required to sign a waiver.

I started obsessing over it.

What could possibly happen in there that you're required to sign a waiver before going in? And why the heck is it $65??

I found the rules:

YOU MUST WALK THROUGH ALONE.

You must be over 18.

Stay on the marked path at all times.

You will be prompted to do certain actions. Please do exactly as you're told. This is for your safety.

There is absolutely no speaking allowed inside. You can, however, scream as loud as you'd like.

Do not ever touch the actors.

Do not ever touch the walls.

You must wear a protective mask and carry a flashlight at all times. (We will provide both of these items for you. Please do not bring your own.)

If you have an emergency while walking through the house and need to be escorted out, please yell the word "SAFETY" as loud as you can. Stay where you are, remain calm, and someone will come to get you and bring you out. Once you call "SAFETY", there are no refunds and there are no options but to leave.

Please be aware, you will encounter:

FOG – STROBE LIGHTS – COMPLETE DARKNESS
CRAWLING – STAIRS – LOUD NOISES – WATER
PHYSICAL CONTACT – SEXUAL and VIOLENT SITUATIONS

I still needed to know more. I read as many internet spoilers as I could.

What I discovered was that this wasn't a normal haunted house. This was something nightmares are made of.

In past years, "survivors" (as they're so heroically referred to as), have experienced (besides the above) water boarding, other forms of suffocation, being subjected to a dirty, er.. tampon and a ton of other sadistic things, which most of you probably don't want to read about.

Would I be able to do this? Probably not. I have an intense fear of suffocation and even though I know that realistically, I'm not going to be hurt, I don't know if I could deal with the nightmares that would follow me after my experience.

However, there are a ton of people out there who have experienced this "show" and really enjoyed it.

This year, in Los Angeles, you can find an event dedicated to the movie, The Purge. In case you were wondering, The Purge: Fear the Night, was created by Jason Blum. You know, the guy who created Insidious, Paranormal Activity and Sinister. He teamed up with the creators of Blackout for this unique experience. Fortunately, this one, you don't have to go through alone.

As interesting as I find these experiences, I don't know if I'm brave enough to actually try them (plus, it'd be a bit expensive to me to fly to LA just to go to a haunted house).

For now, I'll have to stick to what I've got here. In case you were wondering, the scariest haunted house I've been through in Ontario was in Niagara Falls. It's called Nightmares Fear Factory. Inside is pitch black; you have to follow a tiny little red light to get through it and you never know what to expect. (Spoiler: the part that scared me the most was when the floor dropped a little as I was walking on it.)

For your entertainment, I shall leave you with a picture of Andrew and I in Nightmares (yes, they unexpectedly take your picture in there, which you can then buy) back in 2011.

I look so evil..

Would you try any of those haunted houses?