Vortex's Blackout NYC 2012

[themysteriousgrowl]

Take a little break from trolls, white supremacy, and theater.

http://blackoutnyc.com

Who's going?

Has anyone been before?

I attended last year, and the experience was...

Well... it certainly was

[tazber]

Fun fact: since I rent out my house for this they asked if I would let them use the corpses I have in my walk in freezer.

[ErikJ972]

I went last year and was really disappointed.
The first five minutes were terrifying. I remember standing alone in a pitch black room. You could hear people in the room with you and my mind starting playing tricks on me. I kept imagining things moving around in the darkness. The standing there waiting was scary and I almost called safety before the thing even got started.
(Spoilers from last year ahead)But once things actually started happening I went from being scared to pissed off. Getting fake water boarded wasn't scary. And having water dumped on me totally took me out of the experience. I just wanted to yell at them to knock it off. And after getting the fake,used tampon shoved in my mouth any sense of fear I had was gone.
It was like a horror movie that isn't scary because they show TOO much.

This is still the most terrifying haunted house I've been to

[themysteriousgrowl]

I agree Erik, that the closest I got to "scared" was in the beginning, and those moments of silent blackness were genuinely tense and spooky. The moment I nearly called "safety" was **SPOILERS** the waterboarding because between all the forced screaming and the water and the sack over my face I actually began to feel panicky and really couldn't breathe. If it had gone on another 20 seconds, I wouldn't have made it. It wasn't scary, but it was intensely visceral, and for me that was totally a valid part of the experience.

The tampon scene and the vomit/key scene had a kind of cheesy fun to them. I wasn't legitimately grossed out, but I do remember laughing and wincing before I plunged my hand into the toilet. The whole thing had an adrenaliney feel once it got going, and for me it was, altogether, totally worth it, especially when you consider the alternatives are typically haunted hayrides with wannabe actors in rubber masks yelling "boo."

I'm not easily scared, so I'm always on the lookout for things that might actually get me. Eastern Penitentiary has been on my radar the past few years, but I just haven't made it. I really, really, really want to go this year.

[JoeKv99]

There was a gay bar in Chicago called Vortex that had "blackout" parties that were a LOT more fun (and occasionally scary) than this sounds.

[ErikJ972]

There's no doubt that they offer a unique experience. It's not in any way your run of the mill haunted house. And it definitely works for some people. I just didn't find it scary. I've read walkthroughs of previous years that sounded scarier to me. I heard during their spring haunt this year participants were required to get naked at one point. So who knows what they have in store for this year.
Try to get to Eastern State Penitentiary if you can. They have a section you have to walk through by yourself with only a flashlight. They control the flashlight and in parts it dies on you leaving you in complete darkness. SCARY!

[Brian07663NJ]

I am one of Vortex's Blackout "Survivors." Approximately 20 of us have attended almost all of their Fall events and spring events. The spring events are by invitation only and only after you attend the fall event can you request to attend the spring event. If you aren't a fan of the fall event - you wouldn't like the spring events.

Blackout is not your typical Frankenstein/Dracula experience. It is also not for everyone. It is a mind trip and intentionally not a visual horror event.

I've been to the Philadelphia Eastern Penatentary event - it is a lot of fun but a combination of traditional horror haunted house with actor spooks jumping out of dark corners but mixed with the location being a historic prison adds to the entire experience.