So last Saturday my friends Ronda and Krystle and I went to this crazy haunted house in downtown L.A. called Blackout. Delilah had told me about it earlier but had to attend the week before and refused to comment about it afterwards, which was for the best as it only increased my anxiety level. In fact, if you’re in NYC or L.A. and ever want to go, you probably should skip this post as it is best to go in with as little input as possible. It was a lot of fun although the build up and anticipation were probably 60 percent of the experience. It’s billed as an “extreme” haunted house, where you walk through alone, sign a waiver beforehand, and have the option of using a safeword if you get too freaked out. All this, along with the creepy waiting area beforehand where horrible white noise is cranked out at an unnerving volume left me feeling very unsure about the whole thing as we nervously waited in line.

Ronda and I both dressed in our schoolgirl outfits (sorry, no good pictures to show) and we were warned by the serious guy greeting us that our outfits might be trashed by the end of it. But there was no turning back so we continued on. Once inside it was quite disorienting and creepy, with minutes left standing in pitch dark (very effective) and getting dragged along from room to room by unseen hands. There was a lot of physical contact, nakedness and touching (though I was really hoping to be seriously groped!) and there’s definitely a sexual undercurrent to much of it, including some bondage and a couple girls with tape over their mouths (loved those rooms!) Also for any straight guys who have insecurities about their sexuality this is definitely NOT for them! I had a great time and felt so relaxed and giggly when it was over after the release of all that tension. My biggest fear was that I might safeword out of it but once I was in for the ride I knew that I’d make it through okay regardless of what happened. Actually they could have ramped up the intensity a few more notches and I would have gladly paid even more. It was a fun night, and with the West Hollywood street party just a few days beforehand it turned out to be a great Halloween!