Manhattan's Top Haunted Attraction - Blood ManorAndre J. Andino, Rick Basmagy, Sammy Mena,...

Manhattan's Top Haunted Attraction

There’s a reason why this city doesn’t sleep.

Article by Mike BednarskyMakeup: Amy Sue Nahhas,

Beatrice SniperImages by Steve Prue

List of pictured actors:Shamz Azanedo, Andre J. Andino,

Rick Basmagy, SammyMena, David Jude Miller

Blood Manor is so scary that visitorswho relieve themselves when mean-dering through the confines of thevenue are rewarded with a T-shirt.The various rooms of Blood Manor,

which are changed every year, bringall types of horror to the forefront.There is emphasis on the classicalkind of scary, dead relatives from the1800s punishing patrons for wander-ing into their old home. There's aroom with rabid animals attempting tobreak free from their chains, and abutcher shop where similar crea-tures, and people, hang from the ceil-

Rebel Ink 81

Tucked away in NYC's SoHo neighbor-hood is an unforgettable entertain-ment experience, an option for anevening that vastly differs from happyhour cocktails or a WashingtonSquare Park stroll. Blood Manor, com-plete with the slogan of "New YorkCity's Premier Haunted Attraction," isa scaretastic horror venue, utilizingseveral degrees of spooky, and weird,to wash out the fear from the hun-dreds of brave attendees. Blood Manor, which opens every

October, was the shared brainchild ofJim Faro, Jim Lorenzo, and MikeRodriguez. The trio were friends withan interest in the macabre andgrotesque. Aiming to graduate from thehaunted attractions they would whipup at home every year, the threeteamed and brought to the city anotherreason, perhaps the most understand-able one, why New Yorkers don’t sleep.

82 Rebel Ink

ing to greet you as you clamor toward the exit(hopefully). "We redo several rooms each year so that over

a couple of years the attraction is almost new,"says Jim Faro, one of the three owners. "Webelieve a haunt needs to be scary, fun, sexy, dark,loud, and thrilling."And Blood Manor's versatility is evident through

occasion-specific events, offering new experi-ences to the dedicated horror heads who frequentthe regular rooms. Last February, BloodyValentine's Weekend made way for romantic gush-ing—and the other kind of gushing too."We are always looking to do something out of

the ordinary. Mike [Rodriguez] came up with theBloody Valentine's as a way to keep our attraction in the spotlight even off-season."The scarers, or actors, are stationed to a Blood Manor room for an extended period of time, allowing them

to flesh out, sometimes literally, an original character with a relationship to that room.

Rebel Ink 83

"Our staff and cast are super," Farosays, referring to his crew as a groupof “Halloween junkies.”David and Rick, two heavily tattooed

cast members, tweak their scare tac-tics when they feel the need to shakeup their routines, modifying theirappearances or voices. And the horrorcontinues on skin—Rick has a rightsleeve tattoo of a Day of the Deadpainting by New Mexico artist BrandonMaldonado. The piece was done byKelly Gelling of Artful Ink Tattoo Studioin Bohemia, NY. Sammy, another one of the actors, has

the signature persona of a clown wholumbers up and down Varick Street dur-ing event nights, scrapping a string of

cans against the sidewalk. The frightbegins there for the lengthy line ofparticipants waiting to enter theBlood Manor doors—and now it'syour turn.

Head over to bloodmanor.com to pur-chase your tickets.

Blood Manor163 Varick St. New York, NY 10013

(212) 290-2825