For one month out of the year over the past three years, several Hudson County residents have crossed into Manhattan for a special house tour.
“Blood Manor” located in Manhattan is a large, five-floor walk up, has over a dozen rooms, including a “horridor,” a “slaughterhouse,” and a “psycho bathroom.”
Even Hoboken’s biggest brownstones don’t come equipped with those amenities.
A group of locals recently took the twenty-minute tour of the manor and lived to tell the tale.
Fear factor
Our fearless leader was Stan Usherenko, a Hoboken resident with an encyclopedic knowledge of horror films. He brought along his high-school-age brother, Matt, who shares his affinity for scary stuff.
Hobokenite Alanna Ramirez, along with out-of-stater Dausame and I were the only girls, and hence the designated screamers of the group. Rounding out the crew were Brian the cynical Brooklynite; Kevin the brave army man; Chad, who took the train in all the way from Connecticut, and his friend Cameron, who was visiting from Australia.
When Stan invited me to join them on the journey, I couldn’t say no. For me, Halloween has always been more about the thrill of finding a fun costume than getting a good scare. But I knew I had to finally live Halloween in all its gory glory and face my fear of haunted houses. (It’s a long story involving a guy wielding a chain saw and wearing a hockey mask who lurked around a haunted house line I waited in as a kid.)
I remembered that experience, almost 20 years later, as a contorted, seven-foot-tall monster zig-zagged through the long line on the quiet Chelsea street where we waited to get into Blood Manor.
Not wanting to relive bad memories, I kept reminding myself that it was just a guy in a costume.
A short but haunting history
But that isn’t what Blood Manor co-creator Jim Faro wants visitors to his high-tech haunted house to think. “With all due respect, we don’t take high school kids and put on capes and go ‘boo!” he said. “We try to suspend your belief system for 20 minutes,” he continued.
Faro has over 35 “cast members” working for him, along with several expensive animatronic devices, and professional grade special effects.
He said that the manor “attacks all your senses,” with scary noises, sights and even smells.
Faro created Blood Manor over three years ago, with fellow Long Islander Jim Lorenzo. They both got to know each other as “house haunters” in Floral Park, Long Island Faro said.
“And I don’t mean just decorating the lawn,” he explained. He said that at one point, before he and Lorenzo joined forces for Blood Manor, he had 1,000 people going through his house on Halloween.
He said that his sons James, 21, and Nicholas, 13, have grown up around scary stuff. “Since they were toddlers, they’ve gotten used to coming down and finding coffins and monsters in the living room,” he said.
Faro and Lorenzo recently joined forces with Mike Rodriguez, who does event planning and special effects for the attraction.
Last year between 10,000 and 15,000 people visited Blood Manor, Faro said, and he expected this year’s attendance to be slightly higher.
Into the horridor
Judging from a line that spanned more than one block on a recent Saturday evening, Faro, Lorenzo and Rodriguez will probably top last year’s attendance.
Before joining the rest of our group in the long line, Alanna, Brian and I made a quick bathroom run to a nearby bar. While we were there, we all decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to do a shot.
“To keep warm,” I said.
As we approached the front of the line, much to my horror, everyone kind of fell behind me. “You’re the intrepid reporter,” Brian said.
I figured they couldn’t do much to us before we even entered, so I bounded up the first of five flights of stairs. But then the sound of chains dragging and people screaming coming from the landing directly above us made me slow down.
When we finally did reach the top, we got to a narrow corridor where we were told to walk single file. “I don’t want to go first,” Matt said.
So it was Stan, then Matt, then me and Brian.
I wouldn’t say we were the bravest bunch. I held Brian’s hand, while Alanna walked along clutching his back. Chad held on to Alanna’s coat. Dausame and Kevin were only holding on to each other, but probably because they weren’t as close to the rest of our group. And since we were all such gracious hosts, we let Cameron from Australia, who had never been to a haunted house before, bring up the rear.
We had a great 20-minute tour, replete with ghouls, goblins, cannibals and clowns.
We all screamed at one point or another, and everyone laughed when a crazed killer had to tell us – as creepily as he could – to back up because we were going the wrong way.
With the exception of Alanna, who had a too-close-for-comfort experience with a creature that crawled out from under a table, most of the group agreed that they would do it again.
Even me.
Blood Manor is located at 542 W 27th St. and is open every day from Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, from 7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. For more information, go to www.bloodmanor.com.
Comments on this story can be sent to: mfriedman@hudsonreporter.com
Hudson County tricks and treats
If you’re looking for other fun Halloween activities and want to stay local, several Hudson County bars will host Halloween parties, costume contests and drink specials throughout the coming week.
Hoboken’s Goldhawk and Jersey City’s Iron Monkey will both host live bands for their Halloween parties, and venues such as Rogo’s and Teak are giving away up to $1000 in prizes for the best costume.
The Goldhawk, 936 Park Ave., Hoboken (201) 420-7989
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Performance by the band Lifetime Guarantee.
Special seasonal Red Hook Autumn Harvest is $3.
Iron Monkey, 97 Greene St., Jersey City (201) 435-5756
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Costume contest with $250 grand prize
Two bands, no cover: The Sex Zombies and House of Leaves Budweiser and Bud Light bottles are $2.
Liberty Bar, 61 14th St., Hoboken (201) 222-6322
Saturday, Oct. 27
Benefit party for the New Jersey Development Corporation.
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Costume contest with $100 first prize.
Ladies night specials: glasses of wine and martinis are $5 for ladies.
The Madison, 1316 Washington St., Hoboken (201) 386-0300
Tuesday, Oct. 30
Costume contest with $500 travel voucher grand prize.
Tuesday is half price martini night and Dos Equis beers will be $3.
Maxwell’s,1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, (201)653-1703
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Costume party. Rockstar Games’ table tennis will be set up, and there will be prizes including a Nintendo Wii system for the best costume.
Mikie Squared, 616 Washington St., Hoboken, (201) 792-0001
Saturday, Oct. 27
Half price drinks all night for everyone in costume.
Costume contest with prizes and DJ music.
Oddfellow’s Rest,80 River St., Hoboken, (201) 656-9009
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Costume Contest, DJ music, models, promotions, and more.
Rogo’s, 734 Willow Ave., Hoboken (201) 217-1512
Saturday, Oct. 27
Nightmare on Willow St. costume contest with $1000 prize.
Music by Kirk Lopez.
The Shannon, 106 1st St. (201) 656-9820
Wednesday, Oct. 31
DJ Mike will be spinning tunes.
Costume contest – First place wins a vacation to Orlando, Florida. Second place wins a $50 Gift Card
Teak on the Hudson16-18 Hudson Place, Hoboken (201) 653-6888
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Costume contest with $1000 grand prize, DJ music, drink specials.