Halloween may be months away, but it's never too early to plan to get fake-kidnapped at one of New York City's most extreme haunted houses.
According to Time Out, experience This Is Real — which premiered in 2016 and is back again for the 2017 Halloween season — is here to drop you into an American Horror Story-esque situation that feels, well, about as close to real as one can get.
While many popular haunted houses like NYC's Blood Manor are more about moving you from room to room until you get to the inevitable end of the line (likely having had seen at least one terrifying clown along the way), This Is Real puts you in charge of the action. In fact, creator Timothy Haskell says This Is Real isn't a haunted house at all — instead, it's a "culmination" of "horror productions, haunted houses, escape games and populist interactive events."
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The idea is simple: You're kidnapped along with a slew of other victims, and have to find a way to get away from your captors before it's too late. Use your quick wit and survival skills wisely, and you'll make it out "alive."
Here's the frightening caption you'll see before you buy your ticket:
"You’ve been kidnapped. You don’t remember how; you don’t know by whom. But there you are, watching the horrific treatment of the person who was taken before you. They will implore you to help them, but you cannot. When they are disposed of, it will be your turn. Your friends have been taken somewhere else. You only have one shot at getting away if you are to survive and be reunited."
Umm, gulp?
If you've participated in an escape room before, you know that certain choices set up different results. Here, however, you're playing what the website calls "an extreme game of hide and seek" — and getting caught comes with real consequences.
(I mean, not too real. The website also insists that it's not about torturing its patrons, just scaring them silly.)
One thing to consider? Getting fake kidnapped won't come cheap. Tickets range from $95 to $110 (the brave can purchase them here) so you better be really, really sure you're into the horrific night ahead. If not...well, you may be better off staying home and binging American Horror Story instead of living through it.