Behold, New York City\u2019s newest \u201cscream queen.\u201d<\/p>\n
It takes a lot to truly rattle me. I live for the eerie and the strange \u2014 the haunted houses, the folk horror flicks, the spooky vintage thrift store knick-knacks.<\/a><\/p>\n So when I recently got an offer to go full freak show and freak out New Yorkers at NYC\u2019s boo-tacular Blood Manor \u2014 the hugely popular, 10,000-square-foot labyrinth with 22 themed rooms of gore, guts and high-voltage trauma \u2014 I was all in.<\/p>\n And, really, who wouldn\u2019t be? <\/p>\n The annual Halloween attraction, which began in 2003, draws thousands of thrill-seekers who willingly pay to be terrified by more than 30 live actors, animatronics, and special effects \u2014 not to mention rumored real-life terrors.<\/p>\n Post reporter Marissa Matozzo goes full ghoul-glam at NYC\u2019s popular Blood Manor haunted house. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Over the years, tenants have reported eerie apparitions and ghostly screams echoing through its halls, leading many to call it one of Tribeca\u2019s most spirited locations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe building itself is haunted on its own, without us,\u201d owner Jim Lorenzo told The Post. \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect home for what we do \u2014 New Yorkers come here to scream, laugh and completely let go.\u201d<\/p>\n No need to twist my arm, Jim!<\/p>\n A-haunting she will go \u2026<\/p>\n Matozzo arrives at Blood Manor, one of NYC\u2019s longest-running Halloween attractions. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Matozzo shows off her babydoll dress splattered with fake blood. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Artists apply transformational makeup before she indulges in arachnoid anarchy. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n On a fittingly chilly October night, I willingly joined the ranks of Blood Manor\u2019s gruesome ghouls, trading in my press pass for painted-on fangs, rotting black fingers and a blood-splattered babydoll dress.<\/p>\n After a quick tour of the basement and boiler room \u2014 steeped in its own haunted history \u2014 I was led to a behind-the-scenes makeup room before showtime at 7 p.m., where rocker Rob Zombie, appropriately enough, echoed through the speakers.<\/p>\n There, I found killer clowns, blood-soaked escaped prisoners, demonic priests and more, all in the midst of being \u2026 well, definitely not beautified. Let\u2019s go with spookified.<\/p>\n Actors gather in the makeup area before setting out to startle. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Which brings us to my assignment: terrorizing guests at the final room on Blood Manor\u2019s twisted tour, titled \u201cThe Cult of the Spider.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the only thing that truly terrifies me is spiders. But when BloodManor\u2019s makeup artist Stigs suggested turning me into a \u201cspider siren\u201d \u2014 a cultish temptress who worships a spider goddess and lures clueless men to their doom \u2014 I figured it was time to face my fears (and put my own bloodcurdling scream to the test).<\/p>\n Side note: The whole \u201cleading men to their demise\u201d thing felt oddly therapeutic after years of failed dating in New York. But I digress.<\/p>\n My face was airbrushed in haunting shades of black and beige, with multiple glistening, painted \u201ceyes\u201d crawling up my forehead and cheeks. <\/p>\n Paint casts a ghostly presence around Matozzo as she is prepared for her role. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Many actors, including Matozzo, are covered in makeup that pops in 3D, under black light. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Black web-like streaks radiated from my lips and chin, while my chest and neck were covered in a symmetrical, exoskeleton-style design that looked both alien and alluring.<\/p>\n My nails were painted into dripping ombr\u00e9 claws \u2014 deep blood-red fading into black and perfect for luring men into my web. I put on a white babydoll minidress splattered in UV paint to resemble blood and headed upstairs.<\/p>\n I was nearly ready for my don\u2019t-get-too-close-up.<\/p>\n A room with a \u2018Boo!\u2019<\/p>\n Claws out: Our reporter readies to go demonically deep. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n My assigned room was decorated with a downright deranged display of crosses, tombstones, skeletons, blood-soaked bull heads, pig heads, vines, crypts, and a hanging spider goddess, also draped in white.<\/p>\n It felt like a glow-in-the-dark, twisted temple pulsing with divine feminine energy \u2014 equal parts creepy, crawly and seductively sinister.<\/p>\n I\u2019m enamored by all things witchy, gothic, darkly romantic and glamorously macabre \u2014 think \u201cThe Craft,\u201d \u201cPractical Magic,\u201d \u201cThe Love Witch,\u201d \u201cSleepy Hollow\u201d and \u201cCorpse Bride\u201d \u2014 so it was all wicked fun to me.<\/p>\n Matozzo checks out her scare potential before heading to her appointed spooky spot. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Before brave visitors \u2014 wearing 3D glasses \u2014 reached our room, an extremely talented 9-year-old actress named Sianna taught me how to \u201cjump like a Huntsman spider.\u201d<\/p>\n Actress Amy Upham, who dreamed up the room\u2019s concept, also offered inspiration to get into my sinister character, saying, \u201cThey\u2019re the flies now \u2014 and we\u2019re hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n Shudder.<\/p>\n I was handed a choice of props \u2014 naturally, I chose a machete over a feeble fly swatter \u2014 and was stationed at the entrance to jump out from the shadows, coax guests to \u201ccome and meet\u201d the Spider Goddess, then turn on them and \u201cfeed\u201d them to her.<\/p>\n I remembered the words of owner Jim Lorenzo, who had given me grave advice for delivering the perfect scare.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t ever use the word \u2018boo,\u2019\u201d he warned. \u201cAnd when you decide to scare someone \u2014 go 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n So I did.<\/p>\n Enter \u2014 if you dare<\/p>\n Machete in hand and GoPro strapped on, Matozzo joins the skeletons and other monstrous monstrosities. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Visitors stick close together as Matozzo approaches \u2026 Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n \u2026 and gets just the reaction she was hoping for. N.Y.Post<\/p>\n In between uttering spine-tingling chants as guests stumbled into our lair, I jumped out the moment I heard them approaching, making sure I\u2019d be the first thing they saw around the corner.<\/p>\n Armed with the machete, I slowly turned my head like Regan in \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d or the infamous Annabelle doll, opening my eyes as wide as possible, eliciting a steady chorus of shrieks from my victims.<\/p>\n Thrilling, yes. Terrifying, yes \u2014 and honestly, I want to do this every Halloween from now on.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look perfect for her, the Spider Goddess,\u201d I\u2019d growl to guests as some cried out, \u201cNo, I\u2019m good \u2014 thanks!\u201d or clutch their significant others and turn away from me while slinking deeper into the room, where my fellow actors would then take over. <\/p>\n Matozzo is surrounded by bewitching ambiance. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Upham and fellow actress Emma, both dressed in blood-splattered white gowns that glowed in eerie neon hues, danced around the room with menacing, spider-like precision \u2014 crawling on all fours, hissing at anyone who dared to enter.<\/p>\n I mostly stayed on my own two feet \u2014 still trying to get the hang of the walking-like-a-spider thing \u2014 but mimicked their slow, seductive movements and sinister facial expressions. <\/p>\n At one point, I even crept toward the final exit, crouching behind a tombstone to deliver one last jolt before visitors escaped Blood Manor.<\/p>\n An eye- and head-popping clown settles into a vibrant but creepy corner. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Some gasped, others screamed \u2014 a few just froze in shock \u2014 and for two hours, I caught many of their priceless reactions on a chest-mounted GoPro.<\/p>\n It left me feeling scarily sinister \u2014 and maybe a little naughty.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a big kink for people,\u201d Stigs told me with a laugh earlier in the night. \u201cDoing the scaring \u2014 and also being scared \u2014 can turn people on.\u201d<\/p>\n MTA = Metropolitan Terror Authority<\/p>\n Matozzo shared her best \u201ccome hither\u201d (or perhaps \u201ccome slither\u201d) looks at Blood Manor, above \u2014 and then dared to startle others on the subway. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n Still riding the adrenaline high, I decided not to wash off my spider-siren makeup before heading home at 10 p.m. \u2014 eight-legged glam and all.<\/p>\n On the R train uptown from Canal Street, two guys asked for a selfie (I obliged), while others tried \u2014 and failed \u2014 to secretly snap photos of me. <\/p>\n One man took one look and said, laughing, \u201cThat\u2019s one freaky-lookin\u2019 b\u2014h.\u201d (Aw, thanks!)<\/p>\n By the time I transferred to the L train, no one even blinked. I\u2019d arrived in Bushwick, after all \u2014 you could have a third eye and fangs and still blend in.<\/p>\n But as I strutted down my block, one woman in head-to-toe black passed by, gave me a nod, and said simply: \u201cYour makeup is fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, after one night at Blood Manor, I may still scream at spiders \u2014 but at least now, I can make other people scream, too.<\/p>\n