A sample of one of the few things you may see when the lights are on in “Blackout.”

On it’s surface, New York’s popular “Blackout Haunted House” looks pretty awesome. The attraction only allows one ticketed guest through at a time, and as it’s name implies at least some amount of time will be spent in pitch darkness, with only “a face mask and a flashlight provided for protection.”

According to the official press materials, “Survivors experience raw, paralyzing fear as they strategically creep through a terrifying assault on the senses.”

Sounds wicked, eh? We thought so to, and were pretty excited to hear that it will be coming to Los Angeles on October 20th, and running through Halloween night.

Well, then we read the reviews.

Please note – the reviews aren’t bad. In fact, most people who knew what they were in for sound pretty satisfied with the 30 minutes experience, if not permanently scarred by what they went through. The reviews, in fact, are surprisingly glowing.

But what these people went through gives us pause to consider “Blackout” a “haunted house,” let alone a Halloween attraction.

Blogger “the Jaded Viewer” has a blow by blow account of his experience, which included being handcuffed, having a (fake but realistic looking) needle inserted into his arm, and a hood tossed over his head before being subjected to a simulated albeit terrifying waterboarding experience. And this is the relatively mild portion of the evening.

Jaded Viewer’s captors then mocked him as he followed their orders to scream for his life:

“Scream louder!!!” yells my torturer. I scream louder. I’m called a variety of expletives and am told to scream louder. I do. It finally subsides. Told to stand, the hood is taken off and now I’m mildly mouth raped. Yes folks, MOUTH RAPED. Somebody is inserting their possibly unsanitary fingers into my mouth.

Soon thereafter, forced to crawl on the ground, he encountered a woman in a hospital gown who grabbed his head and demanded he pull a tampon string from… well, the place those things tend to go.

I’ll give you a second to reread the above sentence and pick your jaw up off the floor.

While you’re gathering your thoughts, note that many people seem to LOVE this experience. It’s horror on par with the “Hostel,” “Saw,” and “Human Centipede” films, which definitely fills a niche… but is it appropriate to be tied in with Halloween?

We’re curious to know what you think.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHF01wJRg-Y&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]