TR: Scare For a Cure: Blood Ritual

[Rastuso]

Well, this isn't a theme park, but it is a very unique experience. For a quick history, Richard Garriott, creator of Akalabeth and Ultima, has a mansion in Austin, TX. In the 90s, he hosted a very unique haunted house at his mansion, dubbed Brittania Manor. This house was legendary, people waited for days to see it. It would include very extensive theming, fire, boat rides, secret passages, everything.

 

Lord Brittish, Garriott's character, stopped hosting the house in 1996. Many of the volunteers went on to keep doing houses, on a much smaller budget, and for the last few years, the Enforcer, from Who Wants To Be a Superhero, season 2, took the reins and hosted Scare For A Cure. I missed last year's video game themed house, but even with many things going on at home, I decided to not miss this year's event. Especially, since it is being held at Garriott's new mansion he is building, dubbed Brittania Manor 2.

 

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COMPLETE SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The whole experience was quite unusual. The event is held in a pretty ritzy area of Austin, with huge mansions everywhere. YOu park on the street, and walk down to a bus that takes you to a gypsy camp. There you register (I had prepaid for "red" level), and wait for another bus ride down to the mansion.

 

You wait in a tent where RIPpers (Researchers In Paranormal) tell you of strange things happening, and how Lord Brittish may be returning to the Manor. They tell of a room where they felt a strange sensation in, and say that's the first room we'll visit. My group, which was me and 5 guys around 20, went into the first room. The whole experience is pretty well themed. About Knott's level. The room had antique furniture, but not much. We didn't feel anything, so we went to the next room, where a chair was being closely inspected when a vampire stormed in a door. He went for our guide, and I think bit her. She stabbed him, and blood spattered all over us (did I mention we had to sign a release, and that we would be grabbed, and get dirty?). We were trapped, but luckily, the fireplace provided a crawlspace exit. We went through a long tunnel, and I think the guys in the back were being grabbed at.

 

We get in a very foggy room, and couldn't find an exit. OUr guide finally found one, and we go down, behind a wall where we can see two people talking about how they plan on doing a blood ritual tonight. THis was pretty cool. We had to quietly sneak by, and found a victim on the floor who was still alive, and able to open a secret door for us. We again crawled through, into a room full of meat hanging from the ceiling. This meat was sticky and covered in blood. Out of there we get to a room just a bit too late to save a guy from being sacrificed. His last words are to tell us of a key that can send the Demon back to hell. He gives us a piece of paper, and was grabbing at me to save him, and almost tripped me before dieing. We look for an exit. I think I found one, but instead find a vampire. A goth vampire and a bunch of super sexy schoolgirl vampires come in and finish the guy off. They rush in from all corners, and drive us back to one side of the room. . The vampire tells us of the Demon, Oravand, or something like that. He tells us to remember his name.

 

A very strange guy shows up with a book and a small ankh. He tells us more about the key, that is also an ankh. We thought his ankh was the key and try to take it from him, but he refuses. As he's telling us this, our guide sniffs our necks and feels around very creepily. We think she might have gotten bit, and is turning. The weird guy tells us we need to have blood of the innocent to stop the ritual.

 

We next end up in a kitchen, where a guy is making something nasty. Some of the guys take a drink of it from another hot babe, I pass. We do notice a bowl of "innocent blood", and take some squishy guts out of it, and run away. We then find another guide who says that we may be able to act like we're in the cult if we put on some robes, so we do, and go into the ritual room. As the chant begins, a guy throws the guts into the circle, which stops the ritual. This pisses the head guy off, and we run to a strange rotating exit, where only 3 can fit, barely. But, there are only 2 of us left after the first group. We get though to find we are only 5 poeple now. We go through a room full of poeple in cages, and find our 6th in a cage at the end. He is let out by a guy who is apparently a spy in the organization. As the vampire attacks him, we run away.

 

We turn in our robes to a very funny coat check lady, and go outside. We find a well, and can hear someone down in it. He tells us again about the key, and how to stop the Demon. Then a huge whoosh comes out of the well, scaring us all. We head on, and find a huge Ankh hanging on a wall. One guy grabs it, and we walk down a hallway with bodies stuck in it. Some of them are alive. One girl talks to us a bit. Then we head down to find another girl in the ceiling that is alive. She tells us she been there for thousands of years, and how we must stop the Demon. After she's done, she pukes on one of the guys in the group, which was hilarious (it was fake of course, but still very unexpected). We head around to a young vampire babe that is tied to the ground, and another that sees us. THere is a big hole in the wall that is ankh shaped. Hey, we should put our ankh there, so we do, which awakens the demon (a very impressive looking demon). He ends up killing the second girl, and starts attacking two guys from our group. He ask us what his name is. I say Oravand. That isn't it. We try a few others, and never do guess his name, and he gets pissed, and summons his minions, a bunch of little demons. THey run after us, so we take off up the stairs, into a second room, full of more small demons. We head out a door, and back to reality.

 

The ending was a bit confusing. We asked, and were told no one knows the last Demon's name, but I feel there must be a secret ending if you know his name exactly. The ending just wasn't quite complete, but maybe that's what it was supposed to be.

 

We wait for a return bus ride back to the gypsy camp. We were all very pleased. This was by far the most unique haunted house I've experienced. I sure hope Lord Brittish starts ponying up dough soon. His new mansion looks quite impressive. I think the well we looked down goes to an actual catacombs he has built. And the walls were very castle-esque. This place is going to be amazing.

 

Even without his input, Scare For a Cure is an EXTREMELY unique experience. If you are in the area, I definitely suggest you go. Get there early, as they started a bit late, and they only take groups of 6 every 5 minutes.

 

I may have forgotten the order a bit, but that is most everything. During the experience, I was grabbed multiple times, crawled through 2 long tunnels (I saw a vertigo tunnel, but we bypassed it, it must not be working). I got spattered with blood, having to wipe off my glasses three times, and had to get some guts out of a dish of blood. The actors were top notch. Special props go out to the crazy guy with the book and ankh. He was awesome. And did I mention the schoolgirl vampires?

 

If I lived in Austin, I would most definitely volunteer for this. It would be an absolute blast. A bit of a haul from Houston, but Priceline helped lessen the blow. This is not for the skiddish. I think my wife would have freaked out in a few places. You can't be clausterphobic, and I was touched by MANY poeple. The "green" level I beleive skipped the crawling and did not get blood spattered on them.

 

I have a few pictures of the preshow stuff, but can't add them till I get home.

 

Rastus O'Ginga

[Brandy524]

Wow, that's sounds like a really immersive experience. I love that you get to interact and have a mission, instead of just walking through and observing. Still, it would probably scare the crap out of me!

[ginzo]

Richard Garriott is a name I haven't heard in a very long time. I played most of the old Ultima games, up to about Ultima VII. They were excellent games for their time.

 

I knew Garriott had a mansion with secret passageways and all, but I didn't know he ever converted his house into a haunt. I bet that was really friggen good. It's nice to see that Richard is having fun with his money, being an self-funded astronaut and all. Good for him!