Our family friend’s eyes narrowed as he peered over to see what I was reading in the back seat of the car. The look of shock when he realized was priceless. I was in the third grade, and the book was The Shining by Stephen King. My parents looked on proudly as they realized that their child loved reading. At a very young age, I had graduated from Harry the Dirty Dog and Rotten Ralph to full length novels, and horror was definitely my thing. It began in the third grade with the first novel I read, The Amityville Horror. I was that kid who would take great joy in huddling in a dark closet with my friends and telling them scary stories that I had concocted myself. I was the one who would leave everyone at the family gatherings with nightmares of my tales. I loved horror movies, scary books, all things ghostly, and haunted houses.
Being as enamored as I am still, to this day, with all things spooky, I was thrilled to find out about BloodManor, New York City’s premier haunted attraction. BloodManor is a first-class haunted house attraction with approximately 10,000 square feet of themed rooms, corridors, and a labyrinth of passageways. BloodManor is designed to be the most intense, creepy, and scream-inducing haunted house attraction in New York State.
The building at 359 Broadway in the Tribeca area of New York City, known as BloodManor, has quite a spooky history. Built in 1852, it was used by photographer Matthew Brady to photograph some of America’s most famous, and infamous, people. President Abraham Lincoln was among some of the famous people photographed in the building. During the Civil War, Brady was scorned for adopting a mobile studio to capture some of the world’s most graphic images of battle. The public criticized him for “making a buck” off of the daily tragedies that were ravaging the country. For all the criticism he received, he was documenting and capturing the souls of all of the men who were fighting for their country.
When Brady returned to his studio at 359 Broadway, he noticed something interesting in every photo that had been developed within the rooms of the third floor. In the photographs, the men’s faces appeared to be melting, strange apparitions floated above each soldier in the fields, and those men who were closer to the lens had black eyes.
In 1859, Brady closed his studio due to the “incessant screams of the photographed men”. It is said that if one travels the halls of the third floor throughout the night, you will hear the faint sounds of the camera taking a photograph followed by the screams of the men in the final moments of their lives.
After Brady, much was unknown about the tenants of the building up until 1943, when two brothers along with their brother-in-law and his brother purchased and operated a textile wholesale business at 359 Broadway. The business flourished and continued through the early 1970s, but in 1958 a huge fire at a nearby building ruined many lives in the area forever. One young firefighter named Wilson Palmer saved over a dozen women and children during that horrible night, but his own life could not be saved in the end. In the days following the fire, Wilson took to taking nightly walks around the neighborhood. After a few weeks of these evening strolls, Wilson complained of hearing horrible screams coming from the textile factory at 359 Broadway. He would swear there were young men dying in there, yet everything was dark and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Approximately twenty four days after the fire that he fought so heroically, Wilson hung himself from the rafters in the firehouse. In his hands he had clenched a five dollar bill, with Abraham Lincoln’s eyes blacked out and written in calligraphy found only in letters written with a feather dip pen in the early 19th century, were the words “NO PHOTOS”.
The third creepy story that is known about the building at 359 Broadway involves Brooklyn mob boss “Crazy” Joe Gallo. Gallo was killed at Umberto’s Clam Bar in 1972 by someone connected to the Colombo family. The driver of the car that night, a man by the name of Luparelli, ended up going to the FBI claiming that he was being followed by loud screams and woken by them in the night. It was discovered that Luparelli and his family were former tenants of the building at 359 Broadway.
In current times, the events of 2020 and the sadness, loneliness, isolation, and loss that was caused has seemingly incited more activity throughout the halls of BloodManor. Many local residents have come to the BloodManor staff with strange stories from the past couple of months. Some claim they see flashing lights from the third floor of the building – flashing lights similar to that of an old camera. Others claim they hear gunshots coming from within the building, and there are also stories of seeing shadows of men with tall top hats passing through the windows illuminated by the street lamps outside. All of this activity serves to heighten the excitement of BloodManor’s 21st anniversary Halloween season. Beginning in September, BloodManor opened its doors to the public and promises the scariest season they have ever had.
This year, BloodManor boasts the addition of three new rooms and brand new costumes. The Manor is open every weekend and some weekdays beginning in September and running through November. I know my inner horror-aholic would love to go!
For more information about BloodManor, please visit www.bloodmanor.com.
This article was originally published on OpsLens.com.
