Cracked: Survival Experience 23/04/16

How would I describe my Cracked experience?

To begin with, it was intriguing. Since I first read about Cracked I wanted to take part, to experience this fear that so many people speak of. I did my research but since all of the reviews are so vague and secretive, I found myself wanting to know what really goes on in there. Being such a huge horror fan, I’ve always been looking for something that will truly scare me and I never thought I would find that something. After not being able to afford a ticket for Cracked, I was lucky enough to win a competition and bag myself a place on the week 3 tour. All of my questions were about to be answered.
As time went on it became daunting. The 2 and a half hour long journey to Wakefield felt like the longest car ride I’ve ever taken, not even cigarettes and happy music helped with settling my nerves. After sitting in the hotel room for a couple of hours, getting my many layers of clothes on and waiting in the lobby talking to the rest of my group seemed to last for hours.  I was clock watching, waiting for the time to come for us to walk to the pick up point and the seconds seemed like minutes.
It was unnerving walking through the streets of Wakefield at 7pm to find the pick up point. We walked for around 10 minutes and I busied myself talking nonsense with Ahmet, Tabby and James to take my mind off what was to come. The streets turned to fields and before long we were on a country lane surrounded by trees, grass and nothing more. We turned a corner and Rosalie was stood waiting for us. Our experience was about to begin.
The beginning of our night was exhausting. We pretty much instantly met The Sarge and he did not go easy on any of us. Waiting for that truck to come pick us up and take us to the secret location felt like forever, and there were many moments where I thought about whether or not I could actually deal with what was about to come.

Finally the truck arrived and we dragged our tired bodies up from the ground to meet the man himself, Blake. We were loaded into the truck and I truly felt like I was being kidnapped as we bumped along through the lanes. Sarge instructed us to sing a macabre song with him and as the voices got louder, my heartbeat got faster. Arriving at the Cracked location, things got a whole lot worse, so much so that one of my team mates said the safe word after I (Subject 1) was taken inside. Sooner than I’d like to have hoped, we met with Sarge again and were subjected to more of his punishments. I seriously struggled at this point, and lost another of my team mates who said the safe word after an incident with some water (click here to see his review). Now it was just myself and Tabby left and things were about to get a whole lot worse.

From there it became stressful. Challenge 1 involved trying to find a tiny object in a huge messy room, and was one of the most difficult things I had to do that night. Being only 5ft tall, I got many splinters running my hands along high shelves that I couldn’t see on to, and shredded my nails digging through the dirt. Blake was not happy that we failed and we would be punished. The next part of the challenge was by far the most terrifying part of the night and the most emotional that I’d been throughout. All I will say is that it involved a ‘drink’ and a box. I will never forget my time in that box. I sobbed and hyperventilated for the entirety of this part of the challenge, but I beat a phobia of mine and am so proud of myself for not cracking at that point.

During the final two challenges, I felt so many emotions and was panicked and on high alert for the rest of my night. Challenge 2 left me alone in the dark with only my thoughts and Blake’s voice. My mind was on overdrive and I honestly felt like I was going insane for the lengthy period of time that we were in there. The third and final challenge I got to was brutal. I will simply call it ‘the bucket’. I was blindfolded, taken into a room and put on my knees with my hands tied behind my back. I had absolutely no idea what was about to happen and was clueless to what was in front of me. Once we started and I was introduced to ‘the bucket’ I think I lasted around two anxiety filled minutes before blurting out the safe word and my final team mate followed less than a minute later.
As soon as the safe word came out of my mouth, my blindfold was taken off and I was scooped up, untied and wrapped in blankets. I was taken into the room where challenge 1 was set, sat on a chair and had a warm cup of coffee put in my hands while Rosalie, Blake, Sarge and the other actors congratulated me on my efforts. Seeing how lovely everyone really is helped me appreciate how good they are at their jobs!

The last word I can use to describe my experience with Cracked is Blake. Blake is the mastermind behind Cracked. He gets into your head and under your skin, even now I find myself thinking back to my time spent with him and he still terrifies me. He will always be burrowed deep in my mind and I feel like I could never thank him enough for the incredible, surreal experience I had that night. It was me vs myself and no matter what happened, in my mind I won. I beat my inner demons and I am so proud of myself for taking part and lasting over 3 hours. I will certainly be back next year to make it all the way through and I can finally say that I found that something to truly scare me and keep me awake at night.
I am Blake. We are Blake.

Come Into Darkness by Daniel I. Russell

Daniel I. Russell is one of my favourite authors, despite the fact that I only discovered him a few months back. Since then I have downloaded and read all of his work that is available on the kindle store. One of my favourites is Come Into Darkness, so I thought I’d write a review and share my thoughts on this incredible book with all of you.
I hope you enjoy!

Mario Fulcinni is a young adult film actor with a dark past. Constantly plagued by flashbacks of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, he has struggled through life and as a result has suffered with drug addiction. His agent sends him to a party, promising that it will change his life forever and Mario arrives via taxi at Metus House on a rainy night. He is greeted by Worth, a chubby old man wearing a crimson blazer, with wild grey hair and a large moustache. Before long they are joined by a lady called Kerry who will be Mario’s partner for the night. They venture on through different rooms and soon enough they begin to realise that Metus House is not all that it seems.

The character of Mario, I found was an interesting one. The moment he was introduced I decided that he was definitely the kind of person I would mortally hate. Before long I realised I was rooting for him, then I found myself emotionally attached and almost shedding tears for him, and then I despised him again. My opinions of Mario went round in circles without me even second thinking them and for Russell to be able to create such a character, I admire him greatly.

As for Worth, he was by far my favourite. He was a real handful at times but I could never really let myself dislike him, I think I got a little attached to his character. His way of speaking, his stubbornness and his lack of care for Mario’s angry outbursts were simply wonderful. I’d love a prequel to this story, I need to know more about Worth and where he comes from!

Kerry was on the same level as Mario. At times I really hated her character and others I related to her and wanted to help her. There’s one scene in particular involving some coloured floor tiles in which I found myself getting so emotionally invested that I needed to take a minute to remind myself that it wasn’t real. It’s a very dark scene and I don’t want to say too much, but I couldn’t help feeling for Kerry at that moment and I’m sure any other readers will feel the same.

As a whole, Come into Darkness is beyond words. I will never understand how Daniel I. Russell makes his unique and complex story lines work so well. He throws monsters, supernatural entities, robots, werewolves and Van Helsing type hunters into his work, but with his incredible way of writing it all just slots together perfectly and creates a little something wonderful like I have never read before. His writing style is beautiful, the way he builds each character is perfect and the vivid images I get in my head whilst reading his books is unexplainable. I feel that, after reading Come Into Darkness, I could accurately case and direct a movie based on the story. It’s so descriptive that I find myself regularly day dreaming about his writing and the images that his writing has placed into my mind.

There are twists and turns throughout the entirety of this little novel, but the one it ends on is simply mind blowing. It leaves you to decide how it truly ends and you find yourself thinking back over everything you’ve just read to see if you’ve missed anything. If you’ve ever listened to me before, listen to me now and go buy this book! I promise you’ll thank me for it.