When Times Square Becomes Times Scare

October can be terrifying for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, Mercury in retrograde, the potential for Friday the 13th and the fact that Times Square feels the need to transform itself into something called Times Scare. Thankfully, the enterprise only takes up one area on 8th and 42nd, billing itself as a haunted house due to the building being part of an edifice “that trace(s) back to the crematorium that operated here in the roaring 20s and the dark echoes of old Times Square’s bawdy past.”

Perhaps what the profiteers of Times Scare aren’t aware of is that no element of Times Square needs to be altered in order to make it seem terrifying and/or like a haunted house. It does that shit all on its own–all day, every day. From the ghoulish faces of fat fucks from the Bible Belt to the zombie-like wide-eyedness of Europeans and Asians just taking it all in. And if you’re looking for a really scary time, you can also go to the five-story Forever 21 where Virgin Megastore used to be (RIP).