All photographs taken by Ethan Cook at EMCook Photography

 

With body parts being used as ornaments on a snow-white Christmas tree guarded by two large Hellish creatures at the entrance of Tracks in Denver on Friday the 13th, the motif of Cenobites, BDSM, and Santa was unavoidable.

This combination was also the most incredibly clever way of presenting the central theme to any bondage/fetish ball I’ve ever attended.

At other fetish balls, it’s pretty common that a myriad of kinks is represented. When it came to the Hellraiser Bondage Ball, everything was focused on dichotomies; pain and pleasure, domination and submission, etc. Since this is at the core of every monster found in the Hellraiser series, the promoters couldn’t have picked a better subject manner.

And thankfully, there were enough attendees dressed as Krampus to help offset the jolliness brought about by the fat man in the red suit who does his breaking and entering around this time of the year.

In each of the three rooms that had been opened for the ball, there could be found a different interpretation of what the pain/pleasure/light/dark combination might look like.

 

A Threesome Of Themes:

As soon as I passed the aforementioned Christmas tree, I was greeted by a giant puzzle box from the Hellraiser series a few feet in front of the main stage/bar/dance area of the club; and directly above the box was a giant mirrored disco ball in the shape of a skull. With the giant screen on the stage constantly playing horror film snippets, and a constant blend of distorted/heavy EDM as the musical choice being pumped through the loudspeakers, there is no way you could see Hell as being anything other than the most fun place ever created.

With the constant barrage of sex and violence found in the primary arena (I promise I’ll get to the whips and chains part in a minute), I’m glad the choice to use the “jungle room” as a respite of sorts was executed (no pun intended). This was the area where you could find more mainstream/pop-goth/club remixes being played, along with a floor set up that allowed for places to go to if you wanted to have a conversation without screaming at each other. Though this room could be seen as being the “most tame,” with everything else happening at the ball, this vibe was most definitely a necessary evil (pun intended).

For me, the downstairs dungeon area was a time machine—I was immediately thrown back to the goth clubs I would attend as a teen in the late 90s. Though there was plenty of light being generated from both the giant video screen opposite the bar that was playing various horror vignettes and the stage lights pulsating with the sounds of the DJ’s mix of traditional goth music, the walls absorbed almost any trace of radiance. In fact, the only lighting that could be seen was emanating from the neon butterflies that adorned one of the walls, illuminating the play occurring on the flogging cross.

 

It’s Time To Play:

It should come as no surprise that a bondage ball would have something bondage-related around every corner … literally.

In the hallways that adjoined the various dance floors were local vendors of every kind selling something related to bondage and/or horror (like Mandy Rock Creations). This also carried over into the main stage area and the jungle room where businesses like The Arbitrarium could be found. In fact, if you and your partner were going to look for inspiration when it came to that night’s activities, you really only needed to walk about 10 feet.

Though the jungle room was too small to hold any “tastings” (as the various forms of demonstrative play were called), both the main stage and dungeon more than made up for this deficit with their offerings.

As I mentioned previously, the dungeon held a traditional flogging cross that was welcome to anyone and everyone who signed the proper paperwork. Various implements like leather straps, cat-o-nine tails, and even choking/restraint options were available. The thing I loved most about the presentations I witnessed was the fact that there were zero gender gaps—there were just as many men being punished (gladly) as there were women.

Denver Bound occupied the main dance floor with an improvised hoist that allowed people to be bound and hung in the air. In each case, a comfort level was established with the person being bound that focused on what specific body parts were OK to involve. After everything was established, then the show began—and every time the participants looked like they were in pure bliss.

This was a look that was found on the face of everyone in the crowd who was there to witness the ball’s coup de grâce: the hook suspension.

Near the end of the evening, a woman was pierced in the back with hooks and raised high above the main stage. Once she was up about 15 feet, she was swung above the crowd. Though this performance would have been breathtaking in and of itself, what made it that much more majestic came from the fact that if you were in front of the puzzle box, all you saw was her rising from behind it like a Phoenix from the ashes.

 

Final Thoughts:

As much as bondage is seen as being synonymous with sex—and that isn’t an entirely inaccurate assessment—watching the bondage professionals at work gave me a much deeper appreciation for the fetish.

It’s an art form.

Knowing how the human body responds to certain pain and pleasure receptors while manipulating them through the knowledge of how knots and certain instruments operate, all done with an artistic touch is something that should be looked at with much deeper respect.

With that said, given the fact that Tracks was at near-capacity for the Hellraiser Bondage Ball, I believe that Santa might skip Denver this year; there are A LOT of people on the naughty list for sure.