Hellfire Club

The struggle of the spirit against the senses is the gospel of modern man. I do not wish to have any part in it.
—Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Venus in Furs

Hellfire Club

Located in the Meat Packing District, the Hellfire Club is a public sex dungeon, a series of themed rooms designed to support a wide variety of BDSM fantasies. The Hellfire Club is managed by Callow Watch, a Daeva neonate and member of the Viriconium coterie.

Callow Watch
A former Hell’s Angel from San Bernardino, Callow was a self-declared “sexual freak” who enjoyed “light S&M” until he met a Daeva dominant in a San Francisco leather bar. Their sessions became unceasingly more hardcore, and in 1969 the frenzied Daeva nearly killed Callow, drinking the slender biker to the point of no return. He gave Callow his blood, then immediately moved on—the Daeva was not interested in being that kind of daddy. After a few months attempting to hide his undead condition from the Angels, Callow used Altamont as an excuse to depart California, traveling to New York and joining the Crow Magnums in 1970. His Daeva blood eventually brought him to the Byzantium Coven, and Callow opened the Hellfire Club in 1978. Now identifying as a bisexual submissive, Callow runs the club with his business partner, an enghouled dominatrix named Diane Edinger, aka “Lady Diana.”

Layout

The Hellfire Club is located in a remodeled slaughterhouse, its entrance marked by a flickering neon pitchfork. Open weekends from 10 pm to 4 am, couples are preferred, with solitary males charged double the normal cover and solitary females granted free admission. The club is BYOB, and security is provided by humans and ghouls drawn from the Crow Magnum MC.

Dungeons
Inside the former slaughterhouse is a network of grottos and sex dungeons, each bearing a different theme and accessible through a central common room. Naturally, there’s a traditional dungeon complete with a faux iron maiden, Catherine wheel, and whips galore; but the Hellfire Club prides itself on its imagination, and also boasts the Operating Room, a stark surgery bathed in clinical florescence and equipped with gleaming instruments; Greg Brady’s Den, a Swinging Sixties parlor illuminated with lava lamps and black light posters; and Golgotha, a stark chamber sporting a trio of wooden crosses and a rack of religious implements. All dungeons are open to guests, but each tends to develop a particular following. The club also features numerous cages, racks, slings, and restraints; and a small “dark room” bathed in ultraviolet light is available for anonymous play.

Parties
For the most part, Friday nights at the Hellfire Club are friendly affairs frequented by regulars. Couples tend to be heterosexual, and have varying degrees of experience in the lifestyle. Newcomers are welcome, but are expected to take things seriously and play strictly by the rules. On Saturdays, the club usually hosts theme parties. During these parties, guests must abide by the theme, and the leather-clad bouncers have no problem turning away guests who are improperly attired.

Every first Saturday—Whip Smart
The first Saturday of the month is home to “Whip Smart,” a BDSM party with a restricted guest list. These nights are for experienced kinksters, and often feature special guests, lifestyle photographers, and demonstrations in various techniques. Newcomers must apply for membership to Whip Smart, which requires a written appeal accompanied by a photograph, or a recommendation from an existing member.

Every second Saturday—Hellfire!
A newly-launched party hosted by Lady Diana, “Hellfire!” is designed to evoke the historical namesake of the club. Each Hellfire! party is “set” in a different era, and guests are encouraged to wear period costumes, from the eighteenth-century formalwear of the original Hellfire Club to the mod fashions of the Avengers incarnation. These parties are usually more casual and upbeat than regular nights, and have the vibe of an S&M Halloween party.

Every third Saturday—Tom of Finland Ball
The third Saturday of every month brings the “Tom of Finland Ball,” a gay fetish party hosted by Callow Watch and Parker Rath, the manager of the Hippodrome. Appropriate attire is mandatory, and women are not allowed through the door. These nights are traditionally quite wild, and decidedly not for amateurs.

Every fourth Saturday—Meatpacking Night
The last Saturday of each month is “Meatpacking Night,” a private party restricted to Cainites, ghouls, retainers, and associated guests. Renowned for debauchery, extremism, and bloodletting, Meatpacking Nights are attended only by the most masochistic blood dolls—frenzied Cainites don’t always pay attention to safe words!

Sabbat Slaughterhouse
Occasionally the Sabbat takes over the Hellfire Club for private gatherings, usually to host a Blood Feast or conduct an execution. During such affairs, the club reverts to its origins as a slaughterhouse, and some of the original equipment is still maintained in a secret basement known as the “Pig Floor.” While Blood Feasts are bad enough, a formal execution is a particular delight. The most recent victim sentenced to “Death by Hellfire” was a Lupine who murdered Parker Rath’s favorite ghoul, a young Dominican named “Puppy Pete.” After an evening spent being gleefully whipped and tortured by the Sabbat, the werewolf was forced into Crinos form and flayed alive, the vindictive Cainites lapping the blood from his exposed muscles. The Lupine’s hide now serves Parker as a rug in his Hippodrome office, a grim reminder that the Byzantium Coven is still quite thoroughly Sabbat.

Lupanaria of Byzantium
Club Byzantium | Viriconium | Siddim | The Hippodrome | Zoara Bela | Cabaret Tannhäuser | Empusa Theatre | Hellfire Club | Satrina

Sources & Notes

The core of the Gotham Sabbat was first uploaded on 31 October 2000, but the Byzantium Coven was extensively revised during the August-October 2018 update. The Hellfire Club was once a real New York BDSM club; I just reassigned it to a bunch of kinky vampires and extended its lifespan. The photographic the banner is from the “Eperon d’amour” series by French Surrealist Pierre Molinier. (Needless to say, neither of these links is “safe for work!”)

Author: Great Quail
Original Upload: 31 October 2000
Last Modified: 6 October 2018
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
PDF Version: [Coming Soon]