A dark place, with several entrances via half-hidden, winding passageways, whose atmosphere enjoins the visitor discreetly to fall silent. The Blackpools are a network of swimming holes, tucked in invitingly dark caves.

Outlines of swimmers in the water, or hugging their knees on the shore; echoes of whispering suggest deep affinity, but not superficial acquaintance. Conversations here are brief, esoteric, and satisfying but phenomenally strange.

It is not uncommon to confide half-forgotten nightmares to utter strangers while in this place.

The complex of pools must be in some kind of cavern system. Nobody remembers coming in. My notes are oddly… incomplete. All I have is, “A pervading, primordial coyness and intrigue.”

The color of the water is called eigengrau, a glowing-black, or bright darkness; shadow-colored neon. On the skin, the water feels refreshing and temperate, though slightly thicker than water ought to be be.

 

The caves seem to guide the topics of guests’ thoughts. There is only one passage leading out, and it deposits each sojourner at a different place in Time Atlas Park. The moody aftereffects last about three hours. Most visitors report feeling altered–for the better.

One of the older attractions at Time Atlas park, The Blackpools have come under sharp criticism and attack dozens of times. Yet, they remain. By tradition, the entrance is unmarked. Should you wish to find the pools, sharpen your gaze when, as you’re walking, the tone of things shifts toward cryptic recreation: at that point, the entrance is never far.