The Cuddle Party phenomenon

Now seriously. Has anyone actually done this? Or heard a first-hand account?

I mean, I'm an open-minded girl and have attended fetish parties and such with nary batting an eye (secretly, I find most of them are just as vanilla in their own little ways. Mostly people in sleazy PVC acting trampy with occasionally spanking displays -- far more interesting are the people who turn BDSM into an art form, i.e. Shibari bondage) but the creep factor for the "cuddle party" is off the charts.

(A cuddle party is a gathering -- usually at someone's house -- where people pay $25-$40 cover charge to snuggle up with strangers. Hugging, cuddling, kissing. Like a pajama party with horny teenagers. But in a group. And old.)

Someone educate me.
What kind of person needs human contact so badly that they need to make out with strangers in their bunny slippers? (Or is that, in fact, the attraction?)