TribLIVE: Hundreds of seasonal workers playing ghosts, ghouls and goblins provide the thrills and chills that visitors expect from the area's haunted Halloween attractions.
But who exactly is jumping out of the cornstalks at those spooktacular sites? It might be your child's teacher, the state cop who gave you a ticket last week or even your company's IT guy.
22 comments:
I've always been curious as to who actually ends up working as an actor in a smaller haunted house such as the ones in Pittsburgh. Growing up in Florida there was a smaller local haunted house which basically hired all of its actors from nearby high schools, but then there was also the other end of the spectrum in Orlando at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. At HHN, actors go through a rigorous audition process, and it's usually a pretty big deal to be cast. I had never thought as much about the motivations of actors at smaller haunt attractions in terms of them doing it just to have something fun to do in the evenings, but that does make quite a bit of sense. I'm sure it can be quite an adrenaline rush to be the person scaring, as much as it is an adrenaline rush to be the person being scared.
It is so nice that this article covers the life of the actors and who they are. To often it's all about the consumers and their experiences. I especially loved how happy the actors and technicians were to be working on the project and what a big part of their lives it is. One actor, a teacher, said it was the only time she got noticed, and that gave her a thrill. It is so nice they they can find a place to feel like they're important and seen.
Last weekend I went to Pittsburgh's ScareHouse to get myself in the Halloween spirit, and I must say it did the trick. That is the most scared I've been in a very long time, but during the entire performance, I couldn't help wonder what these actors did for their day jobs. To see someone jumping out at you and the next day they are just a normal person is freaky in and of itself. Some of those people have hidden talent and this is how they capitalize on it. It seems like it would be easy to scare someone but there is actually a lot that goes on behind the scenes. As for sharehouse, it was 4 floors of pure props, actors, and effects. I can only image the amount of setup that went into that. This is a perfect example of someone living a double life… Pedestrian by day and psycho by night.
I am really pretty weak hearted when it comes to horror, the only scary movie I will watch is Hitchcock's Psycho. However, I would really be interested in managing something like this. The haunted experiences that are more theatrical and not just a corn maze, have a lot of design and production management that would be interesting to be a part of. I can understand the appeal of wanting the be the one dressed up and scaring others, but the quote one said, "...like getting a rise out of people." is interesting. At my hometown in Connecticut an amusement park would always have horror nights in October and they would put out casting calls to my high school, but they had an agreement with one of the juvenile detention centers and some of the older kids in custody would be able to do it as part of community service. I also thought it was a great idea, it gets them into something that they can enjoy and is safe. Others were totally against it and it could be hard to find people that wanted to work along side them. I would like to add that once I went and interviewed, and was hired not as some monster, but as a psychic and was to read customers futures with tarot cards. I did not accept the job.
I was just watching a trailer for the Scarehouse and one of the next related videos was Scarehouse on Good Morning America. Basically what happened was that the producers of the show wanted to have zombies on the plaza portion and scare some people. The video details some of the actors and how they had to prepare quickly to travel to New York City. Most of them had to take off work since they all have day jobs and do this for fun at night during the holidays. These people just want the customers to have a good time and enjoy themselves. It was funny though in the video, one of the artists at Scarehouse said she has met some of the nicest people and some of the absolute weirdest people while working at Scarehouse. Honestly, it must be refreshing if you have a day job to just completely let loose in a controlled, fun way at night that you get paid for.
When I was in 3rd grade, I had a friend whose parents owned a haunted house. It was well known as one of the best and scariest haunted houses in Nashville. She started working in the haunted house as an actor when she was like 14 or 16, and I always found it funny that all these people would be scared by someone who wasn't even old enough to go to college yet. She's my age and her parents still own the house, and go to different horror events around the city every once in a while. I'm curious if people with an acting background are better or worse as scaring people than those who don't. I feel like on the one hand, a theatrical background would help with your physicality and timing, as well as if you had any lines or scary noises to make. On the other hand, I feel like scaring people is something much more instinctual and that you just have to go with your gut instead of analyzing the situation too much. Honestly, I wonder if an acting background would really even make any difference because a haunted house seems like such a different mode of "storytelling" (if you want to call it that) than a conventional theatrical setting.
I love haunted houses. Ever since I was young they always interested me – I think primarily because of the behind the scenes aspects, but also because everyone loves scaring the crap out of people. The funny thing is that I’ve never been a fan of blood/gore stuff, and I’m a very easy-scare when it comes to me actually going in haunted houses.
I think this article highlights an interesting point – working in these haunted attractions gives ordinary people an opportunity to become someone else. Just look at the first example: a five foot tall school teacher is able to creep out tons of strangers, when she regularly is an unimposing person. When she gets into costume, it completely shifts the power dynamic – even though, most interestingly, she’s in a straight jacket! There is a whole other side of haunted houses, the design and implementation, which really sets the spectacular apart from the just alright. But probably most essential is having good actors. A good actor (possibly with the help of a good costume) can make an empty, dark room terrifying – and they may not even have any training in acting.
I have always thought that having a job like this would be so fun and interesting. I think its cool how everyone mentioned in this article are normal people like teachers or students that get to escape from reality a little bit and have fun scaring people and also getting paid to do so. I have actually had a job similar to this where I was an elf at a theme park. I didn't have to scare anyone but I still had a good time creating a character and helping to support a magical world for the kids and other people in the theme park. It is cool how holidays like these can bring people who share a love of the magic together to make that magic come alive for others. It is nice to hear that these people have as much fun scaring you, as you have getting scared (or at least some people have getting scared).
I've actually wondered for a while who plays the horror characters in haunted houses and theme parks and such. I'm not a fan of any kind of horror venue, and have had a few run-ins with some of the actors and employees who work at haunted houses. Horror and thriller are hard genres for me to truly appreciate because I have such a hard time observing and experiencing them. The actors in haunted houses have to have a very keen sense of timing and delivery, and I do applaud them (from afar) for that. Timing is a very hard thing to nail, and it's crucial when trying to scare audiences. Without actors that can deliver, haunted houses are just spooky settings with people wearing costumes and makeup. The actors give the houses life, and that is a real talent.
While im sure it takes a lot of skill, patience, and discipline, i have never enjoyed spook houses, fright nights, or horror movies and i am very certain i never will. this being said, I can appreciate the actors ability to give a scene as big as a spook house such life and authenticity. This aspect of horror is crucial because without it, the scare house does not evoke such terror and fear in its patrons. I have respect for those actors and other performers who make haunted houses possible, and I think this article gave me a nice look into what their job entails.
Being a very easily terrified soul during Halloween season has always hindered me from taking part in any of these such occasions, so I never really thought twice about it. My take has always been, "You don't know who's holding that chainsaw! What if they really want to kill you? It's not fun anymore then! Then you're dead!" because, you know, I'm extremely rational when I'm afraid. But over the summer I gained a lot of exposure to the world of horror. I was working at Universal Studios during the production period for Halloween Horror Nights, so I got a really interesting look at the processes that the scare-actors and designers and everyone else goes through. I also attended the first annual Midsummer Scream conference in San Diego this past summer, and discovered a whole community I never really knew existed. These people absolutely live for Halloween (or year-round horror). We heard from many different theme parks on their seasonal attractions, as well as owners of haunted houses, makeup designers, performers, and haunt architects. While this is totally NOT my scene and I honestly felt fairly uncomfortable at the conference, there are so many people with so much talent and passion for this particular brand of amusement. I think it's really a great way to pull together a community, especially as mentioned in this article with police officers, teachers, high schoolers, etc. coming together to do something exciting and fun.
I've only been to one haunted house so far and I do not intend to add that number. But I did wonder how haunted houses work because it's like small black box immersive experience theatres in a way. I thought the ghosts are theme park staff like those Disney princesses whose job is to put on make up and costumes and perform their roles. There may be even a script of some sort that directs who when where what.
I foudn it somewhat heartening that these ghosts come from all walks of life. It must be such an exciting and rewarding experience for them to have another life that's normally unknown to people around them. The haunted house for them is not scary at all. It's a fun home because they get to live another life in this little house and interact with people in a way that they normally won't. They may even think it's hilarious. I would try so hard not to laugh if I'm trying to scare people and I see my friends in the crowd. And I would scare the hell out of them.
I absolutely love this article. I think it's so important to draw attention to those who work behind the scenes as well as in so many of the things we just simply attend and don't give a second thought to. I would really love to know more about this, especially the logistics of it, like the need to pay all or none of the employees based on the classification as a non-profit or not. I also rarely consider the acting side to this. Because these are seasonal, and I personally associate these jobs with college or high school students, so realising that these have such a professional side was really a new perspective. I also didn't really think about the training and preparation o n the part fo the performers. I know that most have a policy about physically interacting with guests, but I never really thought about how exactly that would be communicated to all of those involved, so the idea of training videos for ghouls was a funny, yet eye-opening one.
This was another interesting read. My community theatre used to intentionally schedule their season so that they could convert the theatre into a haunted house for the Halloween weekend in lieu of a 4-weekend production of whatever main stage show they had running at the time. For several years, I joined in the fun (and just like this article says, it was made up of many different individuals from high school students to even a district circuit judge). I got the opportunity to play a killer clown and a few other creepy creatures. Letting your crazy out to scare other people (or we refer to it as "thrill") is pretty fun! My senior year, I also worked on coordinating a larger haunted house that was sponsored by my city and it won an award for the state. What a great time.
I have never thought about the type of people who work at haunted attractions. Nevertheless, it’s amazing that these people can get into a character and get a different perspective, even if it’s just for a couple of days. I think what Schrader's says about how people don’t notice her in her daily life is interesting. Her life feels normal and stagnant. Halloween is a break for her from the normal and a time of make it feel different. Though it’s sad that this women does not feel acknowledged and that her life is similar, it’s good that she has halloween to embrace her love for horror movies. For one night, she can be someone else. One of the things that people love about halloween is getting to embrace their inner freak and change who they are, with no consequences and the people who work at these events get to exactly that.
I have a friend from high school who works at a haunted house. Sometimes she'll post images on social media of her in costume, or her backstage at her venue. I've always wondered hoe she got the gig and what types of people work at haunted houses. The most interesting part about this article was the short section on the different trainings at different operations. I would assume that there would be a wide range of trainings and rehearsals depending on what type of venue you work at. I wonder if there are ever dress rehearsals at haunted houses. There must be, as you would want to make sure the timing worked out. It would also be interesting to look at haunted houses as a case study for calling stage managers. I'm sure some haunted houses must have a system in place of essentially calling the "show."
Ahh, the time of year where haunted house articles make it to the green page. This is really interesting because I never thought about how they were hired and or who the people behind the character masks were! It's a cool perspective for an article because every other Halloween scare house article usually just goes into the "look" of the attraction. I think that the opportunity that a scare house poses for its employers are invaluable. The ability for someone who feel like their job may be a bit stuffy and then work at a scare house like this and find their creative outlet. I think that something amazing happens when a person dons a mask; it removes their sense of attached identity and therefore, allows him or her to become a totally different person without fear of judgement. It's a really thrilling experience. And like Marf commented above, I also wonder if there is some sort of system in place to call the show. I also wonder if there would be any issues hearing the stage manager because I'm sure there's a lot of screaming!
I love Halloween. It's the time of year when the greenpage is flooded with articles discussing the seamless use of technology in haunted houses. It is nice to also get a look into the people who work as actors for these businesses as well. I used to help out at a local haunted house when I was in highschool - working to help build a maze portion as well as acting in it. Unlike many of the actors mentioned here, I couldn't handle the act of scaring the visitors, so I served as one of the guides who got families with young children out before the final section or led people out if they yelled the safe word. Haunted houses are incredibly fun because they bring a huge mix of people together for a common cause. I truly believe that a haunted house would be an incredible benefit at CMU, since it would draw in people from all areas of the university. I've found that we, as the school of drama, tend to be too segregated for our own good, and it would be nice to have an event that actually draws in people from the rest of campus.
Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of year. It jump starts us into the holiday season! Year after year, I have progressively become more of a horror junkie and have found joy in going to haunted houses, watching scary movies, decorating, etc... Like lauren said, carnegie mellon should absolutely be involved with haunted houses! I think this type of entertainment is so unique that it will provide insight into a whole new medium of story telling. The Horror genre is something that is thriving right now. With the expansion of the insidious series and the decade late sequel of the blaire witch project these kind of opportunities are multiplying. To be able to act, direct, produce, design, or manage a horror attraction is a completely different skill set than what we are normally taught. If cmu decided to have a horror genre seminar, we would have more holistically trained alumni such as eugene lee, patrick wilson, and ian haring- all of which have skills in this specific category of entertainment.
This was an interesting article. I'm glad that a group like this can attract all different types of people both as an audience and as actors--haunted houses aren't a typical theatrical experience, but it can be a a really cool and lowkey way to get into theatre without the commitment that comes with it. My high school theatre unfortunately discontinued its entirely student-run haunted house a few years ago because it cost so much, but it was really cool to see how much a group of students could accomplish on a relatively low budget in the theatre space. I think haunted houses are a really cool theatrical opportunity to do stuff you could never do on a stage both tech and acting wise, and it's a great way to attract more of the community to the theatre.
I am very intrigued by this article as I have never really imagined the life of the actors who perform in horror festivals or haunted houses. Honestly, I find myself continually forgetting that those scary people are "actors." I suppose that could be my creep level at seeing people with bloody faces and gruesome facial features, but these individuals are actors who are actively evaluating character decisions and feeding off their audience's reactions. I imagine this must be a hard job because unlike a theatre audience, a haunted house audience is trying to get away from you not lean in to receive the action of the play. The final part of this article I enjoyed was how the writers broke down the life of these employees outside of the show and how all of the actors come from different backgrounds. Students, day laborers, parents and so many more come from different backgrounds to make something they are passionate about: Halloween. This is where the real similarity with theatre is seen and I think that is especially why these individuals are called actors.
Honestly this sounds like a lot of fun and if I had more free time I would consider joining one of these creepy families. The large cross section of people from different walks of life is one of the things that attracted me to theatre but going to an expensive university to study theatre you don't get that as much as you would in the real world. The last time I went to anything like a haunted house it was a haunted hayride that I went on with a couple of my friends in high school. When you're inside the world of the haunted attraction, you really don't stop to think about the actors inside the mask or the logistics of getting it all to run smoothly while accounting for people freaking out or panicking. But it would be so much fun to be on the other side of that, to know all the tricks and secrets and to see all the crazy reactions of visitors. It would be like being in on the ultimate inside joke. I envy these performers who get to celebrate the season in such a unique way.
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