IAmA Haunted House Actor! Ask me anything!!

What's the most memorable "scare" you've gotten someone with? Like who reacted the most hilariously?

this one time, a small boy was walking through holding his grandpas hand. He was giving everyone a thumbs up and saying "cool costume! cool costume!" When he was turned around, I snuck up on him, so when he turned back, I was in his face and I said "What did you say?" and he said whimpered "cool costume... please don't hurt me.."

definitely the most hilarious. I laughed out loud, and his grandparents heard me and laughed.

That's awesome! He was trying to play it cool and you scared the hell out of him! What's the worst thing that's happened? As in you were like "Oh crap I/someone else messed up"

hmm. Anytime I make someone hurt themself, I feel bad. But they're usually so scared that they take off before I'm able to see if they're okay

Are you allowed to touch the people walking through? Also has anyone every touched/hit you while acting?

haha and we start with my favorite question. a lot of haunted houses don't allow the actors to touch the customers. but not us. We are allowed to touch you, as long as it couldn't be considered sexual or violent. typically, I brush the back of someones head gently

Has anyone thrown a punch in fear yet?

oh yes, I've been hit a number of times. pushed once, and I tripped over a tree root (we are an outdoor attraction) and twisted my ankle REALLY badly

What happened after that? Did you break your role or go with it?

I just limped away...

How do you react when people punch you? Are you mad, or do you understand its some peoples first instinct? I can't decide how I'd feel, I mean they're in a haunted house, they should expect that, but then again it's hard to control a natural reaction.

It all depends on the person. Sometimes, it is just an accident, and sometimes tough guys feel like they need to defend themselves for some reason

What are your wages? How many hrs do you work? Do you feel slighted if people are like, "pshh, that's not very scary, more like a 6ft. turkey.."? Thanks man. Happy Halloween.

I think we get paid minimum wage. All I know is at the end of the month, I get a ~$500 check. It's only during October.

When you've done the job for a while, you realize that there are 3 types of people. People who are really scared, people who are grumpy or they aren't having fun, and people who are laughing and have a good time, mostly laughing at the first type of person.

I enjoy scaring the scared people, making the laughing people laugh, and ignoring the grumpy people. They've wasted their money, they're bitter for some reason and they aren't going to have a good time no matter what I do, they've made up their mind. So no, I don't mind people saying stuff like that, because in the end, I'm having fun and they aren't, so I win

I must be the second type. I was in a haunted corn maze once and I was a little bit ahead of three girls I knew in college. They asked me to go around the corner and see if it was "safe" so I did. I turned the corner and there was this ski mask wearing blood soaked overalls guy with a chainsaw. I looked at him and he looked at me and I thumbed over my shoulder and shouted, "all clear come on guys". He nodded and crouched down as I kept going.

The scream those girls gave was fantastic. I laughed my ass off. They were pretty mad but it was worth it.

haha see I enjoy people like you. You aren't scared, you aren't annoying, you aren't ruining the fun for everyone, you aren't trying to steal the show. that's fun

At haunted house in San Diego I was accidentally touched with a running chainsaw. Obviously it had no chain on it and being in construction I knew that before hand and have had some pretty serious injuries anyways so wasn't worried about the contact but for some reason they turned on all the lights, the music stopped and I had to sign a legal form that I wouldn't hold them responsible for any harm and damages, ect.

They made this huge deal out of it and I told them their BS legal forms ruined Halloween and I wanted my money back.

Do you have these forms or have a company policy like that?

oh wow! umm not that I know of. we're a real small, local place, so I don't think the owners worry as much about being sued.

As someone else who does a Halloween haunt, a friendly reminder to everyone who has or will visit one soon, that we are people too!

Just because you "paid x amount of dollars to be here" doesn't give you or anyone the right to assault (sexually or not) any of the actors. We know most people don't, but the people that have this intention going in? Don't do it. Or if you get the urge to while in the haunt? Still don't do it.

is that a problem where you're at? It's rare that we get just straight up belligerent people. If someone does cause problems, we usually follow them out, and tell whoever's in charge to make sure that they don't come back

Have you ever scared someone so badly that they needed special escort out of the haunted house? This happened to a friend of mine years ago, and he is still pretty traumatized.

actually, just the other night, a girl started to have a panic attack. I had the other girl working in the scene with me escort her straight to the exit

How much "training" or "preparation" do you do to get ready? Not so much the props/set... but is this done like a play, where you have tech rehearsals and walk thru? Do you have "lines" to memorize? How critical is the timing in your section of the attraction, and have you ever messed that up?

sometimes our boss will give us actual lines, but most of the time we're just given a character and told to run with it. for example, this year, I'm a crazy barber from the 20's. I speak with a trans-atlantic accent, ask people if they want a little off the top, sometimes I repeat the same speech over to different groups if it flowed well. Basically, throughout the season, we get really really good at doing our character.

Our show is much more interactive than a lot of places. We really strive to have the customers suspend their disbelief. we never break character, we talk to them personally, make a lot of remarks about specific customers.

And no, no tech rehearsals. We do costuming a week before opening night though

have any of the guests ever scared YOU? I remember as a kid I'd try to get real low and sneak up behind the spookers and spook them instead.

Some laughed, some were immensely annoyed. One guy got so pissed that I spooked him that I decided to never do it anymore

yeah, it happens, and it's annoying and embarrassing.

Last time I went to a haunted attraction I recognized a shift in how the actors tried to scare me. The shift occurred after I purchased an iced tea drink that came in a large styrofoam cup without a lid. When I walked around carrying a bottle of water, people tried to jump scare me, but when I walked around with the Styrofoam cup, people deliberately avoided jump scaring me.

So, is this a possible rule, or is it a display of wisdom by those who've been soaked in the past?

well, if someone sees you with a cup, they probably would avoid making you jump for risk of getting soaked. I do the same when I see people carrying children/babies. I'd hate for them to drop them, I mean shit

carrying babies in haunted houses??

yeah it's basically the worst.

Have you ever hooked up with anyone in the haunted house?

eww no

Do you get many awkward people that try to annoy you on purpose or make you break out of character or maybe ask you questions about your job whilst you're doing it?

haha. so, we open at 7:15 pm, and a line begins to form at around 6:30. During that time, if im in costume and ready, I'll go and talk to the people in line, fully in character. A lot of the times they ask things like "how much do you get paid?" "how old do you have to be to work here?" "are there any clowns/monsters/animals in there?"

I won't ever break character, but sometimes I answer their questions, like last night someone asked me how old, and I said "Well, when ya get in there and see all the children we have running around, you'll have yer answer."

Speaking of the kids, how does that employment contract work? I've been to your haunt for the past two years and it was good!

well most of the kids that are with us are the farm owners' kids, their cousins and some friends. but you can volunteer at any age, and you can't get paid until you're 16

What's something that people do that aggravates you as a haunted house actor?

Edit: changed some words around

It sucks to get punched and threatened, but the worst of all is when someone is just complaining, and angry. Why even bother? Who forced you to come here? Just go home. There are people here that just want to have a good time, and you're being an ass

Do you mean people complaining afterwards, or people walking around the house complaining? Does the latter happen often? What kind of things do you hear people say when they're bitching?

the latter happens all the time. saying "this is so fake" or mostly they just make remarks like "how much are they paying you" or my favourite "what are thooooose"

Do you as actors ever accidentally scare each other?

I'm actually a huge scaredy cat. So they do it on accident to me all the time!

Have you ever made someone shit themselves? If so what did you do afterwards?

haha, I don't know, man. The other night I smelled something awful. They would never admit to it

How many times have you been punched in the face?

only 3-4

How do you feel if guests casually walk through and don't react to the scares? I've been that person.. I can be very boring.

it doesn't bother me. I get paid either way

What do you do during the other 11 months of the year?

I'm actually a preschool teacher!

Last year I got kicked out a local haunted house for freaking out and punching an actor in the face. He reacted pretty well for being punched, but the lady who was running the show kicked me out. How do you usually react to being punched by terrified people?

It depends on the person. If they were just surprised, it's a natural reaction. we're all humans, and they usually apologize right away. if it's someone who's pissed off, then I follow them out, alert the police, and make sure they don't get back in

Do you have a preferred customer you're just naturally geared towards scaring? Old people, women, men, little boys, little girls, punk teens, etc? lol If so, why is it that you get excited to scare them more than others?

well, this year my character is less scary, more just crazy, so I like to make people laugh

Our names are pretty relevant... Cheers to you fellow Rich man.

Oooh and me!

and my axe

How do you manage to keep the energy up through out the season without getting bored of the character ? Do you switch characters?

I don't struggle with that, I greatly enjoy it, and a lot of candy helps with the energy.

Do all the actors hang out in costumes after?

not in costume, but sometimes we go out for drinks. we're usually too tired though

Do you guys offer warning lights or markers for the smaller kids that let the actors know to go a bit easier on them?

If so, any good stories about people using it (or who should have used it)?

A local amusement park does a Halloween bash every year and they have a haunted maze. My son got a "monster warding pendant" last year (he was 6) and he went through the maze brandishing it like a holy object chanting "Don't jump out at me! Don't jump out at me!". The actors were all very cool and friendly with him. One of them snuck up behind my wife and scared the bejezus out of her though which then scared him when she screamed. :)

no, we have no rules on kids. in fact, scare the kids more! make them cry!

How often are people too out of it (under the influence of something) to react to the performers? Any funny stories?

yeah, we get some drunk people. most of the time, there's a 1-2 second gap between scaring them and then reacting, which is always funny to watch.

At first when I read the title, I thought of the "The Hunted Mansion" and was excited that Eddie Murphy would be doing an AMA. Lol, oops.

Anyway, what's your favorite part of your job?

Look, kids, a falling star!

My favorite part is scaring, hands down. There's just something so satisfying about it

I just went through my first haunted house last night.

Q1- Does it every get psychologically strange to be inside a bizarre, dimly lit and freaky environment for a long period of time?

Q2- If you do jump scares, how often do you do them? Do you have an awareness of who can see you hiding and sort of wait until you're functionally invisible again to do another jump scare?

Thanks!

1) no, but it does help to improve my night vision!

2) I do it all the time. usually I'll hide behind something, pop out and begin delivering my lines. so i get to scare AND act! also yes it gets really easy to tell who can see you, who knows where you are etc. you get good at reading body language

(Asking this as an insanely jumpy person) Have you ever had to stop being in character because someone had a physical/visceral reaction? What's the protocol you follow?

ex/ someone faints

we give them room to get up, if we aren't, we send for help, and to stop the flow of people inside

Oh man, I volunteered at a local haunted house for the first time this year. It was so much fun! What's your favorite type of character to play? What has been your most successful way of scaring people?

I like the characters that are complex, and that have actual lines, instead of just being a spoopy ghosty

Do you allow people to bring glowsticks and stuff? Most places don't and I found out why when I scared a grown woman so bad she stabbed me in the eye with a glowstick sword

hahah! no, I've never been stabbed with a glowstick, and they are allowed. people have them all the time. I think they may even sell them outside, where they have a carnival set up

I'd imagine that trying to scare people and having no effect on them would be a similar to telling a joke to a large group and it not being funny... Does this happen often & does it make staying in character more difficult?

Thanks!

it happens all the time. I figure, when in doubt, make em laugh

Hey I was just here last night! It was amazing... we had a 2 year old next to us on the Haunted Hayride. She kept getting scared and the actors had to say "Its just make up sweetie, HIGH FIVE" are you guys taught this high five tactic because it worked every time. Also, Does it piss you off when someone brings a two year old on the rides?

One last thing. The girl who starts the Field Of Screams, does he laugh drive you insane? Thanks

haha well I only work in the village of the dead, so I don't know exactly how the other two events conduct themselves. we all work very independently. I, for one, love to scare kids, especially when the parents say to stop

You ever break anyone's phone? I noticed at these things a lot of actors will come up and scare people outside of the haunted house and catch them off-guard, especially while they are texting or looking at their phone.

If I see someone texting, I sneak up on them and scream "TELL THEM I SAID HI"

I haven't caused anyone to break or lose their phone though. But they are warned that if they lose their stuff, they won't be interrupting us to find it

How did you get into the job? Was it just to get some money as a student or something?

I was actually in high school, and a good friend of mine volunteered over there, and I got into it the next year. been doing it ever since! Now I just use the money strictly for christmas presents!

Do you like it when guests scare each other, or do you like to do all the scaring? Happy Halloween!

no, It's awful when guests scare eachother! That's MY job!

Have you ever been caught out of character and ruined it for someone? If you feel you didn't do well enough do you get upset at yourself?

no, I'm always in character, as soon as the makeup goes on. No particular reason other than I'm just a lunatic

Is the house really haunted?

it's actually not a house. more like a village.

have you made anyone soil themselves in fear?

hopefully!!

Did you grab my butt?

never

What's the worst injury you've seen someone receive during work?

We have this place called the "drop door" where its a door that literally drops open and an actor comes out and delivers a speech. one time, he slipped, and gave himself a concussion. He's all better now though

When I was a kid, my dad took me to a haunted house. He decided to pick me up and run because I was taking too long. This man is the biggest clutz I've ever known, and of course trips and falls over one of those trap doors. He was bleeding so profusely, no one offered to help because they thought he was part of the attraction. Once we got out and into the light, it turned out he had skinned his leg to the bone and his whole kneecap was exposed. There were people in line that left. The ambulance came and it turned out he had also shattered his ankle and conccussed himself.

oh my. ew I'm eating lunch.

So do you improvise based on the person you're scaring? You said you were a barber this year, would it be okay for you to make like a veiled reference to cutting a guy's balls off if it's a group of young dudes? Or is that sexual harassment?

well, I wouldn't come out and say anything about his balls, but If i see a guy with a big beard sometimes i'll say "oh he needs a little of the top and the bottom!"

Does anyone give a fuck?

quite a few as it turns out!

good question!

Do you have any more proof?

umm I can upload a picture of me in my hat....

more proof: http://imgur.com/rqhLvcD

No. Anyone can get a hat. Do you have a picture on set with maybe more actors?

I don't actually have any with myself and other actors. I do have more of myself on set, and a picture of a photoshoot that they did with a model from a local radio station