I am a haunted house actor ask me anything

What do you do when people are just completely unfazed?

There's a rule in the haunted house industry if you can't scare them make them laugh

Do you overhear funny conversations before people realize that you're there?

Last year two girls were talking about what a guy's dick taste like before they realized I was there and scared them

Why would two girls talk about how a dick tastes on a hunted house? People are weird

Definitely one of the more interesting conversations I ever heard

were they talking about the same guy? or just dicks in general?

All I heard was I wonder what his dick taste like

Thanks for the constant scares. Have you or anyone you work with scared someone so bad, gave them a heart attack or sent them to the hospital?

My second year doing this we gave an older gentleman a heart attack felt really bad for him not sure if he died or not but we do know he had a pre existing heart condition I still think about that from time to time

At the risk of sounding like I'm victim-blaming, that one's on him. Anyone with a pre-existing heart condition really shouldn't be entering these places in the first place.

I totally agree

For the after 10 PM adult tour, can you really say whatever the hell you want?

Adult tour what are you talking about

Do you ever get scared going through haunted houses? If so, what gets you?

I would say I don't get scared going through other haunted houses because I've been doing it long enough to know what's going to happen I know what's going to be around the corner I know what's going to come from behind that's why I really can't enjoy horror movies anymore cuz I know how it's done it's like a magician telling you the secrets after you know everything it kind of loses its luster nothing really scares me much anymore

Are you scared of punctuation?

Sorry I have autism and I use a voice to text program

Seconded. Having worked in a haunted house myself, you know where the jump scares are, you're watching for the pop doors, and you know nobody can touch you. I just go through to admire the props, scenery, and animatronics.

What's your take on angry drunks taking a swing at you for scaring them? Press charges or no? I didn't get hit, and I preferred to stay in character, and his buddies dragged him off before he could take another.

I just laugh at them and make fun of them

What do you do for the other 47 weeks of the year to support yourself?

I have a day job I really enjoy I have two lives my haunt life and my regular life both of them are equally important to me

Whats the pay, I mean, can you really make it your fulltime job and earn enough money?

I really don't do it for the money I do it because it's a great stress reliever and you can get all your anger out in one season just yelling at customers and scaring them but a new person will make about $500 a season

That doesn't seem like very much at all

One other thing we're only open 14 days

People that's been there for a while makes more money

That's for the new people

How do you get over the urge to laugh? I feel like I would be immediately fired from a job like that because one good scare sends me into absolute fits of laughter.

It's hard to explain but when you're in the haunt mode you're not you you're a different person like regular me would find that shit hilarious but my haunt me would not it's like getting into character before we start you're a totally different person

Do the scare actors have creative control of how they want to costume up or how they do their scares? Or is it all up to the owner.

if you're a tenured actor yes but if you're brand new off the street no because you have no experience in the industry and you don't know what's going to work and what's not

What's your favorite way to scare others?

People are afraid of the unexpected and unknown I really enjoy exploiting that

Have you ever been punched in the dome piece after scaring someone?

I have been hit kicked slapped several times

Immersive theater is really having a moment. From shows like The Speakeasy to the Star Wars hotel, immersive theater is breaking through from cult experimental companies into the mainstream. Obviously haunted houses are one of the best known and most historic parts of that movement.

Are there any other immersive productions you’d like to do?

Probably something that has to do with superheroes or anime

What are your thoughts on McKamey Manor?

The less I talk about them the better I truly despise them they are very hated in the haunted house industry like very very hated

Why are they so hated? I have my own thoughts but I’m curious as to why you guys hate them

They literally fucking torture your ass and plus the owner is a huge asshole who I met one time at Transworld

Do you guys have a protocol for when to break character if someone gets way too freaked out? I did a haunted house when I was 15 and had a legitimate full blown panic attack and the actor stopped threatening to kill me with a chainsaw and escorted me out through a back passage. Are you guys trained on how to handle those situations or did I just get lucky?

We have everything in place in case that happens

How can I becoma a haunted house actor?

Quite simply you can just go to a haunted house and say you want to volunteer and more likely than not they will say we will be glad to have you because a lot of people don't know but a lot of haunted houses are under staffed some days you would be more than welcome to join the industry if you need any assistance just private message me and I will be glad to refer you to some good haunted attractions

I've been dragged to haunted houses (I hate them) and I usually plug my ears and close my eyes but if it's too much, I just curl up in a ball and cry until my "friends" come carry me off... Do you/actors leave me/people like me alone or are we "easy" targets? 😵‍💫😓

We want you to have a good time if we scare you too badly you won't want to come back so if I see someone like it I'll back off a little bit but won't stop I'll try to scare you from a distance so they can enjoy it at least a tiny bit

How much time goes into planning and building a decent sized local haunted house? Do they generally use the same layout/plan/props year after year or try to change them up so people who came previously don't know what to expect?

We have to start building in January and we barely get finished in September if that tells you anything

Maybe you should just leave it up

Like the building doesn't change we changed what's inside the building and if we did the same stuff every single year people would get bored

Do you have a signature move that “works every time”?

My signature move I would say is insulting them and getting in their face and that usually does the trick believe it or not

Insulting them scares them?

The stuff I say is a little shall we say creepy to say the least

How many people just aren’t scared? Went to a haunted house series a few weeks ago for the first time in maybe 15 years. Nothing scared me. But video games and movies do.

Just curious how common it is and looking for reasons why.

Maybe you just went to a bad haunted house I've noticed in the past 5 to 6 years haunted houses are just popping up all over the country just to get one season in so they can make a bunch of money and then close it down

Has anything ever made you break character?

Well there's been a couple instances one were a woman decided to french kiss me and she tasted like cigarette Ash and I started nearly vomiting another time is when this guy dress up as Dr frankenfurter decided to pull his pants down and the moon me I just said nothing while they were in there because I was so shocked and another time is when this little girl was so scared I went up to her and said it's all fake honey it's not real give me a fist bump like I'm not a complete monster if you can't handle it I'm not going to continue scaring you but it is really hard for me to break character like really really ridiculously hard I just have a soft spot for children because I feel bad for them you got to remember their parents brought them to this haunted house this rated R haunted house that's meant for adults no I'm not going to have it on my conscience and give a child PTSD for the rest of their lives

Do you OWN the haunted house, or just work for it? If the latter, how much does it pay?

One more thing I didn't get paid for it until my 6-year doing it because it was volunteer but when we started making serious cash they started paying us

I don't own the haunted house but I help build the original one from day one my friend was the original owner but then he moved and then the new owners bought it and they are pretty cool people as well

Is it annoying when you have a whole group who aren't easily scared?

I was recently part of a group like this, and my friend was really annoying me, because she was loudly talking about how she wasnt scared and sort of rolling her eyes at the actors.

Granted, it wasn't the scariest of haunted houses, but I think she was being impolite.

We just want to make sure you have a good time if she wasn't scared or you wasn't scared we don't take that personally as long as you have a good time

I once went to a haunted house with a gang of people, and a guy with a chainsaw, no chain, chased us....I just laughed my ass off as 75% of the crew ran in terror

The dude turns off the chain saw and goes "oh shit Nick....what up dude"

What do you do when you see someone you know?

I stay in character and just scare the people they're with and after they go to the other room I get my friend a high five

Question: would you mind if I apologized?

When I was a kid, I was brought to a haunted house. I was way too scared. I got grabbed and held and I got REALLY upset. When the guy at the exit got down to spook me I grabbed his mask nose and pulled and it snapped back in his face.

I know it wasn’t you, but I’m sorry.

No apology is needed we want you to have a good time but the next time you go don't try to do that cuz I'm pretty sure that hurt lol

Dressed up, you look like you just walked off the set of Chainsaw Massacre or Deliverance. Without the makeup, you look like the nicest guy who is probably a really good friend.

My question is what's the youngest kid you've seen in a haunted house? Also, sorta related, have you made a kid pee or puke from fear?

The youngest person to ever come through was 3 years old she was not affected one time she even gave me a hug 3 years later she comes back through dressed up is like a little miniature creepy clown and she gave me a hug again and said I missed you Grandpa because I'm Grandpa Festus Woodson that's my character's name and I did something I didn't think I would ever do I said would you like a picture with Grandpa she's like I would love a picture mommy daddy take a picture so we got together and we took a picture together and it was one of the coolest things that has ever happened and this happened this year

I'm one of the nicest people you'll ever meet but I am the rudest meanest sexist asshole you will ever meet when I am in character

I went to a haunted house and handed out business cards to the actors (I'm a mental health professional). It was fun and got some laughs. What are some funny things that people going through have done that weren't expected?

2 years ago this group came in and started singing the Oompa Loompa song and I joined them

What is the scariest gag you have ever been a part of? What gag have you seen scare people the most?

Well it's not really a gag toward the customer it was a gag towards me one of the other actors decided to put some Icy Hot in my other pants so when I would be done for the night and put them on it would start burning a little bit that was the funniest rib that was ever put on me

You don't wear underwear??

I do but still a little hot with the Exposed Skin

What's it like working with ghosts?

Spooky 😈😈😈

What's your favorite role you've played in a haunted house?

I've been playing the same character for 11 years I may have been dressed differently but I've always played an old man called Festus Woodson a very mean vindictive sexist old man

You know how much sex you facilitate by scaring people and making them grab into eachother? You're a hero

Thanks I guess

Have you ever had a bad experience with anyone? I mean if someone has ever tried to fight you or threaten you to impress his friends or gf for instance.

I mean I've had bad experiences with customers I've been hit kicked punched got a couple times but I just laugh it off

When you visit other haunted houses, do you get scared or are you just strolling like a boss? Favourite horror movie?

I just stroll like a boss because I know all the tricks already my favorite horror movie of all time is Friday the 13th Part 4

How big is the industry? I have only ever seen haunted houses on US TVshows and always wondered if they really are in every town, or if it is just the kind thing that is in big cities and the movies. Do teens actually go, or is it mostly families with young kids?

But the industry is pretty big we have a yearly convention called Transworld where we go get our props and stuff you can look it up Transworld on YouTube and see what I mean but it is definitely a multi-million dollar industry some haunted houses make millions of dollars every year if that tells you anything

There's different versions of haunted attractions there is PG versions PG-13 versions rated R versions which is basically saying there's kids friendly version teenager friendly version and adult version the one I work at is a rated R version there's more than a few kids that come through and a lot of them cant handle it they're usually dragged Along by their parents and I wouldn't say there's a haunted house in every town but I've noticed the past five or six years people have been opening haunted houses for one single season getting a shit ton of money and then immediately closing it down

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If you can't scare them I make them laugh we are here to make sure you have a good time not to necessarily scare you

Ever been punched?

Many many times

Do girls ever come on to you?

So many times I've even gotten a lot of their numbers over the years believe it or not

I see you in a wheelchair with a cane in the first pic, do you really use one or was that part of the costume? Someone at my work was looking for haunted house actors this year for a fundraiser and I got really excited then remembered I use a walker or a wheelchair and was like, well, that's probably not going to work.

The Haunted House industry is very welcoming so if you ever want to act we would be glad to have you in the industry we've had actors in my haunted house who have lost a leg earlier in their life and they're one of the best actors I've ever seen so you're more than welcome to join the industry if you ever want to the industry is very accommodating give it a shot

How do you come to work in this type of gig? What does your resume look like before applying? What do you do to prepare yourself before a house? Do you have to train in anything beforehand to do this? Who does your makeup and wardrobe?

Lol im sorry for the 40 questions, and no I'm not trying to be a haunted house actor, but I've been fascinated by people like you since I was a kid

Another thing I do to prepare for the season since my character doesn't wear a shirt and I'm in the first room and it can get very cold as I tend to take cold showers and lie in cold bathtubs a month or two before we start so I can get my body accustomed to the temperature and you really don't need no special resume you can just do it for fun

One of my friends was building a haunted house and my mom said I might enjoy it to get me out of my depression when I was like 25 or 26 I'm 36 now so I went over there and talk to him and I've been part of the group ever since even though my friend is not the owner no more I still work there I'm basically like the general controlling the troops I'm not in control of the finances but I do care and greatly respect and love my actors like their family

When was the last time you ate pancakes?

Like four or five months ago

What time of day/night is the best time to come?

The one I act in it's Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 till 10:30 that's when we stop selling tickets

Cool, is it best to come early when you guys are fresh, or later at say 9 when you’ve had a chance to warm up, or towards the end?

Probably in the middle

Is the pay good? Have you ever made someone shit their pants?

For your first season you get like $500 but I've been there 11 years so I made many people crap themselves

Friendly question for you: what’s your favorite, cats or dogs?

I love dogs I've had cats before and love them but you can never beat the affection of a dog

1.What is the most terrefying moment that you experienced yourself?

1. The weirdest/scariest experience?

2. Do you believe you have had real paranormal experiences?

Link to the scariest experience, doesn't have to be you in the film?

Scariest experience while I was acting it didn't happen exactly the night of but I called some girl a bitch acting like I always do because I play a creepy old grandpa type of character and the next day the father called and told us that the girl was like 14 or 15 and that he was going to come to where I was and shoot me in the head thank God that never took place now for the Paranormal experience question I had to deal with weird shit when I was a kid from the time I was 7 till I was 15 you know getting pushed tugged stuff like that. But at the old haunted house we had which was before we moved to the farm no it was not a haunted but when we moved to the farm to be a bigger set pieces and a bigger haunted house yes that place is haunted I've experienced things I really couldn't explain

Would a haunted house organized by an elementary school be too scary for a toddler?

If it's for an elementary school I think it wouldn't be a big problem I always tell parents you have to be the best judge for your kid

Do you have an interest in horror or dark subject matter that led you to be drawn to this occupation?

Before I started this I was a wimp scared of everything horror related but the reason I started this was I was in a very bad depression when I was 25-26 and my mom suggested that I go to my friends house and plan something with him because he wanted to build a haunted house in a warehouse so that's how it began I've been there since the beginning like 6 years ago we moved to a farm to make a bigger attraction and I'm still there to this day even though my friend is no longer the owner

Are you a ghost believer?

100% I've had things happen in my life that there's no other explanation

What do you do when you see young kids? Is there like a rule to go easy on them?

Depending on the situation I find myself in the past couple years the younger kids are really not that phased but a lot of kids are so if you're like a kid that is not phased at all I'm going to go full force but if it's a kid that's freaking out I'll be like come here just so you know all this is fake it's like a movie and if my family gives you a hard time down the line you come back to me and I'll whack them upside the head

Roadhog?

A lot of people think it's from OverWatch but no I've had this nickname since I was in Middle School it means right hand of God

Do other haunted house staff try to scare each other?

What's the staff demographic like? I'd imagine they're all pretty fun people.

Thanks for doing what you do! I love going to haunted houses.

We're always trying to one up each other and Rib each other The Haunted House industry is not that much different than wrestling although we don't have to put our bodies in quite severe circumstances is wrestlers do

What’s your most memorable scare?

Probably the time I scared this woman so bad she tossed 9-year-old kid at me

Mayo with fries. Yay or nay?

If it's mixed with a little bit of ketchup yes

What's the minimum age you think someone should be to go to your haunted house? Or really any haunted house in general?

If it's a kid friendly haunted house Maybe 5 to 6 years old but if it's a rated R haunted house please don't bring your children we do not feel like giving your children PTSD

Do you tailor your technique to the audience/victim? What seems to get the best response?

I'll just go up to them and get close to them cuz I don't have a shirt on and for some reason they get really creeped out at the sight of a half naked man very close to them start sniffing them and saying oh yeah you smell like and I have a different lines right I'll be like you smell like a bucket of fried chicken finger licking good you know stuff like that

I once saw a morbidly obese woman running from a chainsaw man at a haunted house. She fell face first in mud and stayed down for about 2 minutes. The chainsaw man turned and looked sheepishly at the crowd, shrugged, then turned around and proceeded to "chainsaw" her in the booty until she got up. Everyone clapped.

What's the funniest thing you've ever seen at work?

Probably the time my coworker decided to chase a group of women all the way out to their car and I don't know how this happened but one of them jumped in the trunk because I guess because they locked the car so here this lady jumping in a trunk of a car just to get away from one of my coworkers

What's your dad like?

My dad passed away a long long time ago God Rest his soul

Have you ever got a date from someone you scared?

No but I got a bunch of women's phone numbers over the years