Haunting:

 

How I Got Into It

I had absolutely no interest in acting at all. I went bowling with a few friends and they said that they volunteered up at a haunt that was a fundraiser for the Boyscouts and they mostly just did construction work. I didn't have much to do and I started going up with my friends to help construct the houses and I even went and helped out at a few events. 

 

I got into acting because the new owners came to me and told me that they were no longer allowed to accept volunteer construction people and needed actors. The construction aspect ended up being a lie, but I was proud of the things that I got to build and ended up volunteering to act anyway.

 

Let me tell you, I did not enjoy that at all. I am an introvert through and through, BUT I enjoyed hanging out with the other actors. It was a small haunt at the time, so we would have a lot of down time between groups, especially early in the night and earlier in the month. I was a loner and didn't have a lot of friends and frequently got overwhelmed in a lot of social situations, but the other actors that I worked with seemed to have a similar mindset or at least understood where I was. When I was waiting for nights to start or going to meetings or get togethers, I would usually sit and read off to the side, but I always felt included and kept being invited even though I was quiet and didn't want to interact with people. 

 

Since I ended up enjoying the people, I stuck around even though I didn't enjoy the acting. It was pretty funny to see people get scared so badly that they fell down and I ended up tag teaming with the boy scouts that worked in my room and we developed a game around human bowling. Essentially, I held one end of the room and would be the initial scare. We didn't have many people coming in, so scaring backwards wasn't too big of a deal. So, I would land the initial scare and try and get them to hit the ground. The boy scouts that I worked with, would let me be a distraction as I led them inside and caught them from behind. The person that managed to scare the most people to the ground won. It was a blast.

Character Creation

When you are playing a character, it's important to understand where they are coming from. If you are fortunate enough to be able to make your own characters, then it makes it much easier to get into character. For example, I had a character named Emilia Sangre. I was studying to be a Spanish teacher and was placed in the history room as a teacher. I'm not much of a history buff, so when I would scare people, I would start off throwing out a history fact, get frustrated and then just start screaming incoherently in Spanish. The best part was when a guest knew Spanish and seeing the look of recognition on their face. I only had an emergency exit door to work with, so if I realized they spoke it, I could get in real close and lay in on them in their native language. 

 

When I went to the queue line, they were going for realism. I had minimal makeup and my costume was so plain that half the time the guests had no idea that I actually worked there. Telfore actually used to tell them that I just wondered onto the lot on day and never left. I had lost my sister around a year or two before I had that role. I had my character also lose a loved one, which was their child. My loss had been so raw that I was still crying and getting extremely emotional over the loss. I also didn't have much of an outlet to express it. I used that character to help express my grief and thoughts, which would frequently scare the guests on an existential level. When you lose a loved one, you wonder where they go, what their last thoughts are and if there is an afterlife. You ask why this would ever happen and when you see someone that reminds you of them, it can overwhelm you with grief. During my time in the queue, I wept openly and begged guests to tell me that they saw my loved one. I would ask them what you thought happens to a person when they die and ask questions about what it might have been like to die the way her loved one had. I didn't really jumpscare people as much as I unsettled them. I also carried a handkerchief. When you cry, you snot a lot and I had to honk my nose. Turns out, if they aren't unsettled by a crying woman asking existential questions, they are definitely unsettled by the amount of snot coming out of your nose when you're really letting it go.

Actor Approach
I might be kind of an oddball here, but I don't mind being told that I need to be a specific character. I have always been the kind of person that believed that if the owner of the haunt wants a specific look or character, it's their prerogative because it's their vision. They are taking the financial risk, so I'll work with what I have. It's important to be flexible.

It's also important as an actor, to make sure that you are as empathetic to your fellow actors as possible. Everyone is coming from different backgrounds. Some people are there because they are dead broke and they will take any job they can get. This isn't a labor of love. It's a paycheck. You should NEVER fault someone for that. I've seen many haunt workers that look down on people who are doing this for the job and that's it. It's not a bad thing. You have to do what you have to do and so long as they are coming and doing the job, treat them with as much respect as anyone else.

Other people are coming in because they love spooky shit and that's also just fine. You could throw a costume at them and drop them in a haunt and they would work whether you paid them or not. You treat them with respect.

Some people are there because they love the people they work with. That is just fine. You treat them with respect.

Regardless of where someone is coming from, their level of passion or fandom, you need to be respectful and kind. You may be more passionate or more devoted, but the haunt runs as a unit and if you purposely treat someone like crap because you don't think they are on your level, then you are weakening the unit. Be kind. 

This especially should be said for actors and how they treat makeup and costuming. I have some experience in this category and I can tell you that the person putting on your makeup or giving you a costume doesn't always have a choice on what is given to you. Makeup and costume managers report to the owners at the end of the day. Believe me. I've seen people pass out because costumes were too thick and heavy and the weather was too hot. The best the costuming team can do is bring up suggestions, but if those get denied by the owners, they have to give you that crappy, hot costume. They don't want to, believe me. 

The same can be said for makeup folks. That prosthetic is like Satan's ballsack on your face for 8 hours and they would love to not put it on you, especially knowing they are going to have to run down with some more goo to restick it when you sweat so hard that it starts sliding off. If the owners say that the actor has to wear it, that's pretty much where the buck stops. The makeup artists aren't to blame. They might seem like they are a little grumpy or salty when you ask, but I've sat outside that makeup room and heard the same question asked 47 different times in a 15 minute window. I listened to the makeup team try to negotiate for better conditions or an alternative option. Most of them truly do try their best to make actors comfortable, but when they go to bat for the actors, get shot down and then have actors crawling down their throat from the beginning to the end of their shift everyday, they can get a little grouchy. 

The big thing is to treat everyone with respect. Most people are not being malicious for the sake of being malicious. A lot of people are just frustrated. Be respectful and just keep in mind to be patient and make sure that your issues are going to someone who can change things. There is a hierarchy. When I worked costuming, I still had a manager over my before the owners. If I don't do what they tell me to do, then I will get let go or removed from the position. I did my best to accommodate, but there is only so much you can do when the owners want a specific look and you only have so much inventory and a long list of shit that you aren't allowed to approve if an actor offers to bring their own stuff.

Be respectful. Be understanding. Most people really want you to be comfortable. Most people really want you to feel welcome. Everyone has bad days.

If you struggle with acting, find yourself a mentor. It's daunting, but one of the easiest things to do is to find either someone that is already socializing or go to someone that works as a manager and ask if they can introduce you to someone who can give you a hand. I've passed countless people off to mentors and they've helped them grow. Most people won't give you any trouble if you ask for a mentor. Take what they say to heart. Almost anyone that I'd recommended as a mentor had been around the block a while and they can tell you what to expect and how to handle things and improve. Never be afraid to ask.

 

Finally, bring your own first aid kit. Make sure you have any medications that you need, pain killers, LARGE water jugs, small snacks that you can stuff in your mouth between scares, cough drops and Jolly Ranchers. These are all lifesavers.

Issues You May Run Into and Suggestions to Fix Things

This is going to be a rough one. I worked in the haunt industry for over a decade. I've seen things. 

 

First off, you're going to get hit. I promise that not all people that hit you are doing it on purpose. You know that fight or flight thing? It's real and some people will get scared and hit you because you got them good. I got smacked in the head by a purse when I worked in the lockers. I got this lady REAL good and she actually apologized. Some people just startle. It happens. It isn't always malicious. 

I have been stalked by an actor who followed me to work, got my phone number and called and texted so much that I had to get rid of the phone number, brought pornography in to show me and even threatened the lives of other actors. I have been grabbed by the throat and shaken violently by a guest in the queue line while his friends laughed. I've been groped, spit on, hit, threatened and all number of things. You, as an actor, need to report it. 

I can't promise that anything will happen. When I told management about the actor who stalked me and threatened people, I did it in writing and I had witnesses who also came forward. I was told "Well, that's just how Actor is. He's harmless." I almost lost my job because he showed up at my job and followed me around and my managers told me that I can't have friends just hang out with me. I told this guy to leave. I told my managers that I didn't invite him there and that he was following me and I ended up switching to night shift where the store was completely closed just to get away from him. I went from a 40 hour work week to 20 hours just to get away from this guy. 

The guest that choked me was in a part of the queue that made him easy to extract. I reported him to security. They shrugged it off and said they can't really do anything. I went to one of the owners and he just laughed and was like "Yeah, that happens." 

 

I had a personnel manager walk up to me and call me a 'stupid fucking bitch' in front of actors and a visiting guest, which was reported and the solution offered was to make a Facebook chat. 

There was a guy that had so many sexual harassment complaints that he might as well be getting points on a rewards card. No matter where he was placed, he would make his way to the women and grope and stare at them and make comments about their bodies and what he wanted to do with them. Countless, countless reports. I know because I received those reports when I would do my patrols and walk to the personnel manager and report him myself. I would bring her to the break room to speak with the women that were afraid to go back to their rooms. That guy came back year after year after year. He finally got fired. You know why? Not for sexual harassment and assault. He got fired for leaving property grounds. I found his costume in the port-a-potty and called management to come and watch and see who collected it and found out that he left the property during his break to grab a snack. That finally got him fired. 

I saw two actors placed in the same room when one of them had a RESTRAINING ORDER against the other actor. I heard on the radio where another actor was calling for help because shit was going DOWN in that room and the personnel manager said that they needed to just be adults and grow up. They finally got separated when one of the parties got physical with the other. 

I guess what I'm saying is that if you are working in a haunt, you are EXTREMELY likely to be hit, spit on, abused and even beaten. You will have varying levels of support. In my experience, your fellow actors will generally have your back. You aren't allowed to fight back because you might get fired for fighting back. I have seen other actors step in to protect their friends though. When I was working in that small classroom with the emergency exit door, there was a guy much bigger than I was right before me. I would come and spend time with him between groups (again, this was back when there were like 10-15 minutes between groups some nights). If he got an aggressive customer, he would leave his position and either prevent me from popping out or physically step in front of me if the customer reached for me. Your fellow haunt actors are usually going to be your staunchest allies. They know what you are going through. They experience the same thing and most of the time, they will try to protect one another. 

With those complaints out there, I do have suggestions on how to fix this for owners who struggle with this type of thing. Take assault and sexual harassment seriously. Period. You shouldn't need to have a rotation of women going in and out of a room because one guy can't keep his hands to himself. He should be fired.

If someone gets choked, punched and hurt and the person that did it isn't just having an intense fight or flight moment, kick them. When they bought that ticket, they agreed to keep their hands off the actors. You have cameras. You can take their asses to court. Kick them. 

You have security. Use them. If your front doorman suspects someone is a liiiiittle bit too drunk, you might want to send in security. At the very least, have someone in the camera room watching them. I've heard calls periodically over the radio for security to follow and the actors still got nailed over and over and over and security never showed up. I know crowds are rowdy, but you need to staff appropriately. Front line staff and security staff need to be placed appropriately. 

Breaks need to be given. I was told time and time again that breaks aren't required and, to be fair, they aren't. Legally, they can dump you in there and leave you hanging. The thing is that this work is EXTREMELY physical. Actors will be sweating, moving and exhausting themselves and sometimes they get a 10 minute break when they clocked in at 4 and got out at 2 am. They are getting dehydrated. Sugar levels are dropping. Exhaustion is setting in. Someone may have just gotten hit or groped and they need a minute to compose themselves because the adrenaline hit them hard or they might have had an experience in the past that is causing them to be re-traumatized. The breaks need to be AT LEAST a full 15 minutes. I'm not talking 'You have 15 minutes to fight through the conga line of people in the haunt and out to the breakroom, take a pee and come back through that same conga line again'. I'm talking, they get to the break room and once they are there, start that clock. They need to relax. They don't need to worry about how long it will take them to get back or if they will make it to the break room in time to even sit down for a moment. Give them the time to recuperate their energy so they can keep showing the guests a great time. An exhausted actor, injured or recently traumatized actor can't give you 100% and they shouldn't be expected to. Again, make sure you have the staffing for it. I know this isn't going to be a response that will make a lot of management happy, but if your actors need breaks and there are not enough breakers, then the managers need to get their big boy pants on and march in there themselves. Nothing reminds someone what people are going through than going in there themselves. I have severe OCD. Physical contact makes me feel like I need to scrub my body. Certain textures make me feel like insects are crawling underneath my skin. When I switched over to work costumes, I did so with the arrangement that I will work and accept the position instead of retiring and in exchange, I would not be doing acting. I knew my limits and my OCD had grown so severe that I knew that I couldn't handle it anymore. I wore a full body suit covered that was covered in layers of things on the outside and old makeup and sweat on the inside. It couldn't be washed properly due to how the suit was made, so it was steam clean only. Believe me, no amount of steam cleaning was going to clear this taint. I still did it. The kids needed me. I stepped up. They need to breathe. Especially anyone in a full mask or prosthetic. Be empathetic to their needs. They are people. Give them grace. 

A REALLY good example of all of this in action is actually Halloween Horror Nights down at Universal. I know that they have a much bigger budget, but hear me out. I got to do a behind the scenes tour and see what this is about. Universal doesn't want to exhaust their actors. They have long nights to go through and someone calling out can really be a set back. So, what they did was add sound pads to the ground. Actors could use the sound pads on the ground to either play a jumpscare or a voice line. It was saving the actors' voices.

The costumes are all pre-planned for the actors. They have no choice in the matter. They kept those haunts relatively chill or at least got a breeze going. They also had access to water at all times from what I could tell. 

 

As for breaks, Universal does it in a very specific way. Small haunts can't do it to this scale, BUT they can do it small scale and modified. At break time, they shut the haunt down. Not one room. Not have actors try and step in. They shut the whole operation down. It takes about 15-20 minutes. The actors have break robes and they march out as a unit to the break room. Let me tell you that no one got upset. There have been so many times where the actors headed to the break room and the crowds were cheering and applauding them because they are giving their ALL to us. Everyone goes to their break room and hangs out. Now, Universal has a breaker unit that swaps in while they rest. Smaller haunts can do a quick full haunt shut down to let the actors rest. A lot of them have a film screen up. Use it. Have something pre-recorded to entertain them while the actors rest and recover together. This also gives management a chance to check in and make sure that there are no issues going on, no injuries, sickness, costume malfunctions or makeup adjustments that need to be done. They can deal with all of that on the spot. Jason's makeup is sliding off his face like butter off a hot wall? Call up Janet the breaker and get her in costume. Jason gets his break, heads up to the makeup room and Janet takes his place until he's back and ready to rock. Most people will understand that the actors are people. There are a few assholes that don't, but... I mean, should you really give a crap if Karen is mad that she has to wait 5 minutes because the actors are dehydrated? She's just going to be mad that they aren't doing well enough because they are dead tired. Worry about your actors. 

 

Universal also kills it with security. Again, they have a big boy budget and most haunts don't, so this might have to be a floor by floor instance. Universal has a security guard stationed right around every 3rd room. They are there to keep the actors safe and remove any belligerent guests. Having at least 1 security guard per floor can help SO many issues. Seeing a security guard is a deterrent. If you get an asshole who punches and actor for fun and they don't see any security and don't have any repercussions, they will do it again. One security guard, AT LEAST, that is there and in the open will deter people. I have gone through Universal haunts for YEARS and I promise that having a security guard standing there does NOT ruin the immersion. It just really disappoints the people who want to hurt someone else for fun.

 

The biggest thing that I want to convey to managers, owners or future haunt creators is to take care of your people. If empathy is not enough of a motivator, look at it this way. Your people are your product. Without them, you have a nicely decorated location that is empty. Look at it this way, if I need to buy some cereal and I go to the store and see all of your cereal is busted up and crusty looking, I'm going to leave and go somewhere else. Not only that, I'll let friends and family know to avoid that place. If someone goes to your haunt and your actors are busted up, defeated and dehydrated, no one is having a good time. The visitors will warn others and when it comes around to the next season, they will look at other options. On top of this, haunt actors can be hard to find. If you treat your actors like garbage, not only will they not return and possibly leave the business entirely (which is going to screw over the haunt industry as a whole), they are DEFINITELY going to tell their friends and family not to work there. Uber is a thing now. I can tell you from experience that I'd much rather do Uber on Friday night than have to go work for someone who is thinks calling me a stupid fucking bitch at work is appropriate. That's just how it is. Some actors will take advantage of kindness. I understand that. You have to be compassionate as a whole and take that as YOUR responsibility as an owner. If you can't be compassionate for compassion's sake, then remember that treating your employees like crap can affect your bottom line in MANY different ways. 

Why I Left

I had a few reasons for dropping out. Again, I'm an introvert. I generally don't like being around people. Acting stressed me out. I was going to retire until I got drafted into costuming. That put me in a position where I really got to know the kiddos more personally because I needed to. 

 

The first year in costumes, I realized there was a need to take care of the actors. People would forget water, cough drops, Tylenol and all kinds of things and they either had to suck it up or get fired. So, I started what I called a 'Newbie Retention Kit'. Some people were just thrown straight in there with little training. Others were forgetful. I tried to carry everything I could in order to help them out. I had granola bars for people who were hungry because they had a 4 pm clock in time and it's 1 am and there is no end in sight yet. I also helped bail out someone with low blood sugar by bringing in granola bars or swinging by the snack bar to buy something for them to eat. I circulated over and over again with my backpack and refilled water bottles, passed out Jolly Ranchers and cough drops. I did my best to take care of the kids.

After that, it got a bit more involved. I got called in to volunteer my time. I was being told that a salaried position was being worked on for me in the future and a person that I worked with was told point blank, in front of me, that they would be salaried and paid for the year of work. That did not pan out. We were working 8 hour days many times throughout the year with no pay. The budget was extremely low, so we often had to pay for things for the actors that they would need like cooling pads and whatnot. My kit was funded entirely by me. I also had to do the laundry for the haunt. There was a single washer and two dryers and if I came in as early as possible, I would have about an hour and a half to run laundry and that's laundry for 60 people. I ended up buying an extra large washer and dryer to run it at my house, unpaid. I got paid the same as the actors to the day that I left. Minimum wage. That's where all of my haunt money went. Right back into the haunt. The actors were amazing. One of my washing machines broke and I apologized that I couldn't wash the clothes on the last week because I couldn't afford a new one. The actors did a fundraiser and replaced my washer. 

 

I stayed for the actors. I'm a very prickly, anti-social person, but I'm extremely empathetic. I ended up caring about each and every one of them and when they brought me problems, I wanted to solve it. My partner in crime was the best too. There were a lot of times where I was like 'Yeah, I'm losing money at this job. Time to go.', but I just couldn't go because I didn't want to leave them hanging. When my partner in crime left, I was devastated, but decided to stay because I really loved the actors. 

 

The final year I was there, I finally decided to leave for several reasons. First, I wasn't included in event planning. I would get a text that I needed to be at the haunt that day to arrange costumes. I worked a regular 9-5. I frequently had to call off work and use my sick time to leave early for events that had been planned weeks in advance, but were only communicated to me at the last minute. I eventually had the owners give me a list and I planned out costumes and hung them up so they were ready to go. Then I would get a text from the personnel manager that they decided to switch actors or characters around and I need to be up there in the next two hours to fix things. I wasn't being paid for this. I had to leave my paid job to get there or my job was on the line.

 

My partner in crime came to visit and was actually one of the witnesses that I provided that saw and heard the personnel manager call me a stupid fucking bitch. They were pissed and looked me dead in the eye and told me to quit. Not later. Not with notice. Just go. I didn't. I stuck around for a little while longer.

 

At the time, my family was dealing with some sicknesses. My mom had e-mailed me to say she had lung cancer. It's since been in remission, but that's hard news to stomach and deal with emotionally in a bad work environment.

 

My OCD had reached a breaking point. Again, my OCD is severe. I have trouble touching people. Textures bother me and I have obsessive thoughts. It's kind of like having a parrot on your shoulder who keeps saying the same thing over and over so loudly that you can't hear anything, but the things it shouts are things that scare you. I dare you to try and have a conversation with someone when there is a voice screaming in your head that someone you love is going to die and if you don't call them right now, then you will regret it for the rest of your life. Over and over and over and over. I wasn't sleeping. I finally reached out to my doctor for help and we started on medications during the haunt season. It was hard. I could barely keep my eyes open, I was terribly sick to my stomach and struggling to walk, much less drive myself and haul 3 laundry baskets and a few garbage bags of laundry up so many steps. I actually brought up the topic of my obsessive thoughts because it was getting so bad. Mine revolves around death and dying. I can't stop thinking about the process of it. The fear, the grief if I lose someone else that I loved and if there was anything after. I was terrified and having panic attacks. The manager that I spoke to walked up to another manager in the room and loudly told a story about a man that ran a funeral home that disliked haunted houses and Halloween because of death and that someone like that didn't belong in the business if the business involves something that would cause them a panic attack. I received the message loud and clear. 

 

Finally, I had seen so many actors suffering. There was one who asked to be called by a different name and was told by management that they would be called by the name on their birth certificate. They had no problem calling anyone else by a nickname or a middle name or a joke name. I mean, we were always allowed to call you Damien. I was never forced to call you Dan. Why was this being done to this person? The manager didn't like them. Actors were coming up at the end of their shift and clocking out. One of the managers admitted that they 'didn't think it should have taken so long for so and so to make it upstairs'. She changed their clock in time, but didn't change it for others. Only the people they didn't like. Someone was placed in a room with strobes who had seizures. One actor almost passed out in a full mask and I was told to send them home because they aren't 'tough enough' to work there. I raised hell and brought them ice packs and they were fine. So many people were disrespected and discarded when a little compassion would have made them happy and comfortable.

 

I decided to have a meeting along with another actor, who was having issues with the manager. This meeting was changed and the actor was uninvited because she was 'too emotional to speak for herself'. I went to the meeting. I represented her. I printed out evidence and provided witnesses and I was told that the solution would be a Facebook chat. 

At that point, I decided that I was done. I had so much going on in my personal life that shouldering all of this on top of it was too much. I told them that I was leaving. Once I walked out the door, I was done. I told them that I wasn't coming to help. I wasn't training anyone up. I had requested the meeting much earlier in the week to prep for this and they pushed it back to right before the weekend starts. Again, I was very clear that I was NOT going to help after I left that meeting. I had witnesses to this as well. I had brought two people with me for emotional support and they heard what happened as well. I left the room and started crying and my husband held me and got me back to the car. 

 

Afterwards, there was a post announcing that I would be helping out on the side even though I had explicitly said that I wouldn't. Then the actors were told that I did not show. I was heartbroken and felt betrayed. I left and never looked back on it. That made me never want to be a part of a haunt again. I have helped out a few smaller haunts by making and donating props that I make at home, but that's the most that I've been willing to get back into it. 

 

Switching to Content Creation

I've always enjoyed watching other people play video games. I grew up playing Sonic with my sister and I loved watching her play games. She instilled her love of games with me and after she died, I decided to get into streaming and doing videos for video games. It's kind of a way for me to carry on her memory. It also helps me calm down and deal with any stress that I have.

 

Specifically, the game Dead to Daylight ended up being where I landed. I started making videos making fun of character stereotypes (all Dwights hide in lockers, Megs will purposely get you killed, every Leon is a himbo). I ended up getting a bunch of followers on TikTok (20k) and started moving my content over to YouTube, where I've got a steadily growing base of people who enjoy laughing at stupid crap in Dead by Daylight or learning from the guides that I make. 

 

Similar to when I worked with the haunt scene, I call my fans 'Kids' and usually sign off by telling them 'Good luck out there, kids.' I try to make a welcoming environment since DbD has a bit of a reputation for being a community full of raging a-holes. I might be an a-hole as well, but at least I've got some sugar coating and cream filling. 

 

Dead by Daylight is a horror game that brings a BUNCH of horror icons like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Laurie Schrode and Ellen Ripley together. One killer tries to take out 4 survivors. I really thrive in that community because I enjoy spooky shit and it makes me feel I'm at home. 

 

My goal is to grow a community and support new and old players. Wherever they come from, for whatever reason they are playing, I want to make them feel welcome and cared for like they are my kiddos. 

 

I don't really do it for the money, although it's a really nice benefit to be an actual paid content creator on YouTube and TikTok. I mostly just do it for fun and to know that it made someone, somewhere laugh.

 

 

That's all I've got. Good luck out there, kids.