A “Haunter” is described as actor/ actress who participates as a character in a haunted attraction. I live near several popular haunted attractions; Bates Motel, Pennhurst Asylum and Eastern State Penitentiary to name a few. I always wondered what it took to be a actor or actress in one of those attractions.
It’s 2020, the scariest year to date for a lot of us. This Halloween season was definitely different then the past. Thankfully Haunted Attractions were able to open in a safe way for people to enjoy.
I always wondered what it was like to be part of the attraction. I reached out to my friend Nick Tyson AKA "Haunter Who" to get an inside look at what it takes to pull of a successful spooky season.
It’s 2020, the scariest year to date for a lot of us. This Halloween season was definitely different then the past. Thankfully Haunted Attractions were able to open in a safe way for people to enjoy.
I always wondered what it was like to be part of the attraction. I reached out to my friend Nick Tyson AKA "Haunter Who" to get an inside look at what it takes to pull of a successful spooky season.
Jenny: What inspired you to become a actor in a haunted attraction?
Nick: I grew up watching horror movies. I was that odd kid in school that no one wanted to socialize with. Scary movies were my pastime. I enjoyed seeing these behind the scenes featurettes or documentaries on how some of these movies were made; the make up effects, the animatronics the practical effects and seeing these people sit down one on one talking about what they are doing, pioneers in the horror industry to people, like Robert Englund or Kane Hodder just to name a few. I also went into some of the scariest haunted attractions when I was little and some of those memories still stick with me. They were fond memories. My older sister was terrified of Michael Myers and would run away screaming and I would just laugh.
Jenny: Is a “haunter “considered cosplay?
Nick: To be honest, I truly don't think so. There are some elements in it that I can see where they have common ground, but with my experience in doing both worlds I can almost give it a yes and no answer, but to a certain extent I don't think so.
Jenny: Is there a difference?
Nick: Here is my experience with both. Cosplaying is dressing up and acting as your favorite character or characters that you enjoy portraying and promoting yourself. Some people stay in the circuit in hopes to do modeling and film. I have seen entertainers and cosplayers make a name for themselves and even turn down a role in a movie. Personally those are the guys I like. They love what they do and are content with it and feel they don't need to prove anything more than what they are doing.
Haunting on the other hand, you are representing that Haunt for who you are haunting for. There are rare occasions where management would allow you to bring your own original character outside the haunt into theirs assuming it fits but otherwise they will cast you in a role and put you in a scene and the rest is up to you. ALWAYS remember though, this is a team effort and there is no I in team. If you are a cosplayer and on the clock as a Haunter, leave what you know behind and work together with other Haunters who are there for the same reason you are, the art of the fright and to throw down and haunt.
Jenny: I appreciate both cosplay and haunt actors. I think it is important to be authentic in whatever activity you are representing.
Nick: I grew up watching horror movies. I was that odd kid in school that no one wanted to socialize with. Scary movies were my pastime. I enjoyed seeing these behind the scenes featurettes or documentaries on how some of these movies were made; the make up effects, the animatronics the practical effects and seeing these people sit down one on one talking about what they are doing, pioneers in the horror industry to people, like Robert Englund or Kane Hodder just to name a few. I also went into some of the scariest haunted attractions when I was little and some of those memories still stick with me. They were fond memories. My older sister was terrified of Michael Myers and would run away screaming and I would just laugh.
Jenny: Is a “haunter “considered cosplay?
Nick: To be honest, I truly don't think so. There are some elements in it that I can see where they have common ground, but with my experience in doing both worlds I can almost give it a yes and no answer, but to a certain extent I don't think so.
Jenny: Is there a difference?
Nick: Here is my experience with both. Cosplaying is dressing up and acting as your favorite character or characters that you enjoy portraying and promoting yourself. Some people stay in the circuit in hopes to do modeling and film. I have seen entertainers and cosplayers make a name for themselves and even turn down a role in a movie. Personally those are the guys I like. They love what they do and are content with it and feel they don't need to prove anything more than what they are doing.
Haunting on the other hand, you are representing that Haunt for who you are haunting for. There are rare occasions where management would allow you to bring your own original character outside the haunt into theirs assuming it fits but otherwise they will cast you in a role and put you in a scene and the rest is up to you. ALWAYS remember though, this is a team effort and there is no I in team. If you are a cosplayer and on the clock as a Haunter, leave what you know behind and work together with other Haunters who are there for the same reason you are, the art of the fright and to throw down and haunt.
Jenny: I appreciate both cosplay and haunt actors. I think it is important to be authentic in whatever activity you are representing.
Jenny: Take me through a step by step process of make up and wardrobe.
Nick: For my haunt, it's very particular. In a normal non-2020 world, we would have call times to arrive on set; a half an hour difference for three different attractions and we would clock in, wait outside the wardrobe/dressing room areas and wait for a member of staff to hand over our costumes which by this point (unless you own your own costume and it's allowed by management) have been cleaned for the night and then it would be the makeup line.
We have a staff of up to 10 maybe more make up artists who come from different backgrounds and have different make-up techniques, people who go from airbrushing, alcohol based makeups to just cream make-up. I can't say I never had a bad make-up job especially with the place who I am with now.
Jenny: What is your favorite part of the experience?
Nick: There are so many highs with this experience it truly is hard to pinpoint just one. I would say absolutely the family bond I have with so many of these people. Some of them I have known since the very beginning going back to my Jaycees years which was 2001. I was 12 at this time and at 32 I am now marking it officially 20 years for me to be doing this, maybe even longer considering I did some kiddy community hayrides when I was little. But yeah, the family bonds I have established with a lot of these people have really cemented itself by a longshot compared to say the people I have done conventions with. We ARE in the trenches every Fall season putting on this show for everyone and we all look out for each other on and off season.
Jenny: What is your least favorite part?
Nick: Again another question that there are so many likely answers to. HOWEVER, I will say that especially for this year, especially has to be the “Goodbyes” of the season. All of us live either close by or far off and it's always this one common thing that brings everyone together for a short while. For some this is their life and you don't know exactly what it is that they go home to or what their work life is like and how it's so different from this line of work. This year is even does hit a bit harder because we usually have a cast and crew party the week after we close but because of this virus the venue we normally have has it's limits on crowds of people and we just so happen to exceed that limit. So for a night that we usually have a proper goodbye to fellow management and co actors and actresses we never got that proper closure so it feels like a huge chuck is missing and unsatisfied. Thank goodness for social media though.
Nick: For my haunt, it's very particular. In a normal non-2020 world, we would have call times to arrive on set; a half an hour difference for three different attractions and we would clock in, wait outside the wardrobe/dressing room areas and wait for a member of staff to hand over our costumes which by this point (unless you own your own costume and it's allowed by management) have been cleaned for the night and then it would be the makeup line.
We have a staff of up to 10 maybe more make up artists who come from different backgrounds and have different make-up techniques, people who go from airbrushing, alcohol based makeups to just cream make-up. I can't say I never had a bad make-up job especially with the place who I am with now.
Jenny: What is your favorite part of the experience?
Nick: There are so many highs with this experience it truly is hard to pinpoint just one. I would say absolutely the family bond I have with so many of these people. Some of them I have known since the very beginning going back to my Jaycees years which was 2001. I was 12 at this time and at 32 I am now marking it officially 20 years for me to be doing this, maybe even longer considering I did some kiddy community hayrides when I was little. But yeah, the family bonds I have established with a lot of these people have really cemented itself by a longshot compared to say the people I have done conventions with. We ARE in the trenches every Fall season putting on this show for everyone and we all look out for each other on and off season.
Jenny: What is your least favorite part?
Nick: Again another question that there are so many likely answers to. HOWEVER, I will say that especially for this year, especially has to be the “Goodbyes” of the season. All of us live either close by or far off and it's always this one common thing that brings everyone together for a short while. For some this is their life and you don't know exactly what it is that they go home to or what their work life is like and how it's so different from this line of work. This year is even does hit a bit harder because we usually have a cast and crew party the week after we close but because of this virus the venue we normally have has it's limits on crowds of people and we just so happen to exceed that limit. So for a night that we usually have a proper goodbye to fellow management and co actors and actresses we never got that proper closure so it feels like a huge chuck is missing and unsatisfied. Thank goodness for social media though.
Jenny: How do you handle people that are disrespectful?
Nick: Depends on the people. Most often times we have fantastic security
Jenny: God Bless security!
We have a team that is able to weed out trouble, the drunks, the trouble makers ect. before they can even make their way into the attractions. The ones that do get in though for some of them if not the majority, you just don't pay them any mind and just ignore them. Sometimes they try ruining the show for others either by pointing out where people are hiding or they try running ahead of their group and attempt hiding in places where they SHOULDN'T BE. There have been times where I almost incorporate it to the act and if I catch them early enough, I either just grab them and push them forward or point out to the oncoming group, "We have a lost child" and pull or point the guy out of said area with me having to deviate from my act but spoiling this guys fun. This year with Covid, if people were disrespectful and didn't wear their mask properly or not at all, our management stated that it was our right to not even give them a show. Sadly this was evidently a case and I had to either stop or break character and it would ALWAYS be one person in the bunch mixed in with a line of people and they got cheated out of a show because of one asshole.
In the end though, unless they try and get physical with you it's better not to pay them any mind because at the end of the day they spent money to go into a place to act like a jackass, or to be funny in front of their friends and really, they just wasted their time and money.
Jenny: How would someone go about auditioning to be part of an attraction?
Nick: Keeping an eye open on social media pages or Craigslist for any mentions of needing actors actresses or staff. They start up as early as July and August they have orientation meetings or auditions and likely call you in. It helps if you know someone who knows someone but again ALWAYS FOLLOW those event pages.
Nick: Depends on the people. Most often times we have fantastic security
Jenny: God Bless security!
We have a team that is able to weed out trouble, the drunks, the trouble makers ect. before they can even make their way into the attractions. The ones that do get in though for some of them if not the majority, you just don't pay them any mind and just ignore them. Sometimes they try ruining the show for others either by pointing out where people are hiding or they try running ahead of their group and attempt hiding in places where they SHOULDN'T BE. There have been times where I almost incorporate it to the act and if I catch them early enough, I either just grab them and push them forward or point out to the oncoming group, "We have a lost child" and pull or point the guy out of said area with me having to deviate from my act but spoiling this guys fun. This year with Covid, if people were disrespectful and didn't wear their mask properly or not at all, our management stated that it was our right to not even give them a show. Sadly this was evidently a case and I had to either stop or break character and it would ALWAYS be one person in the bunch mixed in with a line of people and they got cheated out of a show because of one asshole.
In the end though, unless they try and get physical with you it's better not to pay them any mind because at the end of the day they spent money to go into a place to act like a jackass, or to be funny in front of their friends and really, they just wasted their time and money.
Jenny: How would someone go about auditioning to be part of an attraction?
Nick: Keeping an eye open on social media pages or Craigslist for any mentions of needing actors actresses or staff. They start up as early as July and August they have orientation meetings or auditions and likely call you in. It helps if you know someone who knows someone but again ALWAYS FOLLOW those event pages.
Jenny: What is the most useful piece of advice you could give someone about the whole experience?
Nick: For newbies, understand and know well in advanced what you are going to be getting yourself into. It isn't as simple as putting on makeup and a costume or a mask. It is a physically demanding job and both management as well as fellow haunt actors will push you to bring the best out of you. Listen to what the vets have to say, and take the constructive criticism. We start as early as mid-September and end as late as the first week of November and when we get into those later weeks of October we deal with thousands and thousands of people each night. I have seen people quit after the first night.
Also PLEASE- DO NOT mess with any of the technical stuff! You'd be surprised how many things can break down or not function right and we NEED AND HAVE people who specialize in fixing say a fog machine or a jump scare mechanism and then some actor comes along trying to fix it only to realize they made it worse!
Nick: For newbies, understand and know well in advanced what you are going to be getting yourself into. It isn't as simple as putting on makeup and a costume or a mask. It is a physically demanding job and both management as well as fellow haunt actors will push you to bring the best out of you. Listen to what the vets have to say, and take the constructive criticism. We start as early as mid-September and end as late as the first week of November and when we get into those later weeks of October we deal with thousands and thousands of people each night. I have seen people quit after the first night.
Also PLEASE- DO NOT mess with any of the technical stuff! You'd be surprised how many things can break down or not function right and we NEED AND HAVE people who specialize in fixing say a fog machine or a jump scare mechanism and then some actor comes along trying to fix it only to realize they made it worse!
Jenny: What would you like to see happen for the future in haunting?
Nick: To evolve from where we are now as an industry is always a given, but more importantly is to see us back in full operation again. Our management this year pulled out all of the impossible stops to make certain we had a season of haunting this year and not only did we have it, but absolutely no one in our staff got sick and that's a miracle considering we would have actors who would push and go hard and end up getting sick, but to hear that no one did is amazing.
While that is amazing, in our case we had people who didn't return this year due to the virus and honestly our cast felt very half and incomplete, as if Thanos snapped his fingers and half of us only survived. Our season had just ended but let's just hope by next year we won't be in this situation and it would be a long time before we are ever in it again.
Jenny: What advice would you like to give everyone in this difficult time?
Nick: As what the late great Roddy Piper once wrote to me in an autograph signing, Stay Strong! Sincerely, my heart goes out to every haunt actor who had to sit out this year, and for those people who look forward to this time every year and they either have something going on and they use this time as an escape from whatever is happening. I've been on that boat as well this season and it's been a treadmill of emotions. For everyone and not just the Haunt actors, look out for each other, especially with the holiday season coming up. If you are down or are struggling and just can't find a way to cope, reach out to someone. Or if you are witnessing some strange behavior in a friend that is out of the norm, extend a hand. Yeah it might sound cliché or redundant but we are all in this together and when in doubt extend that hand because small gestures like that mean the world hasn't ended for some.
Simply and basically in the dark and difficult time we are in now, BE KIND.
Jenny: Thank you Nick for letting me into your world of haunting. I wish all of the haunters out there a successful 2021 season and thank you for your patience, kindness, spooky season spirit and dedication for continuing to do what you love even during this difficult time.
Nick: To evolve from where we are now as an industry is always a given, but more importantly is to see us back in full operation again. Our management this year pulled out all of the impossible stops to make certain we had a season of haunting this year and not only did we have it, but absolutely no one in our staff got sick and that's a miracle considering we would have actors who would push and go hard and end up getting sick, but to hear that no one did is amazing.
While that is amazing, in our case we had people who didn't return this year due to the virus and honestly our cast felt very half and incomplete, as if Thanos snapped his fingers and half of us only survived. Our season had just ended but let's just hope by next year we won't be in this situation and it would be a long time before we are ever in it again.
Jenny: What advice would you like to give everyone in this difficult time?
Nick: As what the late great Roddy Piper once wrote to me in an autograph signing, Stay Strong! Sincerely, my heart goes out to every haunt actor who had to sit out this year, and for those people who look forward to this time every year and they either have something going on and they use this time as an escape from whatever is happening. I've been on that boat as well this season and it's been a treadmill of emotions. For everyone and not just the Haunt actors, look out for each other, especially with the holiday season coming up. If you are down or are struggling and just can't find a way to cope, reach out to someone. Or if you are witnessing some strange behavior in a friend that is out of the norm, extend a hand. Yeah it might sound cliché or redundant but we are all in this together and when in doubt extend that hand because small gestures like that mean the world hasn't ended for some.
Simply and basically in the dark and difficult time we are in now, BE KIND.
Jenny: Thank you Nick for letting me into your world of haunting. I wish all of the haunters out there a successful 2021 season and thank you for your patience, kindness, spooky season spirit and dedication for continuing to do what you love even during this difficult time.
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Until next time
Hugsnhisses
Jenny
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Hugsnhisses
Jenny
www.hugsnhisses.com
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