It’s something in that crisp Fall air that screams it’s time for spooky season. During this time you and your friends may have found yourselves wandering into a haunted house. The twists, the turns, the screams! Such a memorable time. But have your ever considered what goes on behind the scenes? Maybe, just maybe you have what it takes to become a scare actor.
This is the first article in a series I plan on writing about working at a haunted house or haunt as we haunters (scare actors) call it. There are many different parts and components that go into working at a haunt. This can easily turn into a full time hobby beyond spooky season, but we’ll get into that later. For now, let’s just stick with locating your first haunt and the process of getting hired.
Doing a quick search online by searching the phrase, “haunted houses near me” or something like that should provide the major haunts in your area. If you already have a haunt in mind that you’d like to try and work at, just search for them. When you find a haunt that looks interesting, there should be a actors wanted or hiring page on their website. Note that not all haunts have this page up all year. Some only have this up when it gets closer to the start of the season or near the end of summer.
When you get to the actors wanted page there should be some sort of application process listed on that page. You might have to fill out an online form or print out an application and fill it in then email it to them. The instructions should be clear and easy to follow. Make sure you submit it in the format that they have requested. It’s hard to say sometimes when they’ll get back to you, but once you have submitted your application, this should be the start of your dialogue with this haunt. If you feel like it’s been a while and you haven’t heard back, go to their contact page in their website and reach out to them and ask if they have gotten a chance to see your application. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes they do get lost and they may need you to resubmit one. Don’t take it personally, it’s a hectic time for a haunts management and they’re doing their best.
A quick note. Some haunts are paid, and some are volunteer. Don’t be afraid to ask about this up front if it matters to you. Best to get this out of the way early as it’ll save everyone time later.
At some point they should reach out to you regarding your application. This will most likely be done via email, phone call, or text message. They should provide you with information about the interview process. Where to meet, what day and time, and if you need to bring anything (which you typically shouldn’t), this should be very clear. If you have any questions or if that time won’t work for you ask if there is an alternate time that your can interview for the position.
To make a good first impression, if you are able, try to show up to the interview a few minutes early. Most likely there will be a bunch of other people there too. You will see people from high school aged kids to retired adults and everything in-between looking to work at haunt. If you’re not middle aged and think you’re too old to do something like this, you’re not. Like most situations where there are a large group of people you’ll run into a few jerks, but the vast majority are really nice.
Each haunts interview process is very different. Some are more like auditions and they might ask your to act out a scenario. If you have no prior acting experience this may feel awkward at first, but take a deep breath, you’ll be fine. This is for them to get a sense where it would be best to place you. Some haunts are more relaxed and well pretty much just hire anyone on the spot. At some point they ask you if your have any talents that could help with scare acting. Can you walk on stilts? Are you a contortionist? Could you hold a chainsaw for a long time? Can you do any unique voices? Take some time and think of you have anything like that to add to the haunt.
They should let you know soon after if you have made the cut. This might be right on the spot, or perhaps you’ll recieve a phone call, text, or email. Wait a while, and if you don’t hear back, reach out and ask if you think it would be appropriate. You might not get accepted and that’s ok. All that means was that haunt wasn’t right for you and there are many more out there.
The next part of this series will focus on building and devloping your character, costumes, and lines to say. Some haunts have prescripted characters, while others is completely diy! It should be coming out within the next few weeks.
Scare Acting 101: Part 1 Finding Your First Haunt is marked with CC0 1.0
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