Haunting is fun, but don’t forget to take care of yourself. If you’re just getting into the hobby, this might not be something you’ll think about, but self care is vital to haunting. Talk to any veteran haunter and they will tell you to prepare.
There’s essentially two parts to self care, during and after. Self care starts when you get to haunt, but you’ll want to do some prep work first by making a self care kit.
You should have a spot in your room you can hide personal items. This hiding spot is where you can put your self care kit. The kit itself could be a backpack, duffle bag, or something of the sort. Items you should consider bring can vary, but the basics remain the same. You need to stay hydrated throughout the night so brining water is a must. Some people bring a sports drink instead, but whatever keeps you hydrated is good too consider. Depending on how long the night will be, two bottles is a good rule of thumb to bring. Sometimes more, sometimes less. You’ll probably be talking loud or screaming during haunt so you’ll want to bring some cough drops, jolly ranchers, or something similar to help you’re throat from getting too scratchy. Just make sure that you’re not overdoing it with them, and you don’t want to take them if you could choke. The nights also get pretty cold so hand warmers are also a good idea to bring. These are just the essentials, and you can bring more stuff if you want. Some people even bring snacks. You’ll get a feel as the nights go on and you’ll be able to adjust as needed.
One extra item I would recommend brining in your self care kit is breath mints. This one isn’t for you, but for your makeup artist If you’re getting makeup. Remember to be considerate.
Don’t forget to bring a jacket. At the end of the night especially as the season gets later, you will get cold. If your can afford it, consider looking into getting a heated vest. When it gets really late in the season these things can be a life saver. Dress appropriate for the weather and you’ll be golden at the end of the night.
When you’re just starting out you’ll want to scream full force giving your best scream for each customer. Don’t. You can cause damage to your vocal chords. I made this mistake and ended up losing my scream for a while. I hope I didn’t cause any permanent damage. It’s ok to give a good scream once and a while, but remember to keep your own health in mind.
Post haunt is also important for self care. You’re probably going to get to be around midnight to one in the morning, and depending what time you have to get up for work in the morning, this could really suck. You might be able to handle a night or two of less sleep, but if your haunt is many nights in a row you might want to plan in advance to either take some time off from work or see if you can get a half day. Sleep is very important. A tip for the morning is too have a cup of tea with some honey if you can have it. It can help soothe your throat. You might also want to rest your throat throughout the day, so if possibly keep talking to a minimum especially if you’re feeling scratchy.
A lot of this comes from personal experience and talking with fellow haunts. You’ll learn your own tricks as you go along, but this is a good starting point.
The next part in our 101 series will focus on safety during haunt.
Scare Acting 101: Part 3 Self Care is marked with CC0 1.0
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