Haunting is one of the funnest jobs you will ever have, but that doesn’t mean it’s the safest. Injuries, accidental or intentional do and will occur in a haunt. So it’s important to remember to have have, but stay safe. I’m not exaggerating, injuries can get pretty nasty.
During my first year as a scare actor, I was sucker punched in the head. I was working as a jump scare, looking to my right, and the blow came from the left. Didn’t see the coward who did it as they snuck back into the crowd. During my second year haunting, one of my friends was choked by a customer. This wasn’t the first instance of a fellow actor being chocked by a customer. I’ve seen another actor get heat exhaustion. Some actors have broken bones. Some have been groped.
Everything I just descriped was at a no touch haunt. Meaning we’re not supposed to touch the customers, and they’re not supposed to touch us. Sure someone might accidentally bump into someone else, and it happens. We can shrug it off, but when you go after someone to cause harm, that’s where a line needs to be drawn.
Most of the people you will find going after actors are drunk. If someone looks like or acts like they may be drunk, it’s best practice to keep your distance. These are the people that can get pretty nasty if they get physical. Sometimes just regular people throw a punch as a gut reaction when they get scared. If this happens, realize they probably didn’t mean to hit you and there is a chance they’ll end up apologizing.
Other types of injuries may occur like I said earlier such as broken bones. If you’re on rough terrain and misstep, things could go south for you very fast. Odds are you’ll be moving quickly at your haunt, at least for some of your scares. Going into this, just realize this could happen.
One other negative I do want to bring up, is certain comments said by customers. Sometimes comments given by people go into sexual harssment teritory. It sucks, but you should know this does happen. It can happen to all haunters. Doesn’t matter. Young, old, male, female, etc… the longer you’re at a haunt, unfortunatly, the more likely this will happen. I’ve had comments said to me as well.
Now, if something happens, your haunt should have a security policy in place. There should be safe words provided to all actors. At a minimum there should be a policy for dealing with a bad customer, and one in case of a fire. Safe words can communicate quickly that something is wrong and action needs to be taken.
If something particularly is bad with a customer, try to remove yourself from the situation as fast as you can. Get mangement involved or security. You want that person(s) out of there before something could happen to someone else.
I hope this part in the series doesn’t scare you off from haunting. However, you should know the risks involved with this job and hobby. It still is a ton of fun, but you do need a watchful eye to keep yourself safe.
In the next part in our series, we’ll take you through what to expect on your first night of haunt!
Scare Acting 101: Part 4 Safety is marked with CC0 1.0
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