Halloween season is a great opportunity to try out some spooky activities like a haunted hay ride or a haunted house. And Americans really love to get scared. According to the trade association America Haunts, there are about 1.2k paid haunted attractions in the U.S., and another 3k charity ones.
We as customers often don't see into the nitty-gritty of what the actors of haunted attractions go to. So, to let us see things from their perspective, one person online asked: "Haunted house workers, what is something that a guest did had said or done that made you break character?" Turns out even the toughest and scariest characters can break and bust out a laugh at a customer's shenanigans.
#1
One night this couple comes in with a 3-4 year old girl. She is throwing a huge fit, kicking, screaming, crying, the whole 9 yards, she doesnt wanna go in.
Now, a logical human being would see this and say, "well I guess we dont go" but not these two f**kos. They keep trying to force little girl to go through the house, but she wont budge. This is causing a bit of a scene as well as backing up the line. Myself and one or two other monsters tell them "look, you gotta either get her to go in, or you gotta leave, you're holding up the line" but they are adamant that she has to go through and she is not having it. Now were pissed off because, why the f**k are you trying to make this small child go through when she is obviously terrified and scared out of her f*****g mind? We realize something has to happen, so we seek out one of the girls from further down the house who was a witch we called Baba Yaga since she was the most human looking of us. We told her the situation and asked if shed help walk the girl through the house, and she agreed.
So we bring Baba to the little girl, and she goes into this cartoonish russian accent "HellO leetle gorrl, I am Baba Yaga the gOod weetch! I am going to heyalp you scare all the mon-stors awaY!" She takes the little girls hand and off they go. We run off through the house spreading the word, "If you see Baba with a little girl, let the little girl scare you". Sure enough, whenever they got to where one of the monsters was hiding, the little girl would yell "BOO!" and whoever was there would lose their marbles. Screaming, running around in circles, falling all over the place. Sometimes there be more than one monster and they'd run into each other like the Three Stooges, all to the delight of the little girl, who was now giggling and jumping up and down, clapping her little hands, it was adorable. The adults that were with her look annoyed, but f**k them, the rest of the group that got lumped in with them were having a great time as well watching this tiny child scare the mean ugly monsters away.
I've never seen an entire house break character like that, but it was fun to be a part of.
Image credits: Klown1327
#2
I (M) was playing a grim reaper statue that comes to life and lowers my (fake) scythe blade in front of guests from behind. This college age girl walks up to me and, convinced I was just a statue or a prop, grabs my *parts* to prove to her friends it was safe. I looked at her slowly and asked "So do you take me to dinner now or..." that was the best scream we got all night.
Image credits: KamuiBatosai
#3
A friend of mine caused a lady to break character. Near the end of a local haunted mill a woman in demonic type makeup jumps out of a pentagram/summoning circle thing. Shrieks "I will teach the meaning of true pain!" and my buddy just goes "Lady, I've been married for 20 years, you ain't got s**t".
She burst out laughing, gave him a hug and told him to get the f**k out.
Image credits: eccehobo1
#4
I was "the ring girl" back in the day. Had my own little scene set up an open maze type format. Essentially you walk into an outdoor opening of trees, giving the illusion of being lost in the woods (it was blocked off though). In the middle there was a styrofoam well that I would..well...creep..out of (strobe light effect). Anywho, there I am, mid October, barefoot with wet hair cuz I'm a teenager doing my best.. and I'm standing alone in the trees waiting for this next group to come through. It's nearly pitch black aside from the strobe, the group walks in and those who are gonna freak out are already doing so. I liked to split the groups up by running though them in the open maze. I had sufficiently broken up a big group and was sneaking up behind a boyfriend/girlfriend duo attached to each other..had them isolated..in the dark.I get behind them and right before the big scream, I start to lose my footing..because.. barefoot on a hill at night. I do this cartoonish backwards- trying- to -catch- my- balance thing..the couple sees me, starts screaming/running but by now I've completely accepted that I'm gonna eat s**t. Right before the back of my head cracks on the ground, a set of hands catches it. I look up, skinny old guy with a big mustache just holding my head. Had a fireman's ball cap on. I said thank you feeling like a dork, gushing a little.. he just kindly nodded, smiled a little and kept walking while everyone else is screaming in the distance, running around the maze. I realized that to everyone else I was the scary, but to him I was a teenage girl about to bust her head open in the woods.
#5
So I was stationed in a small room just off to the side of a long hallway with a strobe light at the end. It made it hard for guests to see down towards me, but very easy for me to see them. So one evening a group of a five teens come through; four girls with one guy leading them. Just as they enter the hall, the guy turns around to talk with them. Having just been handed a golden ticket here, I sneak up right behind this guy. The girls all go stone silent and when the dude realizes they're looking at something beyond him, he turns around and finds me standing within inches of his face. I give out the most guttural scream I can, and in response, the guy LEAPS backwards and knocks down all four girls behind him like they were bowling pins, leaving them all a tangled pile on the floor.
I literally could not hold it together. I had to run off into a staff only area because I was laughing so hard and could not stop. Easily one of my favorite memories from that place.
Image credits: cannedcream
#6
Not an employee, but the source of a broken character.
I was going through one of the Halloween haunted houses at Busch Gardens with my girlfriend, and the girl being devoured by the vampire near the end was an old friend from high school.
Me: Hey Kate, how have you been?
Her being devoured by vampire: Oh, hi Mike. I've been better.
Me: Well, good luck with that.
Her: OK, bye.
Image credits: Mikey6304
#7
I was the customer. Local pumpkin patch had a haunted forest that you go through. I hate hate scary things and refused to go. Well the people I was with (church group; ironic) kinda coerced me to go “it’s not that scary” “how do you know you’ve never tried” etc. Cue the first jump scare and I was so scared I kinda had a panic attack. Like paralyzed with fear, can’t walk, and bawling my eyes out. Two of the adults literally had to hold me up to get me to move. But it concerned the monsters enough to break character and ask if I was ok. Then they all backed away so I could get taken back out (we weren’t far in so they just had us turn around and go back the way we came).
When I helped with a elementary field trip to a pumpkin patch recently I happily volunteered to stay with anyone who didn’t want to go through the haunted house. Definitely stood up for the kids who were getting teased for being “scaredy cats”.
Image credits: firephoenix0013
#8
Not a worker, but I got to witness it. The worker was dressed as a crazy doctor. We enter the room, and the worker says "Are you ready for you autopsy?" in a really creepy voice. My friend responds "...Yes?" The worker's face just changed from menacing to complete confusion, then she dropped the act and asked "Do you know what an autopsy is?" My friend did not know, so we had to explain it to her.
Image credits: beltedkingfisherhair
#9
I worked in haunted house for many years. Lot's of examples when someone made me and other actors break character. Some were people's ridiculous reactions, like giant guys crying to people pushing their children down to run away, or because of their behavior like people trying to hit us or having medical issues like people throwing up, or because of trashy parents bringing toddlers inside (please don't do that!). However, the one the sticks out the most is when a woman came through alone, walking really slowly with her down while dragging her nails really hard along the walls. And I mean HARD. I could her scraping before I saw her. I should mention, these walls were made from cheap particle board full of splinters and decorations. The weird thing is that as she approached, I realized I didn't hear any of the actors before me, which were my que to get ready. Just creepy music and nails on the ragged walls. When she finally got to my scene, as I was about to do my jump scare she came straight to me and touched my costume and mumble something. Her eyes were glazed over and she was just not there. She just turned and started scraping the walls again on the way out. I didn't even get a chance to perform. I just stood there utterly speechless. Since I was the last actor in the haunt, as soon as she left, a bunch of the actors ran to me and said the same thing: WTF was that?!?! Somehow, she managed to scare/creep out over a dozen veteran haunted house actors. Looking back, I am pretty sure she was on d***s, but I can't help to think that she must have absolutely destroyed her fingers, gotten a bunch of splinters or even ripped her nails off.
TL;DR: Woman legitimately freaked out a whole cast of seasoned haunted house actors.
Image credits: goobermuslim
#10
As a haunted house customer...
I walked into a room full of female performers dressed as asylum inmates, with crazy hair and tattered straightjackets and everything, all muttering "They're here, they're coming," stuff like that. One got right up and glared at me and for some reason my brain said "So... what time do you get off?" I definitely saw a little crack-up.
I thought I had a pretty good shot at it until the guy with the chainsaw got her.
Image credits: Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
#11
I made someone break character. I went to the local haunted house on a date. The guy and I got to the haunted hotel and outside of it a family stopped him and started to ask how his wife and kids were! He told them they had the wrong person but he put his hood up and rushed us inside. He then proceeded to go so fast that I got lost and said "f**k this, he probably IS married" and frankly I was a little annoyed at his allusions to favors in corn mazes.
I found a cast member and quietly asked for the staff exit.
I got to the front of the hotel and the front desk zombie started to give me s**t for taking the coward exit. I told him that I got ditched by my apparently married date and just wanted to go home. His voice rose at least an octave and he goes "Oh honey, f**k that guy. Go home and get a drink or something."
He was right, the wine was much better than my previous company.
Image credits: Fieryirishplease
#12
As a haunted house customer...
My Type 1 diabetic girlfriend and I were waiting to enter and begin the actual house. This was after the line to get in and the holding area for parties to be able to go together. There was this big demon tree thing that had an actor actually talking to us.
"Tell me, mortals. What do you think your souls taste like?"
I looked to my girlfriend. Just a sheepish grin and a shrug. Then I chime in and respond
"Well, I don't know about me, but her soul would be pretty sweet because she has diabetes."
".... That's.....awful."
Still one of our favorite memories but that whole evening was just lovely and pleasant.
Image credits: hanslobro
#13
I said "I'm gonna skin you b***h!"
-
She replied, "no you're the skinny b***h!"
-
I broke character and told her what I really said.
-
Maaan, I was there to scare not bodyshame.
-.
Image credits: O5CR
#14
Not a worker, but as a customer, my sister and I once took a wrong turn in the haunted house. We were cornered by a dude in a hockey mask who was revving his chainsaw as he approached and we were screaming in terror...
Then he took his mask off and said in exasperation, “guys you’re not supposed to be back here.” Then he shooed us back into the main hallway. Lol.
Image credits: Hooch_Pandersnatch
#15
I was an actor at a haunted house years ago. We had separate rooms connected by hallways for guests to walk through (like, there was a haunted house room, a circus themed room, and a zombie room). I worked in the zombie room, and played a zombie.
The room was made up to look like a living room of a house that had been broken into by zombies-- furniture toppled over, lamps laying on the floor, the door hanging off the hinges, a broken window, blood everywhere, and a half-eaten body lying on the floor. I was to be hunched over the dead body, pretending to munch on it when the guests walked in. And I'll say, our make-up crew was skilled. I looked like something from The Walking Dead.
Well, this dude walks into my zombie room, he sees me hunched over the dead body, and I did this creepy thing where I slowly look up at him and stare with my mouth hanging open. He goes "Oh, HELL no!" and stumbled backwards onto the couch, tried to scramble off the couch, only to trip over the lamp that was on the floor, and wound up falling facedown on the floor.
I have to admit, I broke character and laughed. I couldn't help it.
Image credits: anon
#16
I was in very well one of the best spots in the house. We call this one “mineshaft,” where the only light comes from the night sky or sparks, other effects we have in the house, and it is themed around a (you guessed it) mineshaft.
Well, in this particular instance I was the first scare as the people came through. I enjoyed the spot where I was because it was pretty much pitch black, and having dark clothes on I blended right in. There is this long corridor that at my end, where the light is completely pitch black, they turned to another section in the house, and at the other end is this corridor that makes up the entrance, so I can see the light and the people coming but they couldn’t see me. It was such a great spot because I would be right in front of them as well, and because of this I was able to scare them head on. Some people jumped back, some people almost tripped and fell, groups of girls screamed, people laughed hysterically because they were so high, and other people just stared.
What made me break character was this boyfriend and girlfriend, looked to be in high school, and I saw that the girlfriend was grabbing her boyfriend very closely and looked to be unnerved by the whole house. Boyfriend kept telling her that it was alright and reassuring her. By this time they were walking down this corridor that I’m facing down, and comes my turn to scare. I can make a really good sort of “zombie screech” and it’s exactly what I did. To my surprise the boyfriend jumped back but the girlfriend just stood still for about 5 seconds. She then slowly started walking back and collapsed to the floor, sobbing hysterically and wouldn’t move. The boyfriend went up to her and tried to reassure her but she kept crying.
At this point I broke character and asked if she was okay and if I could help. It took about two minutes of reassurance before we both helped her out of the house, still sobbing. It definitely looked to be a panic attack and I was glad I was able to help, but also a bit bummed about ruining their night and causing that distress to the girl. It all comes with the territory for sure though.
Image credits: iGamerAlex
#17
I was only about 17 and took a job at a hauted house. I would travel the waiting line and try to creep people out. Long black robe, great ghoulish makeup. A little girl got VERY upset with me and began crying miserably and her parents tried to calm her. I dropped to my knees and took my hood down and showed her that it was just makeup by removing some with my fingers, speaking calmly the whole time ("It's okay, it's just me playing, I'm sorry I scared you, etc"). She was fine after a minute or so, but that was the last time I did that bit. I remember how the movie IT got to me so hell no. I still wonder about her every Halloween lol.
Image credits: Sauerteig
#18
I worked at Field of Screams (in hindsight, a terrible place to work, we were unpaid volunteers and treated worse than that).
ANYWAY, I worked at the very first section of the Nocturnal Wasteland (an outdoor haunted trail). And I was one of the first scares. It was great. Nobody expects to be jumpscared that early, so my scares were 90% successful.
So I have two stories:
1. A girl and her parents wanted to find the exit as soon as they stepped past the entrance. Like the girl was coming out of the entrance screaming in fear. I guess the entrance triggered a panic attack. I didn't know what to do. I tried my best to not break character, so I just used hand signals (I had a mask on and it was too loud to talk anyway). I held my hand up to stop the rest of the group and motioned for the terrified family to break away, then motioned for the group to continue. I led the family to the "exit" which was a narrow walkway the VIP members use to skip to the front of the line. It was the only exit that was this close to the entrance that would cause the least trouble, as the regular line was full. The parents thanked me and I nodded and went back to scaring. Nobody trained us for those situations.
2. One of the scares I did was crawling on the floor and grabbing at the victims feet (without touching them). It was outside after dark and very low lit, so I was always a surprise to everyone. One time, after scaring the crowd, I was clawing at the ground and howling and whatnot to keep them uncomfortable. This lady, completely straight faced and unphased, just full on stomps on my hand. I was dumbfounded. What made her think that that was okay? I wasn't touching anyone. She wasn't afraid or acting out of fear, she just straight up smashed my hand and kept walking like she was tough shet. I was a frail timid 13 year old little girl. I couldn't do anything but shrink away and scamper back to my hiding place/break station to collect myself.
Image credits: _lady_spooky_
#19
Probably the time a guy came in drunk as f**k and kissed me on the lips did I mention I am a guy I said if you want to go any further you're going to have to take me out to dinner and that made his group laugh so hard they nearly pissed themselves and no I am not gay.
Image credits: rhog
#20
Not a worker but...
I was at a haunted house with a few friends one of their names was Christian. Well Christian was messing with a girl in our group who was really scared, and he pushed her to the front of the group just as one of the workers jumped out. she screamed and a yelled "f**k you Christian!" The worker stopped and said in an confused/offended voice "did you just call me a f*****g Christian?" It was pretty funny.
Image credits: zenthor101
#21
We were at Universal during the Halloween event - basically the entire park was a giant haunted house and it was extremely over the top - one part of the park was known to be particularly scary as it involved (prop) chainsaws.
When we got that far the girls were starting to look nervous. The leader of the scary ghost pirates noticed this. She was this really cool lady that ended up making my two small girls her crew mates. This granted them the ability to strut through the very scary parts and if someone tried to scare them they would say “Back off , we’re in Madam Carrey’s pirate crew!”
Worked like a charm and made for a great family memory! If anyone likes a good scare I definitely suggest checking this park out during Halloween times. You do have to buy a separate ticket for Halloween nights admission but it’s a great experience and very well done.
#22
My (horrible) ex boyfriend would force me to go to haunted houses even though I was totally horrified.
My way of dealing with it (after crying) was trying to humanize the actors so I would talk to them. Some would be pretty chill and some would get mad at me.
I remember this one really great guy. I guess there were too many people in front of me so we weren’t really moving. So we started talking about how he would only work at the haunted house on the weekends and that he had some regular 9-5 during th week.
It’s one of my favorite memories because this guy was dressed up and supposed to scary and we were just having a normal conversation.
#23
Used to work at a haunted house that ran as a charity where I would hang on some rafters and swing around at people. Every now and then I would grab somebody's hat and throw it into the next room where the next guy could give it back to them. One big guy got pissed and grabbed me and dragged from the ceiling and threw me up against a wall. I shouted to the guy in the next room who was a cop who came in and dragged the guy out of the house.
Image credits: jivanicus
#24
Used to work in one years ago. I worked the crowd - but mainly by standing at the entrance in a coffin that was fitted with an undertaker. I walked in the undertaker’s feet but my upper half was in the coffin. One night I was standing there. Bone still. I did my own makeup and frankly it was good. Made me look “fake”.
I’m standing there completely silent and still. Some German woman; drunk (because you can smell the beer on her) goes “is he real?” Cue me to kick the back of the coffin as a jump scare. She then proceeds to back hand me across the face.
She did not get to go through the haunted house and was not refunded her money.
Image credits: sdemat
#25
Source of the broken character.
So it was my first semester of college, and some roommates and I decided to go to this place called the Haunted Mill. There's a section where you leave one building and cross through a field to get to another. So my roommates and I have just left the building, and out of the long grass runs this scary dude with a chainsaw.
My friends scream, but I process fear a little differently.
So instead of screaming, I instead say "Are you here to warn of the dangers of d**g use?"
And he just kind of stops. He slumps, and I hear a strangled noise come from him. He finally just waves us ahead, and I could hear him laughing as we left.
#26
I was a haunted bush in this grave yard where almost everything was someone ready to scare you
there was this one guy. His reaction was the most feminine scream suddenly abruptly followed by a “damn bruh you need some hedge trimmers up in this b***h”
Myself, the bush next to me, the two buried guys next to him, and the tree behind the guy busted out laughing.
#27
As customer. I went to a haunted house when texas chainsaw was big. The big finish the chainsaw dude would chase everybody out. The one I went to was a few towns away. Anyways, I was young and terrified of it. Saw the movie and it scared the s**t out of me.
Well, during the end of the house the dude chased us but singled me out, picked me and , slammed me on the ground, not hard I wasn't hurt or it didn't hurt. Gassed the chainsaw while standing above me scared the living s**t out of me to when I was literally crying. Dude lifts up his mask and it's my f*****g cousin! Son of a b***h! Still gives me s**t for it. I was around 12 at the time.
#28
Convinced my dad to take me to a haunted house when I was like 7. I remember begging him and telling him I wouldn’t get scared. Well I did get scared and almost had a panic attack in there. A couple actors felt so terrible they took their masks off and said “look! I’m a normal person, it’s just pretend! It’s ok!!” One of them showed us out the side door to save me from more trauma. No more haunted houses after that.
#29
One night while working around the outside of the haunted house, I was in charge of the chainsaw. As I was going around doing my thing, a small child about 6/7 walks up to me and one of the other monsters and says "You smell like shame." He then ran as fast as he could back to his parents. I was both shocked and impressed by his immense bravery. My fellow monster and I had to step away and laugh for a couple minutes after that.
#30
I wasn't a worker but I was the person that made them break character. Long ago when I was in high school, my friends and I used to go to all the haunted houses around town. One in particular had a guy in a wolf mask jump out and scare people. He bumped into me when he jumped out, in retrospect it was likely an accident. At the time, I just reacted and reached out, grabbing his mask and pulling it from his face. Wasn't intentional. Anyway, next thing I know I'm stumbling through a dark hallway with a wolf head in my hands, not sure what to do and I hear him call out, "Hey kid! Come back with my face!"
I don't know where that wolfman actor is these days, but I hope he can laugh about it like I do.
#31
Mine from a previous post;.
In my high school haunting years there was a fairgrounds haunt with three separate attractions/houses, mine being a called The Mineshaft I do believe. I was positioned at the end of a hallway, proceeding a maze, with a 180 degree corner/turn the patrons had to make to continue thru the haunt. A light above, in the corner, gave me a great hiding place. Pair this with some black clothes, black trench coat (cause I was an edgy teen), a black leather mask and now I'm a cross between Bane & the gimp (a la Pulp Fiction).
Now my job was a simple jump scare with a twist, or more a shovel. Per instructions, I was to strike the shovel on the ground as patrons approached, yielding a nice reaction 70% of the time. Nothing too dramatic, just gasps, jumps and some screams. As time went on in this post I also discover that the shovel blade plus concrete could produce a spark when struck right.
Enter the couple in grey sweats.
I hope, as long as I live, that I never forget the couple in grey sweats. In haunts it's easy to hear if there's a lively group approaching and they were no exceptions.
In ~15 seconds this all unfolds; a VERY heavyset couple leaves the maze and begins to approach, wearing matching light grey sweats pants and sweatshirts. I spark my shovel. She screams bloody murder. Takes off like a startled baby rhino. I dodge her like the matrix. She slams full speed into and takes out the wall behind me, not the best construction as it was a temporary event, completely missing the 180 degree turn that was mentioned earlier. Hangs a right and hauls off down the employee access tunnel towards the exit door.
Leaving a very dumbfounded me and her significant other in the aftermath. In the end, lights had to be turned on. Traffic had to be temporarily stopped. The wall was patched back together. Her suitor was escorted to the back exit where he was reunited with his bonny lass as she was being menaced by a clown with a chainsaw.
Now I'm no spring chicken myself, but if that teacup hippo would have been going a tad faster, she'd have left a Wiley Coyote style hole in that plywood wall.
Image credits: 216horrorworks
#32
When I was younger I went to one, and about halfway though we got to this section where the scare actor flubbed his lines hard.
I looked to a friend and said “I think he forgot his lines”
The scare actor looked right at me and snarled “you try doing this 100 times a night!”.
Image credits: Wolfsleeper
#33
Not me, but my friends and I were walking through and there was this girl with make up to look like she had a slit throat and just sat there and said “do you wanna play” and he responded with “nah I‘m not ticklish“ she said it again and he said with quite a bit of force and said “Look woman... I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR KICKBALL!” and she broke out laughing.
Image credits: Trust_me_Im_stupid
#34
I didn't work at a haunted house, but I was the one that made a guy break character.
We were at this amusement park sponsored haunted house. At the very end, a guy dressed as Leatherface was running around getting in peoples' faces and scaring them with what was supposed to be a chainsaw. Except it wasn't. He came up to me and I told him, "Sorry, I'm not scared of your leaf blower." He just stopped in his tracks. I don't think he had expected anything like that.
Image credits: JaiRenae
#35
I was the guest, going threw and I tripped and smashed my head on a barrier. Really pulls you out of the fear with 2 zombies and vampire come running to see if your okay.
#36
I went to a famous haunted prison where they can actually grab you. One of the workers lunged at me and accidentally grabbed my boob. He went from scary monster to overly appologetic and blabbering. It was adorable. We laughed about it.
#37
Customer story
Last year my boyfriend and I went to the fairgrounds near my house where they had three different houses. The first one was a space horror theme, like an alien containment facility or something. We're heading through this section with chain link fences up to the wall. There's bodies hanging from it along with some props, not to mention people behind the fence somewhere waiting to scare. Did I mention there was strobe lighting too?
Anyway, my boyfriend is very easily scared by horror movies and such, so he's a bust for protection. But we pass by this one guy gripping the fence staring down at us, still surrounded by other scary s**t. In a panic I scream to my boyfriend, "I can't tell what's real and what isn't!"
The man hanging from the fence, in a sly tone, replies, "Oh I'm real baby!"
I tense up and say, "OKAY THANK YOU!" Pretty sure that got a smile out of him but kind of hard to tell with the lighting.
#38
A customer:
I was walking through a haunted farm with my friends and wearing my Virginia Tech sweatshirt, when this group of ghouls popped out and screamed. We made our way past them and they all jumped back in front of us and said in a ghoulish voice “GOOoooOooOoOoo RadFOrD” (a neighboring/“rival” college) and we all got a good kick out of that.
#39
My mother in her youth group when she was a teenager said they hosted a haunted house. One of the scenes was a girl struggling with a noose. She was in the room next door. Not sure how they rigged it but it actually turned into a real noose and the guest after entering the room said something like “man she was kicking so hard and went limp for too long. Was expecting her to jump out at us or something”(apparently she was supposed to do that) which made the others go check on her. They resuscitated her luckily but I can’t help but think how those people unknowingly saved the gals life thinking it was a good performance.
#40
Not me but,
I was with my cousin (he's easily spooked by everything). One of the workers jumped out & screamed to scare us. I pretty much never get spooked, I just enjoy the time & laugh, but my cousin screamed like a five year old girl, grabbed my arm, & yelled, "I'LL SMACK YOU!!!!!" & the worker burst out laughing, barely able to form a single sentence.
#41
TL;DR - When our group of 4 in the final room scared a guy so bad he ran straight into a cement wall. Busted up his head something fierce. I definitely broke character to take him out of the “haunted house” and get him some medical treatment.
This was Highschool and a haunted house opening up was trying to get workers. They asked our theatre troop to work, so of course I said yes. The “haunted house” was 4 separate buildings with courtyards connecting each one. The buildings were actually Japanese internment camps/jails used during World War 2. Myself and three others took up residence in the final building. Our setup was awesome and got voted the best part of the whole experience.
1) Disorientation - removed all light sources to make our area as dark as possible. Set up multiple strobe lights some were motion activated (these were put inside the jail cells, so when you step in you get blasted by bright light flashing in your face) some ran constant (these were placed at the end of the hall towards the exit. Moving towards a strobe light is rough. So most people would enter and turn away from it to walk the opposite direction. Leading them to a dead end. Also loud constant noises. Once the entire group of “visitors” were trapped inside, the four of us would make loud obnoxious noises (think sirens not ghost sounds; intermingled with laughter and barking) to add to the disorientation.
2) Jump scares - to raise the heart rate, get those fear juices flowing and make them more susceptible to future scares. I stood behind the main entrance door and would pop out spouting some old world prayers “now I lay me down to sleep...”. One of our members hid on the roof and once all visitors had entered the building she’d jump down and block the doorway. Another member was in the last cell with stage pyrotechnics (fireballs that shoot from your hand and creating trails of fire on the cement walls)...it also helped she was an opera singer and could shriek like a true Siren. The final member was a wild beast that charged groups on all fours and “threw big bones in their general direction”.
3) Abandonment Fear - we couldn’t do this with everyone, but if one or two people came in, got disoriented and found themselves in one of the last jail cells (no strobe light, just darkness) we’d shut them in and lock it. As soon as this happens we go quiet and slink off back to our starting positions to get ready for the next group of visitors. We’d leave these people locked in the cell for usually one or two groups and then release them. But only when the current group was disoriented and trapped at the dead end...creeeeeaaaak CLANG! The jail door opens and these people come running out, terror ensues from both parties, running scrambling and tripping over each other, while the four of us sit back and enjoy the show!
Building details...it was basically a big U shaped building and you entered about half way up on one side (so when you enter you can go left or right). Curve in the U led towards the exit but was also where the strobe lights were setup. There were maybe 10 or 12 jail cells on each side, sooo the building was about 100m in length?
So this is how things would typically go...
A group of visitors tentatively come in the door. Down the hall to their right is a bright strobe light flashing and out pops me giving my creepy final prayers to these unfortunate souls. At the same time, down drops girl 1 from the roof, Thud! She blocks the entrance with her machete. The visitors turn and run away from the light and towards the dead end. Realizing they are trapped they turn around to see the shadows of myself and girl 1 walking towards them. Queue loud disorienting noises and beast guy. From behind us feral beast man rushes past us straight for the visitors. Clack! A bone bounces off the wall next to these people who in their terror move into one of the jail cells. Whoosh!!!! Fireballs are launched and the wall is ignited to create burning scratch marks on the walls and girl 2 shrieks adding to the existing din. In runs beast guy causing the visitors to rush out of the cell and back into the hallway where they end up running towards the strobe light and around the corner. Girl 1 is already getting back on the roof and I have climbed into the ceiling so when these people come running around the corner, and see the gift shop noting the end of the haunted house, I can drop down in front of them for one last scare. Reset and repeat.
In the case of the guy who smashed his head....he was locked up in the cell for a couple turns. People thought he was part of the act or didn’t believe him when he said he was trapped. When we finally let him out he flipping booked it. Unfortunately, he went the wrong way (away from strobe instead of into it) and face planted into the wall. I can still hear the smacking sound of him hitting it. He was pretty bloody. Got him out safely and to a medical professional. The “owner” of the haunted house was so worried about a lawsuit, but the guy kept saying it was the most fun he’d had in years. He came back three more days and brought his family, friends and coworkers to experience it. It was great to see him each time. On the return trips he’d write a note and put it and $40 in an envelope and ask someone to take it to the last group (us). He’d tell us who he had in his party, who to single out and what the group in front of him looked like so we knew when he was going to come through.
Honestly, working that Haunted House is still in my top 10 for life experiences. So much fun and so many good memories.
Image credits: lostBluBird
#42
When I was little (maybe 6 years old) my siblings and I came in a horror house. For some reason my parents didn't came in with us, even though the oldest one was 9 and the youngest was 5 (great parenting here, I know). My brothers and I came out of the house but my little sister stayed inside crying and terrified.
So, the monster from the lagoon took her hand and took her outside the house and gave her to my mother. It was really weird.
Image credits: Lis_9
#43
Not a worker but caused one to break character because i was too scared. I was pretty young and with a friend, as we were walking thru a haunted maze the chainsaw dude came out and i tripped and fell into the corn. I started crying and telling him i wanted out-- he totally helped me and told me which way to go for one of their like "safe" tents? Which was just around the corner. I felt kinda bad but was thankful this guy helped me. Then i had to wait outside the maze for my friends to finish.
#44
Former monster clown. Whenever someone mentioned the word "phobia" or approached me to tell me that someone in their group was too scared of me to go through, I'd introduce myself and turn my back to that group.
I didn't want anyone to get hurt, and I wanted them to GTFO my room so people would keep moving through and not get all bunched up. Huge groups of people were no fun for the guests or the actors.
#45
Not a worker, but I ask the workers for high fives and sometimes they break character to do it. I also asked one how a sparking rod works and they showed me.
Image credits: TheEvilGoats
#46
Jumped on my back and yelled “Surprise m**********r” in my ear. I wish I was joking.
Image credits: FezzyGamer
#47
Not a haunted house worker, but went to a corn maze after dark once. I'd see employees in the maze wearing scary (LOL) masks and say "Hi, handsome." You could hear an audible "Damnit!" under their breath afterwards.
#48
I don't handle scary things very well but the one time I went, I got jumpscared good by an actress dressed as Regan from the Exorcist. My brothers laughed at me. The actress decided to push her luck and ended up jumpscared me a second time, which caused my brothers laugh even harder and the actress to crack.
#49
About 3 years ago, (I was 10 at the time,) I was working at a Haunted Pioneer town thing for Halloween. They didn’t have too many regulations at the time, as it was fairly new.
They were serving drinks at the front, including wine. They didn’t really have any way to control how many drinks each person got, so there were a ton of wine drunk adults walking around.
I was a Ghost Bride, and needed to hang out outside the Chapel. There were a bunch of kids throwing rocks around, but I just ignored them for the most part.
There was a massive group of a bunch of drunk people, and they all came over to the chapel where I was hanging out. A bunch of them started hugging me, which I wasn’t comfortable with. I didn’t say anything though, as it was just a hug and I was trying really hard to stay in character.
This one lady, however, decided to hug me and GRAB MY A*S. I pushed her away and started screaming. I told the director about it and they kicked the lady out and warned the group. I went to the break room for about 20 minutes and cried.
The next year there were police and security guards there to make sure no other incidents happened.
A lot of other actors got harassed as well by both the rock-throwing kids and the drunk people.
The whole situation was really messed up and gross, and I’m glad they got more security.
Image credits: anon
#50
I have had many strange encounters with people. I could write a book about them. One time a guest jumped in front of me and said, 'Boo!' as if she was playing a game of tag or hide-and-seek. Another time one person touched my shoulder to get my attention but then ran away before I could turn around to see who it was because s/he didn't want me to break character by facing him/her (which would ruin the effect). A third example is when someone asked for directions through the house from behind, talking into their cell phone without realizing that they were saying all of this out loud so there was no reason why I couldn't answer back out loud too even though we were both pretending not to hear each other's voices.
I had one other experience where a guest walked up to me and said, 'You're the only person in this whole house that I can talk to. You seem nice.' After I thanked her she asked if I would mind walking with her through the rest of the house so she wouldn't feel scared anymore. Of course I was happy to.
There is one more thing I will mention which has happened to me. It's not exactly a guest who breaks my character but an audience member. Some time ago, when in the middle of performing with other actors for two hundred people at an event, someone stood up and shouted 'Boo!' or something similar to that effect. The whole audience started laughing and we were all caught off guard by it.
I am almost finished. I just wanted to say that I feel the most frightening thing is when we are walking around in a dark room and then someone jumps out at us, perhaps even from behind a closed door, because it's so unexpected.
Image credits: thegentlemetre
