Liz Foral doesn’t just run the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA), a clearinghouse for haunters, parks, and attractions that are looking to implement Halloween programs, be it a haunted house, pumpkin patch, or hayride. She’s also the driving force behind Mystery Manor, a 125-year-old mansion in Omaha, Nebr., that offers a terrifying Halloween experience for area residents.

When asked if Mystery Manor was a family affair, Foral laughs. “Ninety-five percent of haunters’ family members don’t want to be involved. They think, ‘You like blood and guts?’ But it’s more than that. It’s a passion for entertainment, for improvisation.”

And for every great haunted house, every room that’s done up to look like the site of an autopsy with an evil doctor lurking nearby, or a killer clown room, filled with, well, killer clowns, there’s a behind-the-scenes training program designed to fully equip actors with the skills they’ll need to pull off a fright-filled, safety-conscious night. “It’s a matter of building up synergy,” Foral says. “I tell people—it doesn’t matter if you have acting experience. What matters is your ability to improvise, to discern what’s appropriate, to work as a team, and to work hard. After all, most haunted houses have people coming through once every three minutes. That’s a lot of on-time.”

Scare, But Don’t Touch

According to Foral, once she’s trained Mystery Manor’s 50 actors during sessions that run twice a week for six consecutive weeks, she takes them downtown and asks them to get into character on the street. “Silence is deadly,” she says. “Body movement’s the No. 1 thing.” Other issues Foral stresses are safety, how to approach people, personal space, and the cardinal rule of no touching. “Haunted houses that allow touching are just asking for trouble. You can set up a scare another way. You can release an air cannon near someone, for instance. It’ll send a little poof of air their way.”

To solidify and organize her tips and instructions, Foral has created what she calls the “Manor Manual,” a small book that she distributes to each of her haunters—the technical term for scary actor—with guidelines such as “Remember, if you go outside, you must remain out of view of customers. This helps keep the illusion that we are monsters, ghouls, vamps, lunatics!” And Foral also encourages her haunters not to “get defensive” if an outside actor comes into their area, as he or she may be “waiting for a certain patron to scare.” She exhorts them not to ever come out of character, even if they spot family or friends.

But no matter how enthusiastic or well read, an actor needs to learn the craft. How do you carry a fake axe, for instance, making it look as if it has the heft and weight of the real thing? How do you stay true to character, yet interact with the audience and fellow haunters in spontaneous, and potentially even scarier, ways? How do you act like you really belong in a cave, castle, swamp, or burnt-out, Freddy Krueger-style hallway? For questions like these, amusement parks answer with a two-pronged approach: they’re either conducting rigorous training programs of their own, or they’re turning to authorities in the field, to professional haunters and entertainment experts who conduct training sessions at their facilities.

Paramount Carowinds has done the latter. Mike Hamrick, entertainment manager, is in charge of transforming the facility from an amusement park to a bonafide Halloween event, complete with props, lighting, a host of actors working as street characters, and four haunted walkthroughs: a gothic maze, a 3D alien land, a chain link and mirror maze, and a haunted carnival. He brings two outside experts—Matt Schliesman and Amanda McTeague—to the park to train his staff.

“The training is intense,” Hamrick says. “First and foremost, it involves introducing Halloween and the art of the scare to new hires. After all, our actors are going to be entertaining thousands of people, in a large area, in a very orchestrated way. We have to teach the fundamentals of scaring, the different types.”

Though the training is compressed into a week and a half, Hamrick says it’s modeled after an academic program, with new hires testing themselves against Scare 101 and Scare 102. “And when they’re done with the program,” he continues, “they get a diploma—a Bachelor of Boo!”

Season of the Witch

Haunting is popular seasonal work, and though actors return year after year, they have to undergo training each time.

“Two nights before opening,” says Hamrick, “we give them a run for their money. We invite all other park employees to come to our haunted walkthroughs, and the actors get a chance to try out their techniques. For those in cumbersome costumes, especially, it’s important to have a dress rehearsal. Some of our actors work as stalk-arounds, giant stalking creatures that are larger than life. The actor rests the creature’s torso on his shoulder, and looks out through a portal in the chest. It takes a hearty actor to pull off a stalk-around. Other actors are creepers, with metal kneepads, steel toes, and metal tips on hands. They stalk around in fog and bushes, and when they see someone coming, they start off in a run, drop down on their hands and knees, and make sparks fly.”

Paramount Carowinds also offers karaoke, which, during the Halloween season, is aptly renamed “scareoke.” The park casts actors for that, too, training about 115 people each year.

Clocking in at around 600 to 700 seasonal employees, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay hosts one of the U.S.’s largest, and most-celebrated, Halloween attractions. Despite having run for just four seasons, the entertainment package, Howl-O-Scream, garnered a No. 1 ranking from Haunt World magazine, an accolade that Scott Swenson, festival show manager, is proud of. Howl-O-Scream consists of six haunted houses, various scare zones situated randomly around the park—so patrons won’t know when they’re about to encounter spooks—and special themed and staged performances. After holding eight nights of auditions and hiring actors according to where they’ll be performing, the park’s in-house training begins.

“First, everyone goes through general orientation, redesigned for Howl-O-Scream employees. How to scare safely is our No. 1 priority. We show a video that we, the entertainment department, developed with the safety department called ‘Scare with Care.’ It’s quite entertaining.”

According to Swenson, each haunted house and scare zone has its own stage manager, overseen by one of a handful of associate show directors, who, in turn, are supervised by the creative director. The show directors work with the creative director to cast the actors in specific roles during the auditions. Rehearsals begin 10 to 15 days before opening, says Swenson, and as the shows are incredibly character-driven, it’s important for each actor to know who they’re going to play upon arrival.

“We’ll see someone and think—‘He’s perfect for this or that part.’ We’ll give the actors parameters and suggested ideas,” Swenson says. “Although we encourage spontaneity, we don’t want the character thrown out.”

The haunted houses where the actors will try out their new skills include Escape from Insanity: Residents’ Revenge; Dark Hearts Fear Fair; and Demented Dimensions.

Although the Halloween festivities at Six Flags Elitch Gardens, in Denver, Colo., occur on a smaller scale than Busch Gardens’, the training is also conducted in house, and is no less intense. According to Eric Curry, public relations associate, FrightFest training “includes our standard operating procedures for the haunted houses and our wide variety of FrightFest attractions. All employees go through a training session, which includes information packets, presentations, and a comprehensive test. This includes training on safety rules and procedures. Then we have three days of rehearsals and in-house training. Each actor in the haunted houses has a specific role to play and is trained specifically for that position. They are coached on dialogue, blocking, prop operations, and other techniques to effectively play a FrightFest character. We offer Halloween attractions for the whole family—mild to wild, fun to scary.”

Tim Hampton, lead supervisor of entertainment, staffs the haunted houses, Brutal Planet and Screams from the Past, as well as the performances, which include a séance and Fright Night song and dance numbers. This process involves auditioning, then hiring approximately 100 eager haunters. Six Flags Elitch Gardens also offers a Trick-or-Treat Trail for children that includes free goodies and a miniature kid-friendly haunted house. The park is host to an annual Pet Parade, where pets and owners dress up and compete for the best costumes. In addition, Halloween decorations fill the park. Think haunted graveyards, gargoyles, spider webs, and roaming ghouls and goblins.

“The dress rehearsals are built as guidelines, dos and don’ts. The actors will find out what role they’re going to be playing for our four weeks of haunted houses. On the last day, we’ll do costuming,” Hampton says. He adds that some improvisation is allowed, but there’s a stringent “no touching” rule.

Larry Kirchner, of Darkrider (formerly Halloween Productions), a company that supplies haunted houses to parks, turns the “no touching” rule on its head. “I ask my actors: What are you going to do if a customer provokes you? I make sure they know that they should never, ever hit back.”

When Kirchner installs a new haunted house in a park, he often offers advice on hiring and training Halloween actors. “My advice is to hire outside the park. Get people who really, really want to be haunters. Don’t just turn your summer lifeguards into haunters, because there is no more tedious job. You sit in the same spot, doing the same thing over and over again. It gets very hot. It’s tiring. I give the actors for my houses soda and candy, all night long. (Kirchner operates three haunted houses in St. Louis, Mo.)

“There are two kinds of actors,” he continues. “The first is theatrical. These people are born actors. It comes naturally to them. The second kind is a startle actor. This is the person who jumps out at you, or activates a gag that scares you. His secret is timing—knowing when to make the scare. It’s hard to teach someone how to do this, but you can point out what’s scary. What’s scary is the anticipation. The not knowing when you’re going to be scared.”

Mystery Manor Employee Handbook

1. Absolutely NO SMOKING inside the Manor!
2. Safety is No. 1 in the Manor. If for any reason this is jeopardized, customers and
players will be ejected from the house.
3. Treat each actor As their character and with respect.
4. You must arrive on time to prevent congestion or delay in opening area.
6. Team leaders should have an alternate trained to help run an area.
7. Patrons are our guests and should be treated with respect.
8. The last show should be as good as the first!
9. No foul language or violence will be tolerated! Even if your character is famous and
does use that language.
10. Know your area thoroughly—fire exits, trouble spots, etc.
11. Keep basics with you in case you are moved.
12. In between groups, voices must be very low! (saying “Fresh meat!” or “We got people!” is not allowed!)
14. When you are in costume you must remain in character.
15. Problem customers will be ejected from the house if they become violent or deface
property.
16. You are not allowed in front of the manor unless you are security or a line monster.
17. If you sustain an injury, go to a team leader immediately!