Ah, Halloween.  There’s nothing “sweeter” than the bloodcurdling screams you hear while waiting in line for a haunted house.

Along with festive hay rides, nasty fake blood, and frighteningly large amounts of unwanted Almond Joys, haunted house attractions have been a staple for the Halloween season each year.  What most people forget, however, that each night there are men and women who dedicate their time to scare the pants off of you each year.

This year, I had firsthand experience in what it takes to be a top-notch ghoul –I worked at a haunted house.

For whatever reason, the idea of making money by scaring the daylights out of people appealed to me.  For years I waited until I was old enough to be an official scarer for FrightFest at Six Flags Great America. This summer I was finally able to audition. It consisted of a brief interview where we talked about my previous acting experience and employment history.  Then I took part in an improvisation exercise in which I was given certain Halloween characters to portray on the spot.

Despite it being one of the weirdest auditions I had ever performed, I was offered a role in Massacre Manor.  I quickly accepted the offer.  I was so excited to be making minimum wage doing such an easy task! I considered it my first paid acting job, a milestone in an actor’s career.  I  boasted to my friends and family that I was now a “professional” actress.

After three training sessions, I quickly got into the daily routine that encompasses being a murder victim in Massacre Manor. I was put under strict time constrictions so that school would not interfere with work.

A typical Friday included:

3:30 pm: Leave school

4:30 pm: arrive at the Employment Office and swipe in my card

4:35 pm: arrive at the costume trailer; clock in and put on costume

4:45 pm: go to the Hair and Makeup Department and get my makeup done

5:00 pm: Be escorted through Southwest Territory and enter Massacre Manor

5:00pm- 11:00 pm: work

11:15 pm: take off makeup and costume

11:30 pm: go home

From the beginning of training, however, I increasingly realized how difficult of a job it actually was.  The commute to Great America from my house is approximately 55 minutes.  Since my shift would end at 11:30 pm, I would have to drive home in dead of night.  Furthermore, Siri felt it best to direct me home by country bumpkin roads with no street lights in the middle of nowhere. Talk about my job oozing into my real life. In other words, the drive home was scarier than the haunted house itself.

It wasn’t until my first day on the job did I fully decide that scaring was not for me.  I was assigned to hide in the kitchen, where I would stoop behind a table and noisily bang a bunch of pots and pans together.  Each hour I would crouch in a down position, waiting for my next group of victims.  As soon as I jumped up, however, I began to feel increasingly dizzy. My heart would race and my stomach would churn.   I wanted to get up and out of the stifling confines of pots and pans,  but how could I escape when I had a duty to stay in character at all times?

I was trapped in the tiny room, my head spinning from the flashing strobe lights and ominous music.  All I could think about was how desperately I wanted to go home.

As I drove home on those dark, isolated roads that night, tears welled up in my eyes.  My voice was gone only after a couple of hours, and although there was only a select amount of guests that evening, I was exhausted.  What was going to happen when I had to do this every weekend with ten times the amount of guests?  Was I going to have another panic attack?

Needless to say,  my career as a part-time poltergeist was short lived: I quit shortly after. I doubt I will ever take a job as a scarer ever again, but through my experience I have found a new appreciation for these spooky entertainers and all the sacrifices they make to make Halloween exciting for us thrill-seekers.

It takes a certain type of person to work in a haunted house.  If you are  brave, hard-working, dedicated, and passionate about the job, then the job will be rewarding.  But if you’re a neurotic scaredy-cat like me, its probably best to enjoy the Halloween season from afar.