Scare Acting 101: Do's and Don'ts in a Haunt

We get a lot of new scare actors every year at A Petrified Forest and a good percentage of them pick it up quickly and do a great job. Unfortunately you can't always train people to the extent you want in the time you have allotted to train them. This is where many haunters discover that people don't all have the common sense you expect them to have and realize too late that some things (they didn't think they needed to teach) should have been taught.

Here is a list of do's and don'ts that most Haunts follow. Some are from personal experience and some I've learned from others in the industry. Some will not apply based on the Haunt you are working in, but most are generally expected wherever you work.

I'm going to list the Don'ts first because they're more important in my opinion. It's my blog don't judge me.

Don'ts

• NEVER say "get out" or anything similar to a guest. It sounds incredibly unprofessional. If they aren't moving then you need to scare them forward using a different method.
• Never say "Boo", I shouldn't have to explain this one, but come on people, it's about as scary as a basket of kittens.
• Do not ask questions when you scare people, unless your character is specifically supposed to. "What are you doing here?" or "where are you going?" will slow people down or get them to try to answer which takes them out of the scare. You always want to scare forward, not start a conversation.
• Do not break character while on the set! As soon as you get into character stay in character, because you don't always know if someone is coming and can hear you. If they do it will kill the scare and they will probably remember it after they leave the Haunt. This also goes for after you get your scare, scared people tend to look behind to make sure no one is coming after them, if you walk normally back to your spot or scratch your ass, they might see it. Illusion ruined, you just took them out of the scare. The only exceptions for breaking character is if there is an emergency and someone is in actual danger, or if you are on break and can not be seen by guests.
• Do not continue trying to scare someone who isn't scared by you. You simply can not win them all, no matter how good you are. If you keep trying to pursue them, the only thing you will accomplish is pissing them off...a LOT! 
• Speaking of pissing people off, a lot, do not try to scare your coworkers. There are a lot of people actually paying to get scared, focus on them. It can really throw an actor off and let's be honest, we hate it when guests try to scare us, so don't be that guy. 
• Do not follow someone beyond your area, especially into another person's scare zone/room. Two reasons for this, first is that you stopped being scary and now you're just annoying and second...
• Do not ever steal another actors scare. The people who created the haunt planned it out and they know what they are doing, do not disrespect their vision. If you get a good scare and decide to follow into the next area, you're probably not going to get another good scare. You'll likely annoy them and not scare the guest. Worst of all it's extremely disrespectful to the other scare actors.
• Do not jump directly in front of a group. You should always try to scare forward and avoid blocking a guests progress. They'll also see you coming a mile away, so at that point you might as well just say Boo and show them your basket of kittens. 

Fear me!

• Do not touch a guest unless your haunt allows it. Most will not allow it. If you do touch a guest for some reason, NEVER grab or push them. This is not just a no-no, it could be considered assault. There is also are really good chance you're going to get hit by the guest or the really overprotective boyfriend. 

Do's

• Learn your set and all of the props that are in it. Learn it so well that you could find your way in the dark, because you might actually have to. You also want to find back up spots to reset to if things get crazy and you can't get back to your normal spot.
• Get to know your neighbors, talk to the people in front of your scare zone and behind it. It's helpful to work together and set up signals to alert each other when groups are coming.
• Do go for a group at an angle and don't target the front person. As I mentioned already, they will see you coming from the front and directly from the side. They usually put the bravest first and they can be hard to scare. Timing is incredibly important, don't get the front person but get the group early enough for all of them to see it. If your timing is spot on, you might actually scare the front person too, and if that happens they'll all freak out.
• Do listen for guests names and use them if you have a speaking role. Even better, pass it on to the next scare zone/room if you can. 
• Do be aware of the guests behavior, look for signs of an aggressiveness or intoxication. You want to get into their personal space but not get so close that you get hit. Get in, get your scare and get out right away. You know, like speed dating.
• Do pace yourself. You want high energy and to give 100% every night, but not in the first hour. Set a good energy level that you can maintain for the night and stay hydrated. I've literally seen people pass out from exhaustion and dehydration, don't be that person.
• Do enjoy yourself, scare acting is tough but it can be a lot of fun. Scaring people is just as much of a rush as getting scared. They came to your haunt to because they want to get scared so give them what they paid for!

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Kenneth Leary is the author of Practical and Theatrical Scare Acting. He has worked in in the haunt industry since 2012 and is a year round student of scare acting and haunting in general. The purpose of this blog is to help others benefit from his research and experience in a humorous and informative way. He can be contacted at ken_leary@outlook.com for questions and comments. He doesn't get paid for this, so he's not too full of himself yet and will be happy to talk to you.