I finally started scare acting!
This Halloween (2022), I finally started scare acting after so long of wanting to give it ago. My role - a 1700s Nobel vampire.
I'm usually on the other side, enjoying being scared by actors, but after finding and learning that Fort Amherst does Halloween scare events, I just had to apply!
And that's exactly what I did.
I emailed soon after I was told about it.
I got a reply inviting me to an interview, which I was told I had to pass if I wanted to join. *Gulp* Interviews right.
I went to the interview and met such a lovely lady who was welcoming and warm from the get go. It was a pleasure meeting her.
After successfully passing, I was invited back to a meeting and what they call "Halloween 101" for us newbies.
We were shown around the tunnels and rooms of the fort, told a little bit of the history of the place by a couple of the regulars and met a bunch of lovely people who I had the absolute pleasure to work with.
They had three different mazes this year - Dead End, Circo Mortis, and The Gates of Hell. I was given the choice of which ghoul to join. There were plenty to choose, from killer clowns, zombies, the infected, a death angel, "a mental" from the insane asylum, a Hill Billie, a spooky version of a character from Alice in Wonderland, or a guide, but in the end, I just couldn't say no to the vampires in the Gates of Hell maze. So that's who I joined.
We all got to choose our own characters and how we wanted to dress up, as long as we were vampires. Well, apart from "The Beast" AKA "Beastie", who's been a long standing character of the vampires for years, gradually evolved into the beast she is today. Also, our medium, who was also a vampire in the past and may return to being a vampire in future as this year she was a witch who summoned us in a ritual. 😈
This year, the scene started off with the medium summoning the undead - us vampires - alongside The Beast in her séance.
The audience was thrown into complete darkness for several seconds, maybe around 10 or more, it felt like minutes. Then red strobe lights and music blasts on to reveal us before we "attacked".
We got many praises both in person by the guests who came through and in online newspapers / social media outlets. We were complimented on our costumes and our performances.
I got a few compliments myself and my costume/dress seemed to have been liked by some. I've always wanted to dress in 17 or 1800s attire, and I'm happy I got the chance.
I do admit, when we were told we could touch, grab, move and do whatever we pleased (within reason, of course), to the audience, I went full in at times. I twirled and sometimes bringing a guest with me as I made it look like I was about to bite them, just to spin them then walk off and leave them to defend for themselves, mwahaha. 😈
We'd grab, pull and just have fun with the audience. I pinned a couple against the wall before pretending I was about to bite them then walk away to find my next "victim". I would also at times stop dead in my tracks and either sway a little (so my dress would sway giving a cool look), or pace back and forth, waiting to pounce. Once I picked out my next victim, that's exactly what I did - I charged into the audience to "bite" the next person. This method also seemed to work. A security guard even approached me saying that she was watching me and it freaked her out. Nice! I had both men and women scream, yell and jump. On occasions, I would sneak up behind someone and scare them when they were distracted by another vampire. I would also distract the audience for other vampires to sneak up and scare them. It was brilliant!
In all, we did fabulously. We got on well, we played our parts well and judging by the reviews, guests thought so too.
This scene was all put together by our two scene managers - the vampire that has been a scare actor since the very first year at the fort and his fiancé (the medium). He planned, did the music, the ideas (which I later came to find out that many ideas and music from the other scenes he helped do as well, past and present (well, he is an expert). The script, lights, as far as I'm aware he mainly did, of course with the help of his delightful fiancé medium.
With this being my first time scare acting, it was a hell of a lot of fun and I think we did great as a team and individually.
I'm hoping to return next year and with any luck, I will see you all next time.
So, until next year, from us vamps to you, Happy Halloween!
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