Southern Spooks

Do you want to know a secret? I wasn't always an actor. In fact, I've only been in this haunt world for about two and a half years. To some of you, this might not mean much, but to my dear readers from Ravenwood Manor, I can assume some jaws are dropping. In the beginning, I was a mere walk-on volunteer that wasn't even in the paperwork and records of Ravenwood. Hell, the first day I showed up, Blake, the owner of  Ravenwood and my boss, asked me who I was and walked off before I could even answer. I was a blip on the radar, but that was my start.  Working in the trenches of behind the scenes jobs taught me a lot about the world I would soon become obsessed with. People may assume that the actors and the ones that are center stage are the most important part of the haunt, but the people behind the curtain helping the show run...those are the true heroes of any haunt. (No offense, my lovely actor friends.) My first job at Ravenwood Manor was as a volunteer makeup a...

Most people go into haunt auditions knowing what kind of role they want. “I want to be the lead in cue line.” “I want to be a sexy vampire.” “I just want to sit there and say nothing because my face is scary enough on its own and speaking frightens me.” It’s completely normal to have expectations for the upcoming season, but sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned. This exact thing happened to me this past haunt season. I prepared for months to play a specific role. I thought I had it in the bag. Then, I was given a role that, in all honesty, I disliked with the greatest of passions. Now, don’t get me wrong. I was thrilled to receive any part AND my stage manager did give me the option to speak my mind on what kind of role I really wanted (which was super nice of him since he didn’t have to do that), but I knew with every fiber of my being that...well...how about I just tell you the story instead of beating around the bush? At Ravenwood Manor, there are certain characters ...

When I first entered into the haunt world, I never expected that there were so many haunts or that it was even a big industry. Honestly, for the longest, I thought a haunted house was just some idiots in someone's garage with chainsaws. (Not that far off. Am I right?) Thanks to the people I work with at my haunt, I've come to discover that there are literally hundreds of haunts, big and small, family friendly and X-Rated (I'm talking about you, Haunted Hoochie . Ya nasties.), non-touch and extreme touch, etc. Short and simple: There are as many different haunts as one can imagine. There's a flavor for everyone. In Louisiana, the main haunts you ever hear about are The 13th Gate, House of Shock, The Mortuary,  and RISE Haunted House. For the sake of the the blog, I'll refer to my home haunt only as "Ravenwood Manor." (That sounds catchy and mysterious enough, right?) A fun fact that I learned is that not every haunted house is the same. Each of these h...

Something I picked up quickly when I first started getting into haunt was the times of year that things were happening. When haunted attractions are live and open, it's referred to as "Haunt Season" (which, in the south and to my great displeasure, is always misheard as "hunting season"). Haunt season begins at different times for different people. For the actors, behind the scenes crew and volunteers, haunt season usually begins in the first week of September through the first week of November, but for the owners and creative team, haunt season starts up in February or March and lasts until the first week of December. (This doesn't include conventions and special events which are scattered throughout the year specifically for haunters.) For the cast, crew, and volunteers, auditions will usually roll around in the first week of September, giving the haunt enough time to hire them, train their cast, and have early opening dates for that year's haunt. Th...

     Welcome to the Southern Spooks blog page, a place where I will be documenting and discussing my journey into the world of haunted houses and haunted attractions. There will be fun stories, insider information, regurgitated training courses and classes, and even a few creative ideas trickled in. To protect myself, you can just refer to me as Jaz, your resident Wicked Witch of the South. I'm sure no one will be interested enough to try and figure out who I am (and if you do find out, don't ruin the mystery for everyone else, okay?) Hell, I'm sure not many people will even see this blog, but who cares? This is going to be fun and it'll help keep the creative juices flowing during the off season. To whoever is reading this, thank you for checking out the blog. I hope you enjoy it. -Jaz ☾