The Quickest of Welcomes

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 ☾

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Haunt 101: Types of Characters

If you ever took an acting class, one of the first things you're told is to know your character type. The same rule applies in a haunt. (Though, walking in with zero theatre knowledge or background won't knock you out of the runnings. Newbies are always welcomed.) Acting for a haunted house is much more than just being able to scream or wield a chainsaw. Of course, being able to do those two things could benefit you, but knowing the general character types within most haunts is the greatest tool you can have in your arsenal. Character classifications can be broken down into various sections. For this post, we will start with the most important classification of characters: Zero Dialogue, Medium Dialogue, and High Dialogue. This is one of the main things a Casting Director or Stage Manager will want to know when you audition, "Are you comfortable with speaking?" It's not a trick question and it will not hurt your chances of being hired. If anything, this will...

What is Haunt Season?

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...

"Know Your Place"

So, I'm sure a few of you are wondering why I stopped writing my blog for a while now. Sure, I can say that "I got busy during haunt season" or "I've been working on blah blah blah..." (insert terrible excuse here). But I think it's better to be honest. I mean, we're all one big haunt family, right? When I first started haunt, I used to have this spark. I would talk about it non-stop. I'd want to learn everything I could. I would get these butterflies in my stomach every time I thought about it. I was so passionate that I didn't care what anyone thought. Haunt was my life. I thought it would always be like that. I'm not saying I lost that spark, but it's very true to say that some people wanted to snuff out my spark. Some people snuffed it out without even realizing they did it. It really hit me when I went to my first haunt convention...and then it just spiraled out of control from there. For years, I had worked my ass off...

Southern Spooks

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