Southern Spooks

Let's face it: some haunted attractions are shit compared to the others. You may go to a haunt where the only scary thing is the fact that the lights are off. You may go to another haunt where everything makes you feel like you're the star of a horror movie. Hell, you may even stumble upon a haunt that seems like a glorified, gore fueled strip show. Whatever the case may be, it's safe to assume that there are MANY different types of haunted attractions. The first haunted house I ever technically "worked at" was my cousin's home made haunt in his garage. It was a rink-dink maze of black tarp, ripped up trash bags, dangling plastic spiders, and my cousin with a chainsaw at the end. It was truly a sad, pathetic display. There was nothing scary about it except the chainsaw (since my cousin was literally the only live person inside the trash bag maze until I couldn't take it anymore and jumped in to help with the scares). Now that I work in the industry, my s...

When people are new to the haunt world and acting, misunderstandings and feelings of being left out can arise. This is very common if you are unaware of the inner workings of a haunt and how scares work. (Don't worry, there are still times when I feel this way, and it sucks.) Everyone wants to have a memorable character, go out to queue line (which I now know is the correct spelling of the word), always get the scare, and have people remember you and talk about you when they go home. But let's face it, this can't always happen for everyone. The saying goes, "There are no small roles in the theatre," but that's not true. There ARE small roles, but it's important to know that these small roles serve a greater purpose when properly utilized and can be wonderful stepping stones on your journey into haunt acting.  When you look at haunt acting, look at it as if it's a pack of wolves (but split up the packs by zones or areas or something, because I...

If you haven't read the last "story time" style post, "In The Scary Beginning," I highly recommend you do since this is the continuation of that. ( Link ) But just to keep the momentum going, here's a recap from the last episode: I was a fresh face at Ravenwood Manor with no excuse for being there other than knowing what makeup was. A new, scary, mysterious stranger, by the name of Cain, appeared on the scene, and I was advised NOT to talk to him.  Said scary dude completely crushed the soul of a young actor before rushing off to do mystery work...sending me into a spiraling panic of ever crossing his path. This intimidating, scary man who everyone seemed to fear, but also worship...transformed in front of my eyes into a lovable character known by everyone as Eddie. As confused and perplexed as I was watching this once cold, harsh person leap from the makeup chair screaming and laughing like a kid in a candy store, I had to keep moving and doing work...

Happy early Valentines Day, my dear readers. Hopefully, Cupid is kind to you this week with all this love in the air. Keeping with this week's theme of love seemed like a hard thing to do on a haunt related blog, (of course, I could gush about how many actor couples have found love and proposed at Ravenwood, but nah) but I worked some magic and found an interesting topic for you, my pretties. Have you ever wondered why some people go on dates to haunted houses or watch scary movies? It's not all about holding on to each other and cuddling in the dark. Sure, they are fun activities, but there's actually a bit of psychology behind this. Now, I promise I won't use any massively huge science terms, nor will I show you diagrams and charts. This isn't a Haunt 101 post, but more of a, "Hey, that's a fun fact!" kind of post. Also, it never hurts for an haunter to understand how fear works in the human body. When a person is scared, many things begin to hap...

Due to my recovering from surgery, this week's post has been removed. To make up for the sudden change of plans, you will be treated with not one, but two posts next week! One, a revised story time (because for this one, I was obviously too loopy on pain medication to write), and the other will be a regular styled post about a regular haunt topic.  Thank you for your understanding and support.  -Jaz☾