Student Blog: We Want YOU As A New Recruit - Scare Acting

As we creep closer and closer to Halloweekend, I can’t help but reminisce on the few times I was able to be a scare actor. Even though it was exclusively for the haunted houses my high school put up, it was one of the best experiences I had in my entire year every chance I got. My theatre troupe never called it a haunted house, we always referred to it as our “Haunted Halls,” since we also put it in our performing arts center mainly in the— you guessed it, hallways! Every year all of the actors and the acting classes from school would assist in setting up the unique layout for that haunt, which was fun in its own ways. Some of the actors, like me, would specifically set up their own little hiding holes or designated paths they knew about and started pre-planning some of the scares they could do with the space. However, there are some times where you already don’t have much to work with.

In my first year of scare acting, I was put in a long hallway with a couple doors that me and a few others were instructed to come out of and chase people down the hallway. This year was our “random” year in which there wasn’t truly a theme, so we all ended up as zombies meant to chase the guests out of the haunt. With only being given minimal direction and options for using the space, I managed to terrify attendees by gaining speed the closer they got to the exit— resulting in many screams and terrified hoots. Over the course of the three years I participated in this event, I had gotten a few good scare stories to share— (those are for another time)— but along with good stories, those haunts left me with some pretty great advice and growth to share with people about my experiences!

The biggest thing being: I gained a LOT of confidence from that genre of acting! Being able to not have harsh guidelines on what to say, such as memorizing lines, was quite freeing. Being someone who comes from essentially no background in improv, (outside of mishaps in shows), it was quite daunting at first. I kept thinking to myself: “What if I freeze up?” “What if it’s not in character?” “What if it’s not scary?” But all of those subsided once I actually started the event and once I was able to goof around, so to say. The environment of Haunted Halls always felt so limitless and playful, which was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. Also having people coming through that were occasionally gawking over my makeup or my character was such a thrilling experience that gives you an adrenaline rush like no other. 

All this being said, I definitely recommend trying scare acting at least once in your career as an actor. It doesn’t have to be on a professional level at all, hell, I was doing it for my high school for free! It helps build a deeper bond with the people around you because while the gig is very fun, it can leave you very vulnerable— so being able to have an unshakable bond with your cast is a must for it. Not only does it provide you with an amazing group of people, the experience provides you with great opportunities to work on your improv skills and character building. Like I said earlier, I had no improv experience going into scare acting, but I definitely left it with better skills than I ever had! There’s really only pros of picking up scare acting, they really outweigh all of the cons you can think of as long as you’re in a safe and trusted environment. So go out there, in the name of spooky season, and scare your friends!

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