Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've been crazy busy! ....And when I'm not busy I'm curled up asleep in my bed or not wanting to do anything at all. Haha. This weekend marks my one year anniversary with the haunt group I've been working with them. I met them at this parade, and from then on, I felt at home with my second family. This week, I wanted to reflect on all the things that have happened since Haunted Nightmare and how it's affected me and how I feel about haunted attractions and other things. I can remember loving creepy things ever since I was a little kid. I remember watching Tim Burton's movies, The Addam's Family, and other creepy, gothic television shows and movies and just falling in love. Halloween was my favorite holiday too. I liked dressing up as vampires and witches and other scary stuff. I even loved doing my own makeup, but it wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I started really getting into special effects makeup. My friend had texted me one day, telling me she couldn't make it to the Zombie Walk that summer and she wanted to know if I could take pictures for her. I had never heard of such a thing, and I couldn't believe it! From then until the zombie walk, I was looking up YouTube tutorials on how to do zombie makeup. Because I didn't have a special effects makeup kit back then, I used what I had to contour my face to make a "fresh" looking zombie. I had a blast! I was at a place where all these people shared my interests! It was magical. I had gone to all the zombie walks every year after that, building on my makeup kit and creating more complex, gory makeups. I fell in love. One year, I remember going up to one of the booths and someone told me about Haunted Nightmare and handed me a flier. I went on Facebook to check them out and ask to volunteer. It all checked out! I was going to go to the rehearsal and act in a haunted house! ... At least, I thought. The same night they wanted me to show up for the audition, my parents wanted me to help move into our new apartment, so I missed the audition, and I hadn't heard from them again until the year after. My mother was getting her hair done at her favorite salon, and somehow her and her hairdresser got into talking about Halloween and how my hobby was special effects makeup. She told her that her fiancé worked for a haunted attraction and that I should check the place out. My mom got back home and told me about it. Well, it turned out to be Haunted Nightmare again! Fate was giving me a second chance to work with these guys! Yet again, I went on Facebook to introduce myself and show off my talents, and they told me to meet them at Tour De Terrace that weekend. Not wanting to go alone, because I was nervous, I took my boyfriend at the time. We got dressed up in zombie makeup and worked in the mini haunt that they set up. The first person I met was Shawn. He was dressed in zombie hunting gear. I introduced myself, and after talking for a little bit, he said that we could go inside and work in the zombie cage in the little house they set up. Now, let me tell you, it was a really hot, sunny day outside, but when we went inside the little black box of death, it was miserable! I knew why people had to take breaks in between. Inside, I couldn't see anyone or anything! My eyes hadn't adjusted. I remember going through asking nobody to scare us because we were part of the team, and I don't do well with people jumping out and scaring me.... but I work with these people. Go figure! Behind me, I felt someone's breath on my neck. Then, that person proceeded to snort in my ear and in a backwoods, redneck voice said, "whooooowee! Well, ain't you a slice of something nice!" Creeped out beyond belief, had you asked me right then if I would be friends with this guy, I would have told you there was no chance in hell! After that night and getting to know everyone, and my eyes finally adjusting, I knew I was home. It was soon after, I got to go to the spot we were going to be setting up for in October. I was taken on a tour by none other than the man dressed up as a hillbilly who had snorted in my ear. It turned out his name was Dustin. After telling us what every station was going to look like: A haunted mansion, a hillbilly trailer, a pirate ship, a serial killer's house, a voodoo shack, a space ship, an ancient Egyptian pyramid, and finally, a 3D Clown Hospital. Dustin had told me that I could help working on anything I wanted to, but the big finish being the Clown Hospital, really grabbed my attention. I had never heard of a "3D Haunt" before and I also wanted to try my hand at clown makeup, since all I had done before was zombie makeup and a senior project that involved skeleton, lizard, and alien makeup. It turned out that Dustin was the one in charge of the hospital, and it also came out that being a hillbilly named Uncle Rufus, wasn't the only character up his sleeve. Since Haunted Nightmare started, he had been perfecting a baby clown character named Baby Cheeks. I was quite entertained by this horrifying fact that a 35 year-old man dressed up as a baby clown. Anyway, from then on I have been working with him on the 3D haunt, and we have become closer than close best friends! So much, that the clown character I made last year to be in the asylum part of our hospital, has evolved to be Baby Cheek's sister, Dizzy Cheeks. Dustin, Shawn, Jody, Peter, Patrick, Josh, Jena, David, and many others, senior haunters and noobies, these people have become my family. We come together every year to put on something we've all put our blood, sweat, and tears into! We fight like any other family, but we come together in the best and worst times. Since working at the haunt, I get the same question over and over when I tell people I'm working with these guys when it's not October: "Oh! You guys have a haunted house set up all year 'round?" I understand getting this too, because before I started working here, I had NO idea how much effort goes into creating a haunt: planning, drafting, designing, building, buying props, promoting, going to conventions, and the list goes on! If you ever want to volunteer or work for a haunted attraction, know that you must work hard all year 'round! This is my first year at the haunt going through the motions from start to finish considering I totally skipped the planning phase last year. I remember when opening night finally came in October and our hard work paid off, I was acting as an insane clown in a hospital that I put my heart into! It was amazing, and that night when they were handing out the awards, I got the first one of the night and the season! Jody made a speech about how helpful I was and how I swooped in ready to help at a moments notice and work so hard on this... well, it was enough to make me tear up. The only reason I work so hard on this is because I'm doing something I love with the people I love. For me, money is the last thing on my mind with Haunted Nightmare. I just like doing something I'm passionate about. This year has been crazy, we only took a couple months off before planning out our new ideas, going to the West Coast Haunters Convention in Portland, Oregon, going to parades and festivals and advertising, and building our attraction! I'm loving every minute of it. If you have ever thought about working in a haunted attraction, I highly recommend doing it! It's so worth everything you've put into it. Anyway, I know this has been a long, cheesy post, but I just wanted to thank everyone at Haunted Nightmare for making me feel so welcomed. This year has been the best year of my life, and I can't wait for more to come! I want to thank Jody for being the owner of the salon that my mom went to that got me started in the haunted attraction her produces. I want to thank Jena for stepping up and being the best Haunt Mom ever! She's such a great volunteer coordinator! I want to thank Shawn for teaching me some tricks when it comes to special effects makeup and managing all of us. I also want to thank Dustin, my partner in crime, and one of the best friends anyone could ask for. Working with you on the haunt has been wonderful! We work well together and the clowning around will only get scarier from here! I want to thank everyone else I have met and become friends with! All the makeup artists, the actors, and the builders! I also want to thank the new volunteers for joining on with us! Without you guys, we couldn't grow to be a bigger, badder haunt! This year is going to be great! I just know it! Thanks to all my readers who have gone through and read this whole thing. Haha! You're all so awesome. Until next time!
