Jeffrey Hearn walks through a cemetery filled with rotting flesh. From out of nowhere, a skeleton leaps out and screams right in his face. He doesn’t flinch.
“You get used to it,” Hearn says.
Hearn’s the technical director for 13 Stories Haunted House in Newnan, Georgia. He and a large group of actors, designers, makeup artists and more work long hours to scare the living daylights out of their paying customers. Every day he walks through the entire house making sure that all the mechanisms are working properly and the sounds are on.
“When people hear you work at a haunted house they think it’s just like you hang up a bunch of sheets and you’re done, but it’s a lot of work,” he says.
And that work takes a lot of manpower and hours. At Netherworld in Norcross, Stephanie Madah-Amiri, a first-year actor, estimates there may be 100-plus people working in the haunts and behind the scenes depending on the night.
While most haunted houses are only open in the fall – peak scaring season – the preparations begin much earlier. Tracy Garner, the manager of Netherworld’s armory, works year-round to mend, rebuild and refurbish props to “make old stuff work again.” During the season, she works seven days a week, repairing giant costumes.
“A lot of money goes into costumes every year. Most of them are reused till they run out,” says Garner, who has worked at Netherworld for 16 years. “For me, it’s work that’s fun. I love the challenge of the last-minute, ‘OMG this needs fixing now’ moments.”
Mike Wheeler isn’t in costume yet, but he’s already beginning to look ghoulish as he sits still in makeup artist Roy Wooley’s chair. Wheeler is a 49-year-old middle school teacher by day, zombie by night who works at Netherworld two days a week.
“It’s all my throat can handle,” he says.
Though he loves being one of the first scares for visitors, Wheeler isn’t sure if he’s going to come back next year. He finds it a blast to do, but it’s difficult to balance with his usual teaching hours.
“It’s a young man’s game,” he says.
Back at 13 Stories, it seems like Wheeler’s declaration is valid. Most of the actors range from 16 to 20 years old and their excitement to get into character shows. For a number of them, this is their first job. While they wait for the wardrobe area to open, they hang out behind the scenes, drinking Monster energy drinks and chewing Twizzlers.
Elizabeth Murphy, the Human Resources director of 13 Stories, stands watching them goof off. She’s been working in haunted houses for 12 years, after starting out as an actor and “getting the bug.” Murphy’s worked in the business long enough that she says she can tell who’ll stick with it to come back next year and who’ll want to quit.
“There’s a love-hate relationship with the business. If you hate it, you really hate doing it, but if you love it, you’re in for life … it takes a certain kind of person to [work here] – someone with a passion for the Halloween spirit,” she says.
As the sun slowly sets, the lights dim and fog machines start to turn the giant warehouse 13 Stories calls home into an undead apocalypse and a decrepit asylum. It becomes hard to recognize what once was a lounge area for a bunch of teens. Everyone begins to get into position in places designed so that the pacing doesn’t spoil any of the surprises.
Nate Wood, a 20-year-old psychotic clown on his second year at 13 Stories, finds his spot and begins to lurk in the shadows of Clown Haus.
“I plan on doing this until I can’t walk anymore,” he says and then gets really quiet.
You have to be quiet to scare your next victim.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
