Christina Kortum knows the horror business. Twenty years ago, she was a cast member for a haunted house at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in California when the starting lineup of the San Francisco 49ers showed up, ready for a tour.

How do you spook a guy twice your size? Grab his ankles, Kortum said. He jumps, you get an instant boost to your self-esteem.

"When a 6-foot-5 guy runs away from you screaming, it's pretty empowering," she said.

Kortum has been in the haunted house business for 25 years now, ever since she got her first gig as a cast member. And in October, the Portland-based prop and makeup artist will finally be in charge of her own.

Kortum and her husband, Ira, will host The Beneath at Veterans Memorial Coliseum this year, taking over the exhibition hall space that Fright Town occupied for 13 years.

It originated as a horror web series Christina and Ira Kortum would co-produce. The show centered on an other-wordly dimension of sorts, akin to The Upside Down from Netflix's "Stranger Things," where monsters roam free.

"This is kind of a dream come true," she said. "We're trying to make some very, very terrifying creatures."

The Beneath will feature three different areas, each with a different theme. Ira and Christina Kortum created the characters of Madame Underhill and Mr. Sneed, curators of the titular dimension, to guide visitors through the sets they're erecting beneath the coliseum.

Ashwood Hospital is a medical wing where "things have gone horribly wrong," the two said. It plays on the horror aesthetic of haunted hospitals and asylums, which horror fans know well.

The Midnight House, Kortum said, is a mansion where shadows turn into monsters at the stroke of midnight.

And Bloody Mary's Murderess Midway is a funhouse mirror maze where, as Ira says, a group of children played the game 'Bloody Mary' only to have every single reflective surface spawn a recreation of the game's titular villain.

ACTING AUDITIONS! October 4-6th, 6-8 pm at the Memorial Coliseum Exhibit Hall We are looking for extremely high energy... Posted by The Beneath on Wednesday, September 19, 2018

"All three mazes are separate in their type of horror," Kortum said. "Midnight House is much more of a psychological horror and the hospital is just good, bloody fun."

The Kortums are hosting casting calls for actors interested in populating the halls of The Beneath. Auditions will take place Oct. 4-6 at the Memorial Coliseum Exhibit Hall.

Ira Kortum said the couple was looking for folks with enthusiasm. He also urged folks who typically considered themselves shy to give it a shot -- one of the quietest people Ira has known just happened to be one of the best haunters he's ever worked with.

"People who are scaredy-cats have the best timing of anyone," Christina Kortum said.

The couple knows they've got big shoes to fill. After all, they've both worked for Fright Town and know its reputation well.

"There is a bar that has been set and we're very mindful of that," Ira Kortum said. "The last thing we want is for people to come to an event that's been changed and have it be less."

The Beneath opens Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. until midnight. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $45 for VIP. Show a ticket from a Moda Center event at the door for $5 off.

The haunted house will be open Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 6 p.m. to midnight.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com