During the spooky season of this year, I had the opportunity to work as a scare actor at 13th Floor Haunted House. The idea of working there for a while came from a combination of casual job searching and the idea that it would bring closure to me as someone who usually can't go through haunted houses without an extreme reaction. No one said being a scare actor would be easy, but there were also good things that came from working there for the season.

I'm not sure if this applies to other haunted houses, but there have been moments where, due to large lines of people waiting to get in, there would be a good chance of customers still coming through even after the box office closes. During one of my first evenings where the box office closed at 11 PM, my eyelids were feeling pretty heavy. Lesson learned: Find time earlier in the day to catch some sleep so you won't work drowsy. Another thing to consider is that not all customers act the same way. There were customers who went through a section too fast for me to scare them, as well as customers who would attempt to interact with me or other coworkers as a type of reaction or defense mechanism. Every now and then, there were also the customers who would do actions that were different than implied for some unknown reason. And, yes, there were a few cases of customers touching some actors to see if they were statues or not. In cases like those, we just had to make sure we informed the runners on what was going on in case there was anyone they had to keep an eye on. There were also instances where you had to be on your feet for at least most of the shift ("most" considering the breaks that might be part of the night). However, how long an actor will be on their feet mostly depends on which section they will be working for the night. That being said, making sure you have comfortable shoes on your feet is a big must (and an unspoken must compared to the need to keep water in your possession).

There were also plenty of good things about the job as well. For one thing, when you take the time to acknowledge the scenery without the darkness, you really notice how much work was put into making the surroundings incredibly horrifying. There are also coworkers that look out for one another like a family and make each other feel like valued parts of the team. It's not too intimidating when we spend time with one another before and after the shifts and we make sure to keep each other motivated when it's time for us to breathe cold dead air into the attraction. Amongst those coworkers are the runners that monitor their zones to check on the other actors, and it's evident that they really care about the wellbeing of their actors (some even providing cough drops for those who needed them). It's also worth mentioning that, as someone who had to stop going through haunted houses due to being too scared, it felt satisfying actually causing scares instead of being scared.

After all that I've experienced in the season, there's this certainty that I haven't explored everything and I, for one, am hoping to explore more in the next season as well as some off-season events. The great work done by those who put the haunted house together as well as the new and old faces are only a few of the things I personally look forward to. If anyone wants to explore what it's like working for 13th Floor, make yourself available for an audition... if you dare.