By Nicole Leipski, Rainbow Springs Haunted Hotel
Lets face it, haunting is an unusual industry, and finding the right people to staff your haunt can seem down right frightening! Where can you find people as crazy as you, that love scaring people or putting in long hours constructing sets? Recruiting your crew and cast too - is not as scary as you think, if you know where to look!
Recruiting Your Crew...
A haunt requires many talented people behind the scenes. Low-cost skilled labor is hard to find, but it's out there.
- Looking for a team of carpenters?
- Talk to your local high-school woodworking/shop teachers. Building rooms, making doors, and creating stairs are projects that most high-school shop teachers would jump at the chance to work on as class projects. You provide the materials, a sponsor credit, and/or free complimentary tickets - they provide the work.
- Want some electricians?
- If you are a non-profit haunt, contact your local electricians' union and ask them to volunteer. Return the favor with complimentary tickets for volunteers and their families, and give them credit on a sponsor board, banner at your haunt and/or website link off your website.
- Need prop masters, set designers, costumers, and makeup artists?
- Look to your local high school, college, and/or university theatre departments. Again, students and instructors are looking for projects and internships! Contact the Theatre Departments to discuss various internships in these areas. It's a win-win situation - students get work experience and school credits, while you get the free work.
... and Cast too!
Who on earth will give up most of their weekends to work long hours in cold, dimly lit areas, scaring people for little or no money? High school kids of course! Know that there are several pros and cons to take into consideration when hiring this age group.
Hiring "Young Blood:"
The opportunity to act in a haunted house attracts many high-school aged kids who fall into the 16-18-age category. We find ourselves challenged with kids who cannot work full nights, as most haunts are open past local curfews. We are also reminded that those under 18 are limited to work hours due to labor laws. On top of all this, today's high school students are busy with sports, clubs, and homecoming dances, not to mention their regular jobs therefore, many cannot make all of the nights we wish they could. Why do haunts always end up hiring high school students? When push comes to shove and you need to fill your attraction with a large stock of creatures, you find that your staffing needs outweigh the challenges. If you hire high school students it's important to follow a few simple guidelines.
- Audition, audition, audition and cast them into the appropriate parts!
- Too many times, I have seen little pretty high school girls trying to be zombies and it's more humorous than scary. Cast your kids appropriately.
- Make sure they have transportation!
- Many kids may not show up on work nights because they do not own a car, or they cannot find someone to drop them off. To avoid this problem, get your local high school actors organized into carpool.
- Orientation and Training is Crucial!
- Many kids think that their time acting in a haunted house is time to socialize with friends or to flirt with the opposite sex. Nothing is worse than your customers stumbling into a room where Freddy Krueger is talking to Mike Meyers about the cute vampire girl down the hall. In your orientation/training, make it clear that while this is fun, it is a job.
- A happy ghoul is a scary ghoul - keep your kids interested and motivated.
- High school kids get bored easily, and doing the same scare 3,000 times a night for 10+ nights can get old, quick. Have them interchange between 2 or three other characters/room so that group can rotate scares from night to night. Keep the morale up by giving out "bonuses" such as free movie tickets or gift certificates to kids that have perfect attendance or give an extra-special scary performance.
Do not limit yourself to a cast of only high school kids. Older, more mature cast members can be more reliable and can deliver a consistent, strong scare. Where in the world can you find adults who will jump to the chance to do this type of work? The answer is everywhere! You just have to look to the right places.
Hiring "The Older" Kids...
Hiring adults brings a more mature, proactive and responsible actor to your haunt. Most adults who act in haunts do it year in and year out because they love it and are big kids at heart. Adult haunt actors are a rare breed, but not an endangered species... you just need to know where to find them.
- Look to the U!
- Again, your local College/University offers a great resource of kids looking for a fun, and quick buck. Students in the theatre departments and drama clubs are great pools of actors. These students usually have cars or carpool, tend to be more reliable, mature, and are quicker to take ownership of their roles. To get started, contact the student activities office to get the contact for the drama club, and attend their meeting to pitch them the idea. Also contact the Chair of the Drama/Theatre Arts department to develop potential internship opportunities for actors. Be sure to post "actors wanted" flyers on campuses (with your contact phone number and/or email tear-offs). For posters, be sure to get permission through student activities or the student career centers first!
- Look for L.A.R.P.ers.
- I didn't know what a L.A.R.Per was until I went to college - and my introduction to them was quite unusual! A few years ago, on a cold, February night, my boyfriend was walking me home, and we ran into a pack of "vampires" running through the stairwells of the dorm. Being very confused we asked, "who are you guys and why are you dressed up as vampires in February?" They proceeded to explain (in-character) that they were participants in a strategy game where they "become" the characters through role-playing and costumes. After my encounter I thought I would never see them again, but it wasn't until a couple of years later, when I assisted in staffing for our haunted house, did I think to approach this group - and I am glad I did. These guys (and gals) are excellent to hire - and they really get into "being" the character. How do you find these groups? Many colleges/universities have a club of kids who do this and are usually called war-gamers, role-playing, and/or cosplay clubs. Again, contact the student activities office to get a contact, and attend a meeting to pitch your haunt-acting opportunities. Also, get online and do a search for your local LARP group, attend one of their meetings to make your hiring pitch. Hire them and you will be pleasantly surprised!
- Look to the Theatres!
- Look to your local actors! Local homegrown small theatre companies or acting troupes are a great source of adults who love to perform, whatever the venue. For the past 10 years our haunt has been lucky enough to have an outstanding local actor who has done everything from major roles at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, to playing Santa Claus at the mall! These actors really know their craft and will not disappoint.
- Get online!
- Believe it or not, people that really love haunted houses have seen our industry message-boards and know the websites that promote the industry nationally, and even down to their state. For example, in Illinois and Wisconsin there is www.hauntedwisconsin.com and www.hauntedillinois.com, both of which promote the industry in their respective states and have various message boards including an "actors wanted" area where you can recruit actors. See if your state has such a website and post there!
While in college in the late 1990's, Nicole interned for Six Flags Great America's Fright Fest and as President of her University's Student Activities Board, she assisted in producing haunted houses at her University. Now, Nicole is an Admissions Counselor for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and is also a recruiter and creative designer for Rainbow Springs Haunted Hotel in Mukwonago, WI. (www.uwp.edu/clubs/wipz/hh), for questions/comments she can be reached at rainbowsprings_hauntedhotel@hotmail.com
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