INfrequently asked questions: Why haunted house job is painful

This week's INfrequently asked questions column talks to haunted house director to Ashley Keel.

Why her? Keel, whose love of the haunt began eight years ago in an Elk Grove Village haunted house, is the performance manager at 13th Floor Haunted House in Melrose Park, where producing 15 minutes of scared for patrons is months in the making. How — yes, how? — do all of the terrifying elements come together, night after night?

Q: So what does it take to be a haunted house cast member?

A: “The only thing that you really need is dedication and a love for Halloween. You really have to just be willing to not have any inhibitions. Shy people cannot do what we do. We have people ages 15 to 70. You definitely have to take it seriously and just be dedicated to it and really love scaring … people.”

Q: How do you train such a big cast (95 people)?

A: “Everybody took turns pretending to be drunk, pretending to be crazy, pretending to be mean. … It's really exhausting. It's more or less teaching them how to conserve their energy while doing the same scares that they're doing.”

Q: What's the secret to a good scare?

A: “People don't like things by their feet, and we've learned that and play off it. … It just freaks people out for some reason. We do a lot of sliders, which is you wear knee pads and get a running start and slide at people and then you pop up.”

Q: What are the best reactions?

A: “The funniest reaction is when you get the really tough guys … walking around like 'I'm not scared of anything' and then you scare the hell out of them and they swing on you. That's their go-to. I've been swung on by a couple of bigger guys. Yeah, their reaction shouldn't be to hit somebody. But it's still kind of rewarding that you got somebody to be that scared.”

Q: Have any of your actors gotten hurt?

A: “You're going to get hurt. Haunting is not something to take lightly. If you're afraid to get bruised or scratches or sore muscles then this is not the place for you. People's reaction … is to flail their arms about when they're scared. I always tell my actors to keep a three-foot radius from people. My veteran actors are allowed to get closer.”

Q: What's the craziest thing that's happened during a haunt?

A: “This older couple came through and the lady was absolutely terrified. She saw me at the end of the hallway and she turned and didn't realize there was a cage next to her and she just smashed her face into the cage and broke her nose. Started gushing blood everywhere. I had to break character and physically carry her out of the haunt. The people in line are seeing me carry this person covered in blood and wondering what I did.”

Q: How many makeup people does it take?

A: “Anywhere from four to five.”

Q: So there's stations? One person's whole job is just to make the blood?

A: “Yep. … We have different kinds of blood. There's a perma blood that goes on costumes and hardens. There's spray blood, it's a liquidly consistency, more drippy so it just drips a lot. There's scabbing blood, which is a stickier consistency for wounds and gashes and stuff.”

Q: How far will you go to get a good scare?

A: “I made blood out of corn syrup and put it in a pan because I was in a kitchen in that scene. I was just smearing it around and eating it. It really grossed people out. I felt really sick after because it was corn syrup, but it was totally worth it.”

INfrequently Asked Questions

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