“Unmasking the Scares: 50 Haunt Workers Reveal the Shocking Moments That Made Them Lose It!”
1) Disorientation – removed all light sources to make our area as dark as possible. Set up multiple strobe lights some were motion activated (these were put inside the jail cells, so when you step in you get blasted by bright light flashing in your face) some ran constant (these were placed at the end of the hall towards the exit. Moving towards a strobe light is rough. So most people would enter and turn away from it to walk the opposite direction. Leading them to a dead end. Also loud constant noises. Once the entire group of “visitors” were trapped inside, the four of us would make loud obnoxious noises (think sirens not ghost sounds; intermingled with laughter and barking) to add to the disorientation.
2) Jump scares – to raise the heart rate, get those fear juices flowing and make them more susceptible to future scares. I stood behind the main entrance door and would pop out spouting some old world prayers “now I lay me down to sleep…”. One of our members hid on the roof and once all visitors had entered the building she’d jump down and block the doorway. Another member was in the last cell with stage pyrotechnics (fireballs that shoot from your hand and creating trails of fire on the cement walls)…it also helped she was an opera singer and could shriek like a true Siren. The final member was a wild beast that charged groups on all fours and “threw big bones in their general direction”.
3) Abandonment Fear – we couldn’t do this with everyone, but if one or two people came in, got disoriented and found themselves in one of the last jail cells (no strobe light, just darkness) we’d shut them in and lock it. As soon as this happens we go quiet and slink off back to our starting positions to get ready for the next group of visitors. We’d leave these people locked in the cell for usually one or two groups and then release them. But only when the current group was disoriented and trapped at the dead end…creeeeeaaaak CLANG! The jail door opens and these people come running out, terror ensues from both parties, running scrambling and tripping over each other, while the four of us sit back and enjoy the show!
