By Dannicka McGrath, Photographer
Many people love a good scare during the Halloween season. But have you ever wondered what it’s like for those who do the scaring?
I am one of those people. This is my second season working at Field of Screams, the haunted attraction at Prairie Pines in Maize.
It all started when I saw an ad for their auditions on Facebook. I’m a theatre major, so I thought it would be a fun way to expand my acting experience. I’d never acted in the horror genre, but I’ve always loved haunted houses and horror movies, so I filled out the application.
At the audition, I was asked to deliver a short monologue and instructed to use a couple of different voices to speak it. At various points, I had to portray someone waking up buried alive in a coffin and a werewolf smelling a dead animal then transforming into a wolf. Then I had to act out the scene from the 2022 movie “The Ring” where the girl crawls out of the television.
Lastly, I did an animal impersonation exercise. They called out the names of different animals, and I attempted to mimic them in a fast transition. They had me act like a rooster, a snake, a dolphin and an angry chimpanzee.
After I was notified that I had the job, the Field of Screams management hosted a scare school where new actors learned scare and safety tactics, as well as the lore behind the field.
This was also when we talked costumes. All the actors at Field of Screams design and make their costumes. We must have one costume that can be worn throughout the field as well as a clown costume.
Each night, we actors must show up around 6 p.m. and wait in line to get our makeup done. Around 7:20 p.m., we have a general meeting to discuss any specifics the actors need to know for the night, and then we are released to our spots.
Some actors work in the same spot all season long. Others, called floaters, roam the field and can change spots nightly. At the end of our shift, we get released from our spots but can’t go to our cars until all the customers are out of the field. We just want to try to preserve some of the authenticity of our show. Most of the time, we don’t leave until about 1 a.m.
This job is not for everybody. It takes a significant toll on your body, both physically and mentally. If you're in it just for the money, it's not for you.
Each scare energizes me, especially when I can make grown men scream like little girls.
My most memorable scare this year was when I was working in the witch area, a group came through that included two parents, a mom in the front and a dad in the back, with kids in the middle.
The dad was scared out of his mind. He screamed nearly the whole way through witch country. On his way out of the stone arch before crossing the bridge, I was blended into the stone, and I whispered, “Hi there!” in his ear.
He screamed, stumbled, then tumbled over the rope that lined the path right before the bridge and fell into the water. It was my first time witnessing a dark baptism. The next night, the witches had cake!
I love my job. It’s a lot of work, but the feeling I get after a good scare and the family I’ve connected with since working there makes it all worthwhile. Spurlock for life!
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photographer
