![Van Beek in her stance to scare people at Anderson Farms. Van Beek was preparing for a night of scaring her costume and makeup. The scare actors wear full costumes and makeup to make the experience scarier and more believable. “I love [working at Anderson Farms] and everyone is super nice,” Van Beek said. (Provided by Charlie Van Beek)](https://chstoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_25151.jpg)
Halloween is the season for scares. Ghosts, witches, zombies, and monsters thrive during this season. So do some students at Conifer High School who have decided to become scare actors.
Scare acting is when people employed by a specific haunted house dress up in costumes and scare customers. The Frightmare Compound is located in Broomfield, Colorado, while Anderson Farms is located in Eerie. Both haunts hire scare actors.
“There are at least 20 other scare actors that work there every night,” Frightmare Compound scare actor Caroline Book said.
There are many different ways to perform as a scare actor. These include different costumes, different positions, and many different themes.
“I am a crawler, meaning I’m on the ground so usually we will have higher distraction so that we can get the scare from down below,” Anderson Farms scare actor Charlotte “Charlie” Van Beek said.
The job of the scare actors depends not only on how they perform and how scary they are but also on the hair and makeup that they are given. The hair and makeup make the experience better for the customers.
“Where I work is in a tunnel, where I’m dressed in a Gilley suit, which is a sort of moss-like outfit that makes me completely unable to be seen,” Book said.
Anderson Farms is in Eerie, Colorado, and offers fall activities in September and October. These include a haunted corn maze, a pumpkin patch, and many other fall activities.
This job not only benefits the customers because they get what they paid for, but it also benefits the actor. The actor gets to have a fun work experience and gets to earn some money on the side.
“It’s just really scary, but it’s really fun to work in,” Book said.
Many different haunted houses hire scare actors and it makes an interesting annual job for students, throughout their education career, to continue to do something around Halloween time.
“I really do love being a scare actor. It’s like the first year I’m doing this and I definitely do want to continue pursuing this, probably until college,” Book said.
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