We've established that I have a very strong love of Halloween! With Halloween though comes pop up haunted house attractions meant to scare the pants off of you. They're not for everybody but sometimes even if you don't like them, you might suddenly find yourself facing one and completely not at all excited for whats in store. However, I am here to help you. In the list below you'll find ways to prepare yourself and relieve the stress of going to a Haunted House and maybe even have fun with it!
It's all a show!
If you start to get worried about the characters being mean to you or everything looking to real just remember, it's all one big walk through show! A good way to remember that, is by looking into how some of things you'll be facing are made. Youtube is a great resource for this information. My favorite videos that show you how special effects/gore makeup is done is Madeyewlook's Halloween season videos. She has a great way of incorporating humor while showing you some amazing art skills that you can actually try at home.
Once you start to remember that, that evil monster with a chainsaw is probably just a dentist with a hobby that got work done by someone who has great special fx skills the better you will feel.
Be prepared!
Again this is where youtube provides another great outlet for information. If you've ever been bored and missed Disneyland, I'm sure you've most likely looked up ride throughs of the rides to make it feel like you were actually there! Well turns out that not only do people sometimes record rides but they also will record haunted house walk throughs. If you want to prep yourself for your haunted house trip check some of them out on youtube to actually get a look of what you might be facing. You'll have the ability to pause, if it get's to be to much for you and even watch it with the lights on to make everything seem even less scarier.
Also I have to applaud the camera men who film these I have no idea how they are able to walk through these and not jump once.
Lala I'm not listening!
Haunted Houses are full of loud noises and jump scares! Half of the big deal behind these things is relying on the suddeness of noise. Just cover your ears if you're not a fan of jump scares and suddenly you'll find it's a lot easier to maneuver around a haunted house if you can't hear what's scaring everyone.
You're gonna hear me roar!
Honestly this is some of the weirdest advice in this article but it's true. I was given this advice before I walked into my first haunted house as a kid and it's stuck with me ever since. I was with a family member and she reassured me that if me and my little cousin didn't like what I was seeing, just growl at the people and they will back off. Then we discovered it actually worked because one, the actors are not at all expecting for you to growl at them because it kind of makes you look like a weirdo, and two growling just makes you feel a bit braver.
The Oreo Theory
We've all seen those photos, we all know that once you have a group of people go through a haunted house together a conga line of fear seems to form.
But there is actually a reason behind this. Awhile back I got the opportunity to work at a haunted house as a scare actor. Before the season started the manager of the establishment gave us this idea of the "Oreo Theory" and when best to scare people using it. So lets say you have a group of five, the top part of the oreo cookie is hard and tough which means that usually the bravest person will go in the front to lead the group and get all the scares first. Then there is the cream part of the group which is full of the three people that are actually scared and are willing to get the backlash of the first person's scare. Lastly is the fifth person in the group working as the other tough oreo cookie willing to make sure that there is no behind you scares.
If you want to apply this to your friend group that you will be attending a haunt with, I say that usually the best idea is to be the last part of the Oreo cookie and stick to the back. From my experience this will give you the chance to have people in front of you get scared first revealing what's scary up ahead before you even see it.
Make Em Laugh!
Most of the time when I walk through a haunted house, when I'm not being scared by people, I'm usually laughing. Laughing always makes you feel better and lightens the mood. Find the humor in it all, don't be afraid to laugh at everyone's reactions. The more you life the more your fear will be lessened.
