Already?

Makeup by Natalie

The entire time before work today was odd.  I didn't feel right.  I just didn't feel like smiling that much.  When people would talk to me, I found myself not wanting to be engaged in conversation as much.  I took a bath and stared right at one bubble the entire time.  Before I knew it though, it was time to depart for the farm again.

I was about halfway when I realized I forgot my black dress shoes and all I had on were these moccasin-looking shoes.  They would surely not work.  I drove back to the house, which caused me to be later than I had anticipated, and I don't like being late.

However, I got in line and got my makeup done.  I'm liking how the makeup is looking this year with the more canvas on my head.  It creates a more realistic display of brutality.  The bruised or burned scalp looks mighty nice.

The night started pretty swiftly.  There was still sunlight outside when the first patrons came through.  Then, it started to pickup.  I only hung out in the boo-box for the first couple hours, and spent the rest of the night at the entrance to the room.  It's always nice to pop out and scare, but it is much more of a reward when you can stare right at somebody and see them quiver.  I don't think I'm going to hide anymore.

Towards the middle of the night, it started to drag on.  Patrons were more difficult to scare, while those who weren't scared tended to be dicks.  There was a bit of a taste of the little ones that do nothing, but pester you tonight.  I didn't have any tolerance for these ones.  I'll have to figure out something eventually to get them because they will, for sure, be back.

Makeup by Natalie

Already, I am feeling the effects of running around everywhere like a damned fool.  Already, I am pacing back and forth in impatience.  Already, I have a deep scratch in my voice.  If I don't change my act soon, then there will be much discomfort for the rest of the month.  It should be an interesting season.

(End of 2nd evening).

Opening Night

Makeup by Jenna

Well, it's good to be back at the farm.

Almost immediately when I got there, I had one of my fellow monsters, Nic, shave my hair.  Earlier in the day, I had gone to a hair cutter and she took more off than I expected.  So, I had to adjust to the new circumstances and just decided to get a short mohawk.

There's a lot of new people this year.  New actors and actresses.  Some new make-up artists.  The family just keeps expanding.  The past two years, everyone's been getting makeup done in the shed or right outside the shed.  This year, they added a tent with plenty of makeup artists, so there's never a long wait in line for makeup!  Yay!

The house has changed a lot this year.  Newer and cooler rooms.  New layout.  New animatronics.  They outdid themselves on the house this year.

It was, yet again, another awkward first evening at the Bates Motel.  For my scene, there's this darned contraption called a boo-box.  A boo-box can be anything, but in my scene, it's some sort of shelf cabinet that is split down the middle.  I hide behind it and hold the handles that are placed in the middle of each side and slide it to pop out.  People don't expect anything of it because it looks like a china cabinet and has various dishes and cups on it.  It can be a very great scare, if it works appropriately.  However, first scare of the night, I came out of the boo-box and it fell of its wheel, not allowing me to roll it back into place.

After spending the first couple hours behind the boo-box and getting the hang of it, things started rolling into place and ideas started rolling in my head and things started clicking again.  There are tally marks on the one side of the boo-box that say "Asses on the floor" which refers to how many people (in years past) have fallen to the floor.  It is a very useful contraption when used appropriately ;)

But after the first couple hours, I wanted to move around the scene a little more, so I started getting into some sort of whimpering, frightened character at the dining room table, which spooked some people, but it still needs work.

Nothing too major to report on.  There were some good scares and some not so good scares, but overall, pretty slow.  It was opening night.  You can't expect it to be the best night of the season!  Hopefully tomorrow night will be a little more active.

(End of 1st evening).

WE'RE BACK!

Welcome back!

For those who do not know what this is about and are too lazy to go back to the beginning posts of this blog, this is about my job as an actor at the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride (http://www.thebatesmotel.com/).  It's not one of those "I'm Johnny Slasher and I like to eat little children :)" blogs, where someone might post completely in character.  That's corny and not realistic at all.  It's more of a tale of my time as an actor at a haunted attraction, showing you that there's a lot more to this job than just putting makeup on and screaming.

I will be entering my third year tomorrow night and I have returned to the Bates Motel, the dining room, to be specific.  I am looking forward to being able to sniffing people, whispering in their ears, and just making them as uncomfortable (or comfortable) as possible.  Last year, I was out on the hayride, out of my comfort zone, not being able to invade people's personal spaces as much as I wanted to, so this year shall be a delight.  And I have some surprises up my sleeve this year ;)

Thanks for reading and happy fall!

Zack Connor