JOPLIN, Mo. —
“I get to scare the hell out of people and not get thrown in jail for it.”
Reggie Tippin loves his job as the owner and operator of Wolfman’s House of Screams, a Joplin-area spookhouse that’s been in business for the past seven years.
Every October, local spookhouses such as Tippin’s are flooded with area residents who bravely (or not so much) walk through buildings filled with grisly sights, ghastly characters and gruesome surprises.
In order to make the horror experience at these spookhouses as satisfyingly scary as possible, dedicated teams of performers, makeup artists and set-up men work tirelessly to provide the frightening characters and settings that customers expect.
Preparing to scare
At Raycliff Manor, character training is a serious part of the annual scream season’s preparation.
“Starting in March, we had a series of actor training workshops,” said Kelly Allen, owner of the 7-year-old Joplin spookhouse. “This year we focused on over-the-top acting.”
Besides actor training, the owners and some of the performers attended the Transworld Halloween and Attractions Show in St. Louis, where they learned about numerous frightening topics, such as special effects and character development. Allen said that every performer is required to attend a safety training workshop where they acquire some unusual but potentially lifesaving skills.
“Everyone learns how to put out a fire with a fire extinguisher,” Allen said.
Allen said that preparation for scream season is a never-ending process. And Tippin and Larry Mauller, owner of Maullers Frightmare Haunt in Joplin, agreed that the time commitment needed to effectively prepare for Halloween is huge.
Mauller’s performers are instructed on how to deal with small children who may not be ready for the full horror experience, he said.
All of the haunted housekeepers said they will start preparing for next season as soon as the current one ends.
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