-dalex
Mmmm... smell that? It's that time of year again in Southern California where garrulous bitches of the basic persuasion are clinging to PSLs and pulling out retinues of fluffy clay colored boots. The oppressive sky fever known as "Summer" has broken and ushered in temperatures in the mid to low 70s and even occasionally the upper 60s. Every Target, CVS, and .99 Store unleashed upon their retail floors the sacred Halloween merchandise stock, and by now they're likely feeling the temptation to bring out wreaths, gift wrap, reindeer headbands, and inflatable snowmen lawn ornaments.
i mean... Halloween is TODAY, guys.
Even though autumn is typically the season of change that corresponds with death/the dead i actually now associate "fall" (CA doesn't get a semblance of actual fall until sometime in November though) with freshness, transformation, and new life bc when i moved here my life was at a pivotal juncture. I'd left my college town in IL and a barista / bartender position at One World® bistro for the promise of stardom and status.
Many opportunities and now memories came out of Octobers in my drive to make a name for myself in the world. i'm reminded of the evening drives up to CalArts for one-act rehearsal with J. Corgmatronic. Also, spending weekends in October years ago mentoring young lads in the theatre arts at Sunburst Youth Academy down in Los Alamitos. And then there was last October...
Here in L.A. there is a preternatural annual occupational enterprise that gives endeavoring actors, makeup artists, costumers, and hard core horror lifers a fluctuating, but steady paycheck for almost 2 whole months.
Last year in my transition between TV casting and the big black career unknown i found myself on a whim in a office space above Universal CityWalk with over a dozen other dudes taking our turn scaring a chair. That was the audition i had to pass to be a member of the "Pool" or Dead Pool as i think it is more aptly referred to. The "Pool" is a horde of scharacters (pron. scare-actors but meaning scare characters. FYI i am not the definitive authority on that nomenclature's spelling or meaning.)
Working Halloween Horror nights added new perspective to the term "Graveyard Shift". The day starts with a call time of like... 4:43pm and you usually get home at 4 in the morning, and then some Sundays after a long "week" you might find yourself out enjoying some diner treats at the Coral Cafe 'til the hour when all vampires must crawl back into their coffins.
My first day was actually spent going through all the mazes/zones. As it were there was an excess of pool people on friends and family night bc everyone hired in roles actually showed up to work. The lead who oversaw daily casting for the pool sent us out in groups with veteran scharacters to see the sights and screams of Halloween Horror Nights. Super cool. You're telling me i'm going to get paid to attend a theme park's Halloween event? i'm listening. ;) My Favorite maze that night was probably Freddy Vs. Jason. Great scares and neat innovative tech stuff to support the story and cast members. But by the end of my time at Horror Nights a much less glitzy maze would completely steal my heart.
The Purge tunnel was my first assignment as a working scharacter. A number of us were sent into makeup and wardrobe to wear very gore splattered red white and blue attire. Most of us were given props like bloody knives, baseball bats, and a couple of folks foam hammers. As i remember night 1 i was given a mask to wear which was AWESOME. No airbrushed face-paint to scrub off at 4am! Huzzah! The shifts were easy and the breaks lengthy. Perfect job. LOVED. Second day i did have to have make up, but was still in that zone. i'm telling you, we would walk around the tunnel for 45 mins, and then be off for 45 mins. UNREAL. MAX HAPPY. And at that time there was like little to no accountability to whether you were supposed to be on break or not. i stuck to my schedule for the most part, but sometimes i took a break a couple of minutes early...
The scares in the tunnel zone were by and large pretty fun bc you could just be walking behind someone and they would turn around and flip out. I had a penchant for ducking low and walking upstream against the flow of attendees which allowed the guests to hide my presence until i wanted to be seen ;).
After a couple of days in the pool and bouncing around some of the installations at Universal Studios and on the Universal Lot i was not sure i could muster the strength of mind to complete the run that i was hired for. Not like people quitting was uncommon... or at least i imagine it happened with some regularity after opening for the season. I mean, that's why the pool existed; to act as understudies temporarily or permanently for any role we fit the specs for.
But on day like... 5 or 6, i think, i was placed in a maze that may have been personally approved by the lord of darkness himself in his most philanthropic hour. That night I was assigned the role of CHOP-TOP SAWYER of which, i admit in that moment, i had 0 clue about.
The character was played by Bill Moseley who has a lengthy resume in the horror film genre. He is also near to my heart bc Bill voiced a creepy backwoods shop keep named Bernie in a spooky episode of the new Nickelodeon TMNT series.
i was welcomed to the maze and given a crash course on how the maze worked and what hides my character worked from. i met a cool dude who helped me mucho, and i was generally pretty happy as there was a dedicated break area that wasn't just a few plywood walls put up that also functioned as stalls to direct guests through the maze.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers was a haven. The maze lead was a gentleman and his assistant Bryan also totally cool and wildly well put together. They kept the fraternity of goofballs that made up the cast of the maze in line with their courteous professionalism and it was amazing.
To Be Cont...
