What is a 'Haunt' and How Does it Work?
If you’ve been living under a rock during the Halloween celebrations (AKA ‘Spooky Season’) of years past, you may be unfamiliar with the concept of a ‘haunt’….and not even Urban Dictionary has been able to answer for you why it is that the term is thrown around so often as a proper noun during the months of September to November. Put simply, a haunt - as it is newly-defined by the industry - is an event featuring scare actors, haunted houses and other attractions designed to frighten guests who enjoy the adrenaline rush. At timandkt, we love to overload our Fall calendar with haunts and other spooky events that leave us with throats fatigued from screaming and pictures that are truly worth a thousand words. That said, not all haunts are created equal, and some haunts really go the extra mile to make the experience fun, tactile and memorable for the visitors. One such haunt is our local favorite, Field of Screams (Lancaster, PA), where we were offered an amazing opportunity to take a peek behind the proverbial curtain and explore how it was that this particular haunt comes together year over year.
ABOVE: Katie got a close-up look at the amazing technology that creates the immersive ‘Haunted Hayride’ experience at Field of Screams in Lancaster, PA.
Field of Screams has now been in operation for more than 30 years, and co-owners Jim and Gene Schopf still strive to improve the event year over year. The property is static, unlike some other haunts in the region, which allows the team to continue building on existing foundation(s) rather than having to tear down and rebuild with each passing haunt season. This allows the creative minds behind ‘Field of Screams’ to continue adding new attractions, new special effects and even some new off-season events as time rolls on, always expanding without sacrificing any of the previous installations. This gives the team an edge over local competition that is defined by the parameters of a limited engagement or rented property(s), but it does not - on its own - guarantee an amazing experience for the guest. Quite to the contrary, Field of Screams is dedicated to bringing the haunt to life through the efforts of the live actors, the tireless crew and the flawless execution of timed effects and jump scares throughout all four of the haunted attractions and the community area(s) nearby.
ABOVE: One of the many dedicated scare actors at Field of Screams.
It was our honor and our privilege to be invited out to Field of Screams during their 30th season celebrations to explore the grounds with Tanner Schopf (Gene’s son, and Head of Actor Services at FOS) and take a closer look at how all of these attractions and events come together. Notably, we were able to walk the length of the ‘Haunted Hayride’ track. This nationally-famous attraction utilizes several massive, open-air trailers which accommodate dozens of riders per cart and rolls you through several vignettes featuring all of your worst nightmares - pigs, snakes, spiders, clowns, toxic waste, etc. The opportunity to walk the road that the trailer crawls along and see some of these vignettes engage during broad daylight revealed a whole new world of effects and immersive scenes to us that we didn’t even know existed. Many of the animatronics and effects are self-firing, contingent on the triggering of a nearby pressure pad which the tractor and trailer will roll over to activate. On the other hand, some effects that we believed to be automated are carefully controlled and overseen by human scare actors and “pilots” and have significantly more flexibility than a view from the darkened trailer would lead one to assume. The whole ride is typically over in approximately 20 minutes, leaving you stunned and frantically trying to process everything that you just saw; so the ability to take a slow walk and carefully observe every element was a real treat!
ABOVE: A Scare Actor at 'Field of Screams' in Lancaster, PA receives special FX makeup before heading to her assigned position at one of the haunted attractions.
After we finished with our tour of the Hayride loop, we were whisked backstage to explore the costume, makeup and props barn and get a closer look at how the Scare Actors quickly and collectedly go from polos and gym clothes to tortured asylum inmates and lunatic clowns for the haunted attractions. The haunt is a well-oiled, well-organized machine; acting talent arrives significantly ahead of the property’s opening hours to be assigned a role, a costume, a prop (where needed) and what the industry calls ‘skit lines’ - words, phrases or concepts that can be recycled for each group of guests to pass the scare actor’s designated area in order to weave together a convincing and immersive narrative. Once robed and accessorized, the Scare Actors ascend to the upper levels where they will be decked out in full (sometimes grotesque) makeup to match the scene and the character to which they’ve been assigned. It is here that people like Kylie Helzer, head FX lead, are instrumental in bringing the haunt to life by helping to make the scare actors more believable as tormented characters in a larger narrative.
After an amazing behind-the-scenes look at both of these areas, the clock struck 7pm and the haunt event itself got underway for ticketed guests. We assumed that this would be the end of our ‘backstage pass’; but little did we know, the Field of Screams team does nothing halfway! The staff carefully staggered and organized a quick (private) flight through each of the remaining three attractions for us: the ‘Den of Darkness’, ‘Frightmare Asylum’, and the ‘Nocturnal Wasteland’. We were even permitted to bring a handheld light into each of the attractions so as to better illuminate the experience for our viewers, which is normally a big no-no - but then again, so is filming inside the houses! Across every attraction and experience we explored during this visit, the Scare Actors went above and beyond to make the narrative enjoyable, immersive and - of course - terrifying for us as visitors.
When all was said and done, our “Behind the Screams” look at Field of Screams had peeled back many layers for us as frequent ‘haunters’ and regular guests of the property. Although we had always been impressed with the level of immersion, the dedication of the staff and the application of technology at this haunt, we had no idea how complex the inner workings of the haunt itself actually were, nor did we have a true grasp of how attentive to detail the creative team has been over the 30 years that this haunt has been operating. We cannot thank the Field of Screams staff enough for volunteering their time and attention to give us a backstage tour of the event. We invite everyone to get a peek at how this terrifying property brings the scares to life each year by taking a look at our latest vlog below - and we STRONGLY encourage everyone to plan a trip out to Field of Screams in Lancaster, PA to experience the terror of this talented team during the regular operating season, or at any of their off-season events throughout the year!
