Becoming a Vampire for a Valentines-Themed Haunted Attraction
Vampires have been thriving in pop culture as of late, with hits like Robbert Egger’s reimagined Nosferatu, AMC’s reimagined Interview with the Vampire, Radio Silence’s Abigail and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners allowing creatures of the night to seize upon all genres of cinema and television. The beauty of the vampire is its ability to be whatever the narrative requires it to be, from object of obsession to monstrous beast. So when we were invited to scare act for the annual Valentine’s Day event at Laurel’s House of Horror, “Love is Blind”, the mandate was clear - and a brand-new haunt character, Charles “Twinkle” Rhinestone III, was born.
For the uninitiated, haunted attractions like Laurel’s House of Horror bring in dozens - sometimes hundreds - of hired hands known as “scare actors” to propagate their mazes every season. Training and experience vary widely from haunt to haunt and actor to actor, but the community that’s formed by the actors’ overall commitment to the craft transcends rank, tenure and geography across the industry. Actors all share a passion for bringing immersive (and often terrifying) new worlds to life with their characters, and sending customers home with hearts racing and stories to tell. While this craft is taken very seriously and industry professionals typically undergo weeks of intensive training prior to their first deployment within any given haunt, exceptions are occasionally made for experience vloggers like ourselves who are fascinated by the mechanics behind a successful show.
When makeup lead and marketing manager Mandy Gibson asked if one of us would be interested in ‘guest acting’ for the “Love is Blind” event, I already had an idea of where I wanted to go with the role. Having previously acted for Laurel during their “Krampus Nightmare” events (2023, 2024), I had already tried “scary” and I had already tried “manic”. Both characters were launched as unfinished drafts with mixed results, and I thought that a new character might be able to offer a more balanced presence - particularly for an event themed around love, romance and relationships. Fresh off of a rewatch of “Abigail” (2024), the vampire angle made a lot of sense to me. If I fell short of being “scary”, I could still probably still sell “elegant” and “mysterious”. If I fell short of being “elegant” and “mysterious”, I could surely sell “funny”. Early development for the character began as far back as December 2025, almost sixty days prior to the “Love is Blind” event. It took virtually no time at all to settle on a character name, a dialect and an accent. The hard part was making the character look believable - and that’s what the makeup and VFX teams at Laurel’s House of Horror do the best.
Although the haunt could have fitted me with a costume, supplies are limited and we didn’t want to take those supplies away from hardworking actors who had been better trained and were more reflective of the brand. Instead, I compiled a costume myself using various pieces that I found on Amazon. I should clarify, here, that my entire costume was approved by the haunt prior to my bringing it in for use in the haunt. Additionally, a good haunt will almost always do some distressing on its costumes in order to make the actors blend into the scene a bit better; due to our abbreviated timeline, I wasn’t able to distress my costume before doors opened to the public. Actor manager Evan Webb would ultimately alleviate any need for distressing by embedding me in the haunt’s ‘lobby’ scene, effectively hiding me in the shadows and allowing customers’ minds to fill in the gaps - but, I’m getting ahead of myself. I already had a pair of dress slacks that were so worn down you might have mistaken them for dark jeans, and the rest came from the following Amazon storefronts:
Wig: Long Curly Wavy Dark Brown Wigs for (Men Synthetic) - $20
Horns: Men's Universal Horn Latex Appliance Small - $13
Coat & Vest: Medieval Steampunk Tailcoat for Men - $43
Shirt: Mens Pirate Vampire Ruffle Shirt - $20
Boots: Medieval Pirate Boots Men - $50
Above: Leigh, a guest haunter from Milltown Haunt (VA), helps me get my ghostly contacts in before the doors open.
The costume, however, is only part of any given haunt character’s overall stage presence. The second layer, if you will, is the makeup - expertly applied by Mandy Gibson herself, with prosthetic support by Rachel England. Costume Manager and assistant Actor Manager Jada Murray was kind enough to lend me a pair of white contact lenses to help sell the ‘undead’ look of my eyes, and Leigh, a visiting actor from a neighboring attraction, was kind enough to help me get those contacts nested. Makeup is a specialty of our friends at Laurel’s House of Horror, and one that can take anywhere between 10 minutes and 45 minutes depending on the look and the style. With so many actors to decorate, Mandy and the team of talented makeup artists at her disposal were cranking out one look after the next for roughly an hour and a half, and suddenly we had a full crew of disheveled creatures ready to scare any would-be lovers into each others’ arms. After a little dance party to get the energy level up, the haunt’s theatre leads gathered their troops and escorted them to their assigned scenes across the 25-to-30 minute walkthrough.
After taking in my overall ‘Lestat’ vibe, Evan determined that the best place for me was likely to be the very first room of the whole attraction. On the one hand, knowing that you are responsible for delivering a first impression for every customer that might walk through that night is a heavy cross to bear. On the other hand, you don’t feel any pressure to match the energy of the actors that came before you - because there weren’t any. The shadows in this particular space helped to hide the lack of distress in my costume, and the elegant theming of the Hotel Carlisle was more or less a perfect fit for my 19th century maroon coat and boot ensemble. As the night got started, I tried a few different approaches to the traditional ‘scare’ - but by roughly 20 minutes after open, I had abandoned scare tactics altogether and instead leaned hard into comedy, whimsy and shameless flirting. Some things landed, some things didn’t; but I think it’s more than fair to say that ‘Charles Twinkle Rhinestone III’ made quite a few impressions as several hundred customers laughed, screamed and blushed their way through the first room of the haunt. And the crazy part is, the fun didn’t end there.
Above: Tim’s haunt character, Charles Twinkle Rhinestone III, was more popular than he had any right to be with the customers at Laurel’s House of Horror. Photo courtesy of Juston Photography.
Special events like “Love is Blind” only last for about three hours, and as a ‘guest’ haunter at Laurel’s House of Horror, the staff didn’t want me burning myself out. So, after roughly two hours, I was swapped out for a trained actor and given permission to rest or roam as I saw fit. Still in costume and makeup, I made my way to the haunt’s midway to meet up with some of the friends that I knew to be visiting the haunt that night. I expected to be noticed by customers browsing the gift shop, but I didn’t expect to be anywhere near as popular as I was. My presence was requested by two customers participating in the haunt’s brand-new free photo studio experience (courtesy of Juston Photography) and I was more than happy to join in on their little photoshoot. From there, it was customer after customer asking for me to stick around for just a little longer. It was always just one more photo, one more pose, one more friend who was shopping but would ‘be right there’ - and to be honest, as an undercover experience vlogger, I was loving the attention. It wasn’t until nearly two hours after close that I said adieu to the last of our esteemed guests and was finally able to get off of my feet and remove the contacts.
So, what did I learn by portraying this character? Well, firstly, I learned that 'scary’ isn’t the only benchmark to strive for in an increasingly crowded industry that runs on fear. It doesn’t matter whether the customer is scared, flattered, exhilarated or pissing their pants with laughter - at the end of the day, it only matters that the customer feels engaged, and leaves the haunt saying “that was fun”. There are plenty of actors who are literally and metaphorically ‘built’ to scare, and if I’m not one of them, I can still have fun in my own lane. The second thing I learned was how exhausting it could be to stay in character - any character - for more than five hours without coming up for air. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I learned why it was that scare acting is so important to those who embody characters within haunts like these. Many scare actors (including yours truly) are introverted or socially awkward, and some may have a harder time than others meeting new people, making friends and opening themselves up to new experiences. Not only does the haunt itself create a sense of purpose and belonging for these people, but the characters that they portray serve a dual function as both outlets and escape hatches. For one night, or two, or three, an actor can become somebody else entirely. The fear of being seen as weird or different goes out the window; here, in this space, being weird and different is an asset, and it might even make you more popular with the customers.
It was an honor to be shoulder to shoulder with the legends at Laurel’s House of Horror for this event, and I want to thank them for inviting me to step behind the curtain and into the shoes of a character with a little more elegance. Laurel’s House of Horror is located at 935 Fairlawn Ave, Laurel, MD 20707. The haunt will be hosting its next major event this July for the annual Purge, but in the meantime, you can book paranormal tours and escape games year round at this one-of-a-kind attraction in the DMV - be sure to check out https://laurelhaunt.com/ for tickets and event information. You can also get an inside look at our experience from both sides of the lens in our event vlog, which has been embedded below. Happy hauntings!
