[heading size=”20″ align=”left” margin=”10″ color=”#8C001A”]Meet new people and bring your creative and crafty skills to the Halloween community by volunteering at a haunt this Halloween.[/heading]
Looking for a new way to experience Halloween this year? If you’ve ever wanted to get involved with a local haunted attraction, you’ll be in for some fun nights of fright that you won’t soon forget.
Don’t worry if you don’t have any previous experience in putting together an attraction. All you need is a love for Halloween and a desire for fun, and there will be many things you can contribute to a haunted house, hayride walk-through, or any other type of haunted attraction. Some of the way yo can volunteer with the horrific events in your area are:
Be a Monster!
Like acting? Live actors are key to bringing haunted attractions to life.You’ll get to dress up in freakish attire,wear monster make-up and run around acting crazy… who could ask for more?Think about what type of monster you would like to be ahead of time so you can get a character in mind, such as a vampire, a zombie, a mad scientist, a werewolf, an escaped lunatic, a ghost, a mummy, etc. Don’t worry if you don’t have any previous acting experience. Just find out when the attraction is holding auditions and practice getting into character at home. If you don’t like the thought of running after people on a hayride or jumping out behind a wall of a haunted house, remember that not all monsters in haunted attractions are there to scare people. There will also be openings for greeters, walking around the area to keep guests entertained while they wait in line.
Design and Build Sets
Like working with your hands? Small haunts are always looking for help in setting up everything from the haunted house to the “Thank you for coming” sign. No matter what your skill level, you can be trained to help in a variety of areas. Construct a haunted castle from the ground up, paint the walls, windows and doors, or place the smaller props throughout the haunt. Most haunt-owners also look for new ideas so that their attraction can change with each season. You can bring your own ideas to the table to help put a new spin on the layout and theme.
[pullquote align=”right”]If you’ve always wanted to take part in a Halloween haunt, take the leap this year and see how much fun it can be. You’ll meet great people who share your interests of bringing Halloween to life.[/pullquote]
Make Props
Feeling creative? Haunts usually build most of their props rather than buying them, and they need all the help they can get. Learn how to make signs, coffins, tombstones, nooses, scarecrows, flying ghosts and more. It’s a fun pastime to take part in during October weekends, and you’ll learn how to build from the pros and see your creations come to life. If you would rather do something more low-key, vouch to work with the smaller props, such as carving Halloween gift bags. jack-o-lanterns and putting together Halloween gift bags.
Publicity
Like writing and photography? Bring your skills to the haunt by writing an article on their upcoming attraction to post online or give to the weekly newspaper. Take pictures of the set and props coming together to go with your article. You can also design an ad or flyer for the attraction to put up in your local library and community center.
Work the Event
If you would enjoy working the night of the event rather than setting up behind the scenes, there’s always room for help in that department, too. Volunteer to be one of the ticket sellers, a merchandise vendor, or to direct cars where to park. Helping out on the night of the event will get you out there to enjoy the night of fright and see the people’s amusing reactions.
Want some extra spending cash while turning yourself over to the dark side? Look into working some bigger haunted attractions, as well, such as for theme parks and zoos that are putting on an after hours Halloween show. Working these types of bigger haunts will pay a small sum, so you can load up on all those Halloween goodies after the show!
If you’ve always wanted to take part in a Halloween haunt, take the leap this year and see how much fun it can be. You’ll meet great people who share your interests of bringing Halloween to life. Look online or in your local newspaper for what events are being planned in your area. And who knows, it may turn into a yearly tradition of working on different attractions to look forward to with each Halloween!
