Thanks to my best friend, Amie Jo-Lee Vangunten, I got into scare acting. Amie’s family plays a big part in running the haunted house and trail at Three Sister’s Park, known as “Spider Hill” in Chillicothe, Illinois. Every actor is a volunteer and spends extensive amounts of time on makeup, costume design, and many hours spent in their “attraction” scaring visitors until they pee their pants (seriously, there was a contest for who could make people pee their pants). 

Previous to Spider Hill, I had no acting experience. I had been in (maybe) one or two plays in school, but that was all scripted and practiced for weeks. Scare acting is unique in the way that you are doing improv all the time. For most, this was daunting. However, I found the improvisation thrilling. I didn’t need to remember any lines or specific movements, I was free to experiment as I pleased. Spider Hill taught me a great deal about improvisation, costume design, character development, how to put colored contacts in (not an easy task with fingernails) and extensive special effects makeup techniques. 

As someone who’s been to many haunted houses and trails, I can confidently say that every time I do a run-through of Spider Hill’s attractions, I get spooked. It’s a small community, but incredibly tightly knit and accepting. I’ll admit that the hours were grueling, but it truly was worth it when you get a group of visitors who scream loud enough to make your eardrums flutter!