When the night falls, about 150 people transform their everyday selves into a haunting ghost, ghoul, clown and more at Six Flags New England’s Fright Fest.
While the terror of the annual haunt event may feel supernatural, the real magic of Fright Fest is brought to life through the “scare actors” who roam the park dressed as monsters to scare attendees.
With all that magic, comes a lot of prep work.
Before the scares can take place for the season, the talent behind the monsters are put in “Ghoul School” — an immersive training program that helps scare actors become the most effective scarer they can be, all while staying safe.
“Ghoul School” includes a classroom section, taught by an instructor who walks scare actors through scaring techniques, park policies to follow and what to do in situations that require the actor to think fast.
After the classroom section, actors move to a character-building workshop, which includes experimenting with movements, noises and characteristics the assigned monster would possess.
“The one thing that really differentiates a good scarer from a great scarer is committing to the role,” Fahad Rahmat, events and execution supervisor at Six Flags New England, told MassLive.
If a scare actor is afraid of looking silly, then they will be. If a scare actor truly believes they are scary, then they will be, Rahmat said.
“Ghoul School” also teaches staff how to think on their feet and meet a range of haunting characters. Actors will have to seriously consider how they create a difference between being cast as a victim one day, and then cast as a demon the next.
Once they’ve got their monster walk down, it’s off to the “Zombie Factory” to get spruced up through makeup, props, blood and whatever else is needed to bring the monsters to life.
Gregory Seymour, entertainment supervisor at Six Flags New England, has worked for the theme park since 2002, seeing endless cycles of scare actors, makeup and gore.
Part of Seymour’s role during Fright Fest involves collaboratively working with scare actors to help create their character through makeup.
“I love watching horror movies,” Seymour said. “I love watching different films and getting ideas. So when you give me zombies, I‘m going to look at ’Night of the Living Dead.‘ When you give me campers, I’m going to look at your ’80s slasher flicks.”
When the look is complete, the scare actors are unleashed into the park during “the awakening” at 6 p.m., scattering themselves in haunted houses, the woods, the midway or the haunt zones.
MassLive experienced what it was like firsthand to step into the shoes of a scare actor, with a ghoulish makeover and test run in the Midnight Mansion, one of five haunted mazes in the park. Watch the transformation process below.
MassLive could not get the full experience when Fright Fest was open to the public, which is when the real test of an actor comes to fruition.
Each night of Fright Fest brings new guests ready to be scared, holding new conversations that the scare actor must be willing to work off of.
“It’s different than anything I’ve ever done,” scare actor Aimee Meunier said. “Usually, you have a script, you follow that and the audience is removed from you. But now you are a part of the audience, so everything is improv.”
Through their craft, the scare actors at Fright Fest might even be unrecognizable out in the world.
The staff consists of people with everyday professions, such as teachers, doctors and lawyers. But you’d never think that when you meet them covered in makeup, fake blood and prosthetics.
“To see them go from a friendly face you meet at the grocery store, to somebody that’s gonna scream at you and scare your pants off is a lot of fun and a really good challenge that brings out some personalities in us,” scare actor Willow Farber added.
Fright Fest at Six Flags New England is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the rest of October and the first Saturday and Sunday of November.
