Everyone loves a little thrill now and then, and visiting haunted houses can be the safest way to get it. The problem is that some folks take the experience a little too seriously and react in ways nobody expected.
That’s why employees at scary houses finally decided to open up about their most awkward, bizarre, and terrible moments on the job. This list definitely shines a light on guests who are sometimes even more terrifying than the haunted house.
#1
I work at a haunted house and I am pretty extreme. I have Madagascar Hissing cockroaches climbing all over me, I eat worms, dig chicken bones out of the garbage, dig “dirty diapers” that were placed in the garbage by me earlier in the night that are filled with Nutella, and precede to eat it in front of crowds, and let people put cigarettes out on my tongue.
I have caused multiple people to vomit in line due to the disgusting nature of my act. Why one person throws up, multiple people tend to vomit. We had to close down the haunt for a half an hour to clean up.
Image source: anon, Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels
#2
I was dressed as a vampire and standing in a coffin. When people would come around the corner, I would jump out and scare them.
A woman came through and I jumped out. The woman lets out this piercing scream and jumps backwards. She hit the wall so hard she dented it pretty badly.
She kept screaming and wouldn’t stop. She was hyperventilating, crying, on and on. I was afraid to approach her and make it worse. I had to completely drop character and tell one of the guests to go get an uncostumed worker to assist her.
Someone comes, gets her calmed down. She even talks to me and finally laughs about it. She leaves and I’m so relieved she was okay, but it really shook me up.
Thirty minutes later: SHE COMES BACK. I don’t jump out of the coffin, I just walk out and say ‘What are you doing here??’ She gets this embarrassed look on her face and says, ‘I had fun.’
Looking back on it, the funniest part were the looks on the faces of the people behind her in the line the second time. To them, this vampire just walks out of a coffin and gets all bossy with some random woman.
Image source: soulteepee, Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels
#3
When one particular big, burly dude figured out I was not, in fact, a mannequin and I could, in fact, get out of my ‘cage’ and come for him, he ran so fast he went through one of our temporary walls like something out of a cartoon. Worst for him, funniest for his friends and me!
Image source: Jules_Noctambule, Wallace Castro/Pexels
There are almost 1,200 haunted attractions in the U.S., charging folks to visit and enjoy their scary features. According to America Haunts, some of these places open on Halloween itself, and some also contribute to charity through the huge sales they receive. The typical number of visitors is nearly 8,000.
Fewer than 3% of haunted houses have attendance over 35,000 paid guests, and 1-2% have up to 60,000 visitors, but they have to be extremely big and popular. Since most of these places charge around $15-25 per customer, they receive a lot of guests and fill folks with a tiny bit of fear and thrill that they so desire.
#4
Probably whomever had to revive a man that sprung out of a closet in a haunted house. A co-worker had gone to one with her young children. Either she had no idea of what she was getting into or thought that she and the kids could handle it.
Some guy jumped out of a closet doing something scary. She knocked him out. She and the kids walked back to the front door and left.
Image source: longagofaraway2, Roger Brown/Pexels
#5
My mom worked at a haunted house when I was younger, somewhere between 6 and 10. She was a skeleton and jumped out and hugged me as we were going through and I punched her in the face. My dad laughed for days.
Image source: shadowtrick, Astrid Sosa/Pexels
#6
My parents met for the first time in a haunted house. My father was working there for the summer, and his job was to stand beneath the stairs, and shake some of the loose steps back and forth, while making scary noises, etc.
Well, one night, my mother and some of her friends went through said haunted house. They eventually made it to the stairs where my father worked. He shook one of the steps, and my mother stumbled, breaking the heel off her high heeled boots. She put up a stink, and got my father fired.
So, for years after that, they told the story, my father claiming some crazy jerk got him fired, and my mother claiming some guy almost took her life in a haunted house. It wasn’t until they were dating, about 4 years later, that they figured it out.
Image source: Fierumbras, Christina Petsos/Pexels
For many people, October marks the start of their “spooky” season, when they can partake in all things ghoulish and terrifying. Lots of folks love watching scary movies, buying Halloween candy, and going trick-or-treating. McMaster University notes that some people also love being scared, even if it feels slightly uncomfortable.
That’s probably why spending for this festival reaches nearly $13.5 billion, and 49% of folks start buying things for Halloween in September or earlier. There are so many fun things to do during this month, like handing out candy, making and wearing costumes, decorating the yard, and scaring friends.
#7
I wasn’t working that day, but one of my co-workers at Halloween Horror Nights said he saw Justin Bieber in one of the mazes. It must have been terrifying.
Image source: ZeldaZealot, Daniel Ogren
#8
I once made the mayor of my town shield himself with a small child. I was in a smallish room with a steel grate separating me from the folks walking through, it was my job to make sparks on said grate with a car battery.(Safe, I know) Anyways, I guess I really timed it right.
Image source: Brain_Damage117, Arianna Tavaglione/Pexels
#9
When I was a little kid I was walking through a haunted house that was set up in a couple rooms in a school or something, and I turned a corner and saw some middle aged woman screaming and violently stomping out some guy who was dressed up as a scarecrow. I think his job was to lay on the ground, and just kind of lurch forward at people as they walked by, and he scared the lady so badly that she just started curb stomping him. She eventually stopped after he started screaming, and he just kind of got up and limped out of the room.
Image source: endofthedaystart, DANIEL GOMEZ/Pexels
It might seem odd that people actually like being scared, but the American Brain Foundation notes that fear is a powerful emotion, and when we feel in danger, our fight-or-flight response activates. This can trigger a series of chemical reactions: the thalamus sends signals to the amygdala, which signals the glands to release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
At the same time, the person might experience a rush of endorphins and dopamine, which can create a slightly pleasant feeling. Fear can also heighten the senses as the brain scans the environment for potential threats. All of this happens automatically when a person faces a threat, like a horror movie.
#10
I work in a haunted house around this time of year and it surprisingly laid back, there is a few rooms that have set consumes and set people but about 50% of the rooms it’s just “grab a costume and be scary”. The final room is a clown room and that’s the room me and most of my friends would take and scare people, the most common thing to happen is for people to just freeze. They just stop in the middle of the tour and scream. The only way to get them to move is to come out of character and tell them they have to go.
My favorite “spot” is after the clown room you make a hard right and go down a long dark hallway to leave. Right outside of the room there is a little nook that you can sit if you were to go left out of the clown room instead of a right down that hallway, anyways, the funniest thing I’ve ever seen had to be the time I was sitting in that nook with a chain saw and sate first person came around the corner they didn’t see me so when I revved the chain saw she took off running and only got about two steps before promptly falling on her face, this is where it gets good, with it being a dark hallway the rest of the tour also took off running from hearing the chain saw and one after another they fell the pile up at the end was somewhere between 8-10 people. I had to put the chainsaw down and go help but I hardly could I was laughing so hard. Sorry about the poor story telling.
EDIT: for many of you asking this was In Baltimore Maryland.
Image source: murphy1210, Carlos Misael Cruz López/Pexels
#11
Story #1: I went to a haunted house with my husband. Some guy jumped out at us waving a chainsaw. He was really sad when we laughed, but then we told him that there was a group of middle school boys right behind us. He thanked us for the tip, and went to lay in wait for them. About 60 seconds later, they ran past us at full speed with him chasing them as fast as he good. It was hilarious. It wasn’t as hilarious when we go to the next room and the kids decided that we were close enough to grown ups to count. They (all 4 of them) grabbed us by the arms and would NOT let go until we had safely escorted them out of the haunted house.
Story #2: I was at a haunted house with my husband and the room we were in was a very, very dark maze. Someone dressed in black reached out and touched me. I screamed and punched him as hard as I could in the torso, just below the point where the ribs come together. Then I apologized about 100 times. Poor guy.
Story #3: I went to a local haunted house with my cousins and uncle when I was about 12. Another cousin was working, and told the guy in the chainsaw room to give her “little cousins” a special show. He came after us with the chainsaw and backed us into a corner. I collapsed on the ground in a fetal position and put my arms over my head and refused to move. If he’d been a real slasher, I would have been unalive in 30 seconds.
Image source: anon, Eduardo González/Pexels
#12
I went to a haunted house with my family when I was about ten. My little sister (8 at the time) kept insisting that she wanted to go off alone. She wasn’t allowed to but at some point she snuck off. Well the haunted house closed, and my family are all sitting outside of the entrance waiting for her to come out. The majority of it is a maze, with a guy with a chainsaw chasing you around. That actor came out and talked to us, and we told him my little sisters name. So he goes around the maze screaming “BRITTANYYYY I’m going to find you… You better get out of this maze!” for like ten minutes and then she finally comes running out, sobbing with a bright red face.
That was so messed up to do to an eight year old.
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When a scary situation isn’t real, but the person just wants to experience the thrill of it, feeling frightened can have a positive effect, not that different from euphoria. The brain releases a chemical rush that creates a state of arousal similar to excitement, and because people know they’re safe in a controlled setting, they avoid the stress that usually comes with such situations.
Adrenaline and dopamine also drive the enjoyment of fear and give people a sense of pleasure as a reward for surviving these experiences. Also, because folks can scream, jump, or release their emotions in a socially acceptable way, this can lead to a feeling of catharsis they might not otherwise get.
#13
I once volunteered at a haunted house when I was 16. I was the introduction sorta. I had a mad scientist costume on and I was sitting at a desk petting a rat. When people open the door I was supposed to look up and say “welcome” as creepily as possible. Well a group of teenage girls walk in and Im like this is gonna be a good scare! So I say my line and all of them get scared except one. She just kinda looks at me, then looks to her friends and say: “He’s kinda cute”. The rest of them were just like OH MY GOD YOU CANT SAY THAT HERE and I just facepalmed as they left into the next room.
Image source: ibayibay1, CARLOSCRUZ ARTEGRAFIA/Pexels
#14
Having worked in a local house for a few years, I’ve seen some hilarious things. Among them, a super tough guy who’s lashing out at his girlfriend for being creeped out. I pop out behind him in full costume as Jason, which elicits a high pitched shriek from him. He’s backing up further until my buddy, in full Freddy regalia sneaks into his blind spot. Dude runs, slams into a wall and knocks himself stupid. Girl laughed. Was hard not to hide our shoulders from bouncing up and down from laughter.
Image source: DrHuutrz, Marcelo Chagas/Pexels
#15
When I was in 2nd grade my daycare put on a haunted house for the parents. I was in my own room dressed as a ghost and was suppose to say “boo!”. When guest started walking in I began to cry because I was scared of them, the strobe light and the loud music. One of the daycare staff had to sit with me while I cried and said “boo” to the people walking by…
Image source: nakashimmy, cottonbro studio/Pexels
Having fun with scary experiences also has its limits, and age or associations with past trauma can play a big role in that. When folks experience heightened feelings of terror or extreme anxiety, this might impair their ability to enjoy regular moments and might also cause them to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
Apart from that, children might also struggle with haunted houses or scary experiences as they may not be old enough to differentiate between real and imaginary danger. That’s why parents and guardians need to shield them from visually terrifying content so that they don’t get scarred for life.
#16
I was in a haunted house when I was young and I was absolutely bawling crying. My brother trying to lighten, after a guy jumped out, shouted “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” to which he answered sheepishly “Its my job…sorry”. The only reason I got out without wetting myself was because bro got out his ipod and made me listen to FunkyTown on repeat until we got out…Good Times!
Image source: theworldisafineplace, Gallery BY IMAN/Pexels
#17
Not “the worst” but certainly funny: I worked a haunted hay ride with my sister one year and it was my job to get in line, ride with everyone else and get pulled off the wagon and unalived by my sister at the vampire station.
One iteration, there was this teenage girl who was terrified. I sat next to her and pointed out how fake everything looked and how she didn’t have anything to worry about. When we got to my sister’s station and she ripped me off the wagon and threw me to the ground, I started screaming, “IT’S REAL! OH MY GOD IT’S REAL!!”
The look of absolute unbridled abject horror in her eyes as the wagon rolled off into the darkness was one I’ll never forget :)
Also, I am a horrible person. Don’t upvote this.
Image source: retsigam, MART PRODUCTION/Pexels
#18
Well, this happened to me as a visitor to a haunted house, not a worker.
We had made it all the way to the final room. We knew it was the last room because it let out right by the line we stood in to enter the house.
It was all black and white checkered walls with strobe lights, and a guy, also in black and white, with a chainsaw chasing people out.
I was the first to enter, sufficiently terrified from the rest of the house at this point. Chainsaw dude must have noticed my apprehension upon entering the room because he went right for me. I screamed and sprinted for the exit door, which of course was painted like the rest of the room. At full force I hit what I was hoping was the door. It wasn’t. I did a full speed face plant into a very solid wall. Put my front teeth through my lip, howled in pain and started crying. All my friends had exited out of the actual exit, so it was just me and chainsaw dude. I thought that was it for me!! As he got closer, he saw that I was hurt, not just screaming in terror.
So now chainsaw dude puts his chainsaw down and carries me out of the house, past all the other people in line waiting to enter, to the medical staff.
I can only imagine what everyone in line thought as one of the monsters was carrying this screaming, crying, bloody kid out of the place. I like to think it put them all a little more on edge as they approached the entrance.
Image source: AnnanWater, İbrahim Halil Ölmez/Pexels
When faced with a really scary situation, or even if you begin panicking in a haunted house, the best thing to do is to try to slow your body down. According to Healthline, it’s essential to take a few moments to breathe slowly and carefully, as this signals the brain and reduces the fight-or-flight response.
These calming breaths also help folks feel less stressed and focus their attention on their body. Techniques like this can help anxious and worried folks feel better and avoid getting carried away by their emotions.
#19
I worked at a haunted house last Halloween season. A drunk guy punched one of our actors in the face when she scared him. Everyone had to halt, and security had to come through to escort the guy out. Drunk people are annoying.
Image source: Fried_Snicker, energepic.com/Pexels
#20
Only been to one haunt. Happened to see the cast member step through the false wall behind our group and said ‘Oh hey, what’s up?’
Everyone else turned and screamed like crazy.
Image source: ZarquonsFlatTire, SHVETS production/Pexels
#21
A haunted house near me uses “fake” chain saws. Once they forgot to replace the chain for the rubber ones they still use. Then they accidentally cut someone with it. Not too badly though.
Image source: Sniksder16
When things feel terrifying and stressful, experts say it’s important to shift your focus so you aren’t ruminating on the incident. This could involve leaving a painful situation, looking in another direction, walking out of the room, or going outside for a walk and some fresh air. This also lets people think through what happened rather than staying stuck in survival thinking.
A simpler way to refocus your attention is to use a designated centering object, like a stuffed animal, a smooth rock, a squishy item, a fidget spinner, or anything that helps bring you back to the present. Although it can’t completely take away overwhelming feelings, it can help you feel more centered.
#22
Oh jeez… I worked at a church haunted house fundraiser a few years back. I was told to just be scary, so I could ad-lib most of it. Well, I decided that the scariest thing I could do was just change positions from time to time, stand stock-still the rest. Well, it worked. I scared a few girls working there. They threw a shoe at me to decide weather or not I was real. They came back later, I took a step towards them, and they took off. It was hilarious. Also I caused a few other people to cry.
Image source: Rushrofl
#23
I worked in a haunted house last year and had a wonderful time, I always really got into character.
One night I was playing a creepy baby doll type of character and since I’m a really small girl I fit the part really well. This group comes into my room and I start walking toward them slowly while singing ‘Ring Around The Rosies’. I’m cocking my head and doing all this creepy stuff and the group is obviously scared like most people are.
But then, this big black guy pops out and starts coming at me with his fist pulled back like he was going to punch me. Meanwhile, 4′ 11” me is looking at him like he’s the grim reaper
I back up really fast and try to press my room’s panic button (every room has one) but it was TOO HIGH FOR ME TO REACH and this guy just kept coming at me! He was even swinging at this point!
One of his friends grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him back to make him calm down and hurried him into the next room. I’m pretty sure they knew I was trying to get to the button so they got out of there fast.
It took me a while to find anyone to notify (I was new and barely knew the layout of the house) so they got away. I hope he doesn’t wind up hitting someone else.
Image source: anon
#24
Worked at a place called fright nights in west palm beach when I was in highschool. There was a tram what would ride guests through the haunt and we were allowed to climb and crawl on it as long as we didn’t touch them. That was until one of the employees jumped on top of it from a tree and broke his leg and it went through the roof of the tram. Also don’t bring your infants/toddlers…seriously? This is common knowledge, no three year old should be subjected to that.
Image source: Ranger_Rose
If you generally consider yourself a scaredy-cat, it might help to go to the haunted house or scary movie with a friend. This kind of social support has been shown to help folks feel less anxious or stressed in tense situations.
It can also make you feel heard and understood; venting your feelings to a trusted confidante, or even laughing with them, can release dopamine once more. You don’t have to put up a brave front and do something scary alone; having someone close by can help a great deal.
#25
One of my co-workers was wearing a Megatron costume. He jumped out from behind a desk to scare these little kids and one of them, with an Optimus Prime costume on, started kicking and punching his legs. I was laughing so loud it ruined the haunted house for any of the entering guests.
Image source: StrafeJD
#26
I was at a haunted house with my dad and there was an old woman in a rocking chair who would jump up and scream when you came near her. My dad got so scared he lost a sandal and ran into a wall. The actor got really scared and broke character to see if he was ok and return his sandal.
Image source: portezbie
#27
Went to a haunted house one time, they were going in set group sizes, i think it was 6. Anyway I went with my girlfriend, this haunted house was extremely dark, I never really got scared, just heard the actors and stumbled around the place feeling my way out. Girlfriend grabbed my hand after awhile instead of holding onto my shoulder. When we finally got outside we discovered that me and another guy had swapped girlfriends in the dark. We got a good laugh, but that haunted house needed to figure out some lighting.
Image source: jwFrogYou
Visiting a haunted house can be a scary but awesome experience, as long as nothing untoward happens. Unfortunately, for the employees on this list, they received the terror of their lives because of some guests who visited the place, instead of being the ones to actually horrify them.
We’d love to know if you’ve ever had a scary experience, and if so, please do share your stories in the comments below.
#28
Story 1: I was volunteering for my haunted hs as a fundraiser, the theme was hospital and my room was the morgue. It was a regular sized classroom and we had the people walk around in a circle. In the middle were boxes we used as coffins and jumped out at people. I played the comic relief of warning of the dangers of hypertension. The last guy was in a box that looked just like a filing cabinet. ANYWAY, two girls came in and they became so scared that as far as they could be from the door they went into shock and couldn’t move. They just kept screeming so loudly “MOVE!” “I CAN’T I CAN’T”. Eventually they ran right through everything knocking it all over. They didn’t even get to me.
Story 2: I was haunting in a cornfield maze. My manager had a 3 foot chainsaw and he was great at sneaking up on people. I wasn’t that scary but i was good at leading people into him. So I lead these kids to him and they’re screaming and running. Then the chainsaw comes on and they’re stuck between us. So they dodge into the corn, off the path. Figuring this won’t work, they come back and this one kid trips and falls and, you guessed it, got knighted by the chainsaw. He wouldn’t move so eventually my manager had to turn the chainsaw off and tell him to go away.
Story 3: I jumped out at a couple and the girl fell right down into the mud. She got up and said, “oh that’s so not funny” and I just responded, “Yeah I think your mask is better anyway” and walked away.
Image source: iuhazarda
#29
I have a pretty bad story from Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood:
My friends and I were on the House of 1000 corpses maze, and came up on the scene from the movie where Doctor Satan is carving into someone with a hammer or some similar tool. Anyway, the guys role was to be working on the fake body, then at intervals jump out at the people real quick and scare them. So we’re passing him and BOOM he jumps out. But he like, lost grip on the hammer and it just FLEW out of his hand. SMACK right in some big guys head. He looked legitimately dazed for about ten seconds, then blinked and started laughing, while poor Doctor Satan is frantically consoling him and looking more worried than I’ve ever seen anyone. Close call I guess.
(the guy kind of looked like Huell from breaking bad, so maybe that’s why it didn’t do any noticeable damage).
Image source: Simspidey
#30
I was going through a haunted house at the Iowa fairgrounds and at one point you’re going through this corridor that is pitch black and a really tight fit. I’m feeling around with my hands stretched out in front of me. Apparently there was a worker standing in their to scare people and of course I don’t see him. I ended up running my hand seductively down his face and feeling the wet of his lips on my fingers. Exchanged an awkward “sorry bro” in the dark and went our separate ways.
Image source: anon
#31
In high school I worked at corn maze. During the month of October we had a separate haunted maze that was essentially a quarter mile long path with pneumatic powered manikins, countless props meant to creep people out and actors of all ages (friends and family of the guys that designed it). We had drunk people come in all the time; teens, college students, the occasional group of housewives, etc.
One night a group of couples (mid 40s maybe?) came around 10:00 and it seemed like they had all been out to dinner that night, had a few drinks and decided to keep their babysitters at home waiting another hour or so while they enjoyed the haunted corn maze. While they’re walking through the path one of the actors (the designer’s 11 year old daughter in a old hockey goalie mask) pops out of a prop coffin and one of the men in the group freaks out and punches the little girl square in the face. The guy said it was a knee-jerk reaction and he thought it was just another prop.
The cops got involved and after an hour or so of apologizing while the guy’s wife cried in the background, the little girl finally said something along the lines of “I’m fine. Just go home.” Her dad, the designer, opted not to press charges under the condition that the guy never come back again and the cops let him leave.
tl;dr – a grown man punched an 11 year old girl in the face.
Image source: DLun203
#32
My Dad used to do Freddy Krueger at the local fire dept HH. It was always great. Once, he spotted a couple holding hands and walking down this dark hallway. The man sees him and my Dad motions him away. My Dad takes the woman’s hand, and amazingly, she is talking and doesn’t notice! They come to the end of the hall and as Count Dracula steps out and startles the woman, she turns to her boyfriend, no wait, Freddy! Many screams were had. That HH was the best. :).
Image source: NoodleSnoo
#33
Fortunately I did not witness this one, but only heard about it. One of the rooms in the house was a mad scientist room. The “scientist” guy in the room acted crazy and waved around a huge cow tongue at the crowd while talking about what he would do with their organs. They didn’t get a fresh tongue every night. It might be a week or 3 old before it starts grossing out the workers and had to get a new one. One night a group of drunk frat guys comes goes through the house. One of them grabbed the around 3 week old tongue and took a bite out of it.
Even now, years later and getting the story second hand I still get grossed out over it.
Image source: Greyyguy
#34
One time my family went to a haunted trail type of thing (I can’t remember what it’s called, you ride in a wagon for a bit while being scared every once in a while by zombies, then get out and walk in a field where you get scared by other stuff) and when we went through the walking section there were these guys with chainsaws, but the chainsaws had no blade. My older sister fell behind us a bit and the guys with chainsaws sort of crowded her and pretended to cut her with them. We heard her screaming and she’s not one to scream unless something was actually wrong, so we turn back to see her crying on the ground with the guys around her. Apparently the chainsaws touched some of her bare skin and burned her pretty bad (it was still spinning even without blades or something) and the guys didn’t realize she was actually hurt rather than scared. Needless to say they got in serious trouble with the organizers of the place, and it kind of ruined the fun for us. It was really scary for me too, cuz I looked up to my sister a lot back then (I was only a kid) and it really freaks me out whenever that cool mask of hers breaks.
TL;DR-some haunted house workers tried to scare my sister with bladeless chainsaws and ended up actually hurting her with them.
Image source: Hope_Eternity
#35
When I was in high school, a bunch of us volunteered to work the haunted house that our school put on every year. It was one of those typical maze style haunted houses with interesting things happening in each classroom. People would sign up and if their ideas were approved, they would get assigned a spot and have a part in the haunted house. Most of the time they were pretty lame and not scary but the one year we did it, we made up something awesome. So we managed to get a spot in the lunchroom, to be specific, we got our spot in the kitchen. We had set up one of those white drape sheets hanging from the ceiling. (the type they use in a medical environment to make makeshift rooms when they have no walls) So we hung up this sheet and stood behind it so that no one could see us accept for shadows made by a light shining onto it from behind. We had covered spots of it in fake blood so it looked pretty creepy. We would have our friend (really hot chick in a bloody nurses outfit) hold up the groups for a bit so we could do our “act”. We had a table setup and one of our friends lay on it. Another guy was the doctor and there was a surgeon as well. Basically the doctor would say that that limb had to be amputated and then the surgeon would have to operate. We then fired up a chainsaw, and had the patient (girl) scream really loudly as we dumped fake blood on the floor so that the people taking the tour would have blood running down by their feet. Afterwords the doctor said that they would need a donation for the leg they just amputated. Then one of us would reach under the curtain and try to grab people’s legs. Had a few people wet themselves when we grabbed them. Lots of crying.
Image source: strudzilla
#36
This particular incident involved a celebrity. I wouldnt want to mention names, so lets just call him stohn jamos. Word got through the maze than Mr. Jamos had just entered and our supervisors were offering prizes for anyone who could get the best scare. I was positioned in a narrow hallway that had three doorless rooms on either side. In this hallway, every 45 second, there was an intense high speed strobe light that activated for 5 second. I waited and counted for the perfect moment, skipping perfectly good potential scares in hopes that the timing of the strobe would align with Mr. Jamos’ entrance. By the grace of god it did. He entered the hallway with his wife, the beautiful Rebecca Romijn,*cough* I mean Robecca Remijn, wrapped around his arm. At the other end of the hallway I stood with a plexiglass mask drenched in blood. Right then, the strobe went off and I went full speed forward. To him it must have seemed like I was rapidly barreling at him without ever seeing me take a step. And all I could see were snap shots of a man growing relatively in size and panic. Until, POW! I ran head first into poor Robecca knocking us both to the ground. What I thought was a gross miscalculation in proximity by me ended up being Mr. Jamos shamelessly throwing his wife down the hallway at me like some sort of goul repelant. Well, it worked. I did end up getting that prize, also. Food vouche $5.
tl;dr A celebrity used his wife as protection from me. I ran her over.
Image source: reserva_privada
#37
One time 2 really drunk guys went in and started harassing one of our actresses in a cage. The owner, a cop, and a 6’5″ guy with a spiked club went in to get them out.
Image source: anon
#38
A few years ago I ran a haunted house at our local rec center. The gym was sort of the grand finale and it was set up like a giant, indoor cemetery. A lot of families went through the haunt and the kids were horrified by the zombies. A lot of kids would just be losing their minds when they got to the exit.
But because I’m a jerk, the “exit” was fake. It was one of those heavy metal doors with the push bar on it. It led to another part of the building but it looked like an exit. So I put a sign on it that said “Thanks for coming! Please exit quietly!”
So the kids would be scared and the same thing would happen over and over. The parents would say “It’s ok! It’s over, look see….it’s the end!” And the kids would be relieved and they would run for the door.
They’d push it open and Leartherface would blast his chainsaw right in their face.
Image source: SonOfKrampus
#39
People with diahrea like haunted houses for some reason.
About every third or fourth person through would have defecated themselves.
The haunted house was run by middle schoolers.
Image source: anon
#40
We had a haunted trail and a hayride through a haunted forest at the place I worked when I was a teen. One part of the forest was really dense and had trees packed in close, and at that part of the ride the park owners decked the trees out in all shades of neon glow-in-the-dark streamers and placed black lights to make it really trippy. Usually, as the hay ride started into that section, clowns would start flitting between the trees, inching closer and closer to the ride until the kids (and plenty of the adults) lost it.
One day, the clowns decided to bring along coolers with beer and have a little party. They ended up getting so drunk that about half of them laid down in the trail to stop the hay truck, and the other half tried to hijack the thing, hollering about raising their pay.
Another time, we trail tour guides deviated from the script a bit with a gag about an escaped convict, and a couple people called 911.
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#41
I was the guy at the end with the chainsaw for a while. It was a college town so that was a majority of our guest. Probably the worst that happened was show quickly friends would leave each other behind to get away. I due it a goal to split people of from their groups, but they made it too easy. There were girls that would push someone back towards me so they could escape. Or couples where the guy would have a shot down the hall and would leave the girl behind.
TLDR- Some of your friends are a guy with a chainsaw away from sacraficing you.
Edit: I’ve been gone all day, and just now saw this actually got submitted. I was on my phone which kept autocorrecting, freezing, and just being a pain. I didn’t even proofread it, because I didn’t think it got saved. I guess I was wrong!
Image source: raven12456
#42
I played a zombie in a strobe light hallway along with someone else. He was in a straitjacket and would violently hit the chair against the wall while he was sitting down on it, and I would just stare at people as they walked by because I have been told that I had a really creepy smile with zombie makeup on.
One of the groups that walked through was around five elderly folk. After my hallway partner did his jump-scare, an old guy from that group started laughing. Then he saw me, laughed even more, but started coughing violently. He leaned against the wall, grabbing his chest, while he slowly fell towards the ground.
My hallway partner and I just stood there in shock, frozen, not knowing what to do. I wasn’t sure if I should call 911 or what, his friends weren’t helping him. But a couple of seconds later, he gets up, points and laughs at us.
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#43
I went to a haunted house back in HS with some friends and my gf at the time…she punched one of the workers when she got scared. She was kicked out.
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#44
A few years ago, the Haunted Storm Stadium featured a walkthrough with an Evil Alice in Wonderland theme. One of the rooms had many doors and only one could open. A young teen was on the floor in that room, and he was clearly in shock. My brother and I went through twice and he hadn’t left. The Alice in this room didn’t break character and asked us if we knew the way out, and did not reassure him or offer to help him.
Image source: uzumaki222
#45
When I was younger, like middle school age, we had a Haunted Woods in our town….It was run by the athletic association so some of the kids would help prepare…a few 10-12 year olds were used for a portion of the walk….
since their parents were the spookers the kids would blend in to the groups and would run out and grab their kid…the kid would yell and scream for help and people would get pretty scared…my brother was one of those kids and it was going pretty well for a few hours…
so my brother hops in with a group they go through and one of the guys (a werewolf) runs out and picks him up…Now at no point in the many times they did this did anybody ever step up to save him or do anything…this time a little girl like 5-7 starts attacking the werewolf and telling him to put him down now…so they were both shocked and my brother just continued through the rest of the woods…pretty courageous little girl.
Image source: Eaaaaaagle
#46
I worked at a hunky dory haunted attraction for four years. My second year in the woods theres a particularly intense part where you are rushed by bloody machete men. This made a girl drop and begin seizing, but this was a haunted walk so the paramedics were not able to get to her easily. My boss loaded her up on a trailer attached to a lawn mower and she took a slow, slow ride of shame to the ambulance. (all was okay though.)
Also atleast once every year an actor gets punched in the face real hard.
Image source: thestupidlowlife
#47
I worked at a haunted house where a pregnant lady went through the more interactive and scary part of the house rather than the easy going side. She runs into 2 6’5 guys wielding real chainsaws minus the chain, yea she went into labor.
Image source: anon
#48
Not quite a haunted house employee, but back when I was living in Vancouver, Canada, I had decorated the house (which was quite massive with stones, plus it had the creepy trees in front of it) with a bunch of cobwebs, fake blood spatter, “do not enter” signs, a fog machine and dry ice. For the extra mile I had played creepy sound effects on the stereo that could be heard from down the street. There was only one light on, which was the house lamp post (not the city lamps) and it illuminated the front entrance porch with the old bench. I dressed up as a scarecrow, a blend of Freddy Krueger and Jeepers Creepers. I sat on that bench, motionless.
Needless to say, I had scared a few kids. However, there were some shitheads (high school teens) that I noticed. They were egging the house, ruining the decor, chucking empty beer and vodka bottles. And they also broke the fog machine. They then went on the “scarecrow”.
Being 6’4″ and quite big, I just stood up. They then proceeded to defecate themselves. It took them at least 15 minutes to realize they got their wallets taken. In that time I just phoned the police, gave the cops the IDs and they were sent off.
Had to be the best Halloween I have ever had. Even better than lighting up a ton of fireworks.
Image source: Emanngrey
#49
Not the worst, but the best. I work at a haunted hayride where we’re permitted to jump onto the wagons, and in my scene there were three of us girls, and two boys. We made up a story that we were all married to one of these guys, but we were all unalive and he was trying to sell our graves. I asked people to be my husband because mine was unalive and was a real drag, so there was this one guy who one of the other girls and I were bickering about who got to keep him, and he was really cocky about it, yelling how he had two offers and how he was the man. Then the other girl with us came up next to him and started banging on the wagon and screaming, then the other guy working with us jumped over the back and got in his face. This guy went from cocky to scared, literally in his friends lap and screaming in about .5 seconds. It was fantastic.
Image source: Carin1790
#50
I’ve worked several seasons at a haunted house, and I’ve seen some drunks throw up, pass out, etc., but the weird thing that has happened several times is that sometimes when I jump out and scare a female customer, her reaction will be to kiss me! The first time, I just thought, “okay, that was weird, interesting girl.” But then it happened several more times. I think it’s just some kind of weird defense mechanism. I mean, I think they must know that they’re not in *actual* danger, but by kissing they are quickly negotiating the social situation into a non-scary situation that they are in control of.
It’s happened to several of the guys that have worked here. But it’s never happened to Lance. Sorry, bro. Maybe this year.
Image source: anon
#51
I don’t work there, but I seen one guy get so scared he punched the zombie that come out the wall, in the face. Then was pissed on why the zombie scared him…. You payed money to be scared. Do you also pay money for a car and expect it to just stand there?
Image source: c1utchh
#52
I only worked at a haunted house one night in order to help a friend, and it was definitely an eventful one. One of the guys that my friend and I scared wet his pants. Another guy got so angry at me because I wouldn’t tell him how to get out of a haunted maze that he threatened me. His girlfriend then got mad at him that he would threaten a girl just because he was scared and he started crying uncontrollably. I’m almost positive that she broke up with him on the spot. Definitely an interesting night!
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#53
Big black man tried to hit me, missed, then ran as fast as he could out of there. Immediately after he was out of the room it smelled like feces. I got to witness fight, feces, and flight all in one go.
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#54
Oh man, the stories I could tell. I got hired by a LARGE company. There were between 20 and 50 actors working at any given time. I literally have over 100 stories. I was originally hired to do the animitronics / pneumatics / set design / prop design / etc. I ended up doing pretty much anything and everything including security during working hours. Long, long, long days, especially on Thursday nights where everything that broke (big) during the week had to be fixed for Friday/Saturday rush.
I’ve seen people pass out. Flat-out loose consciousness and control of their bladder/intestines from being scared so bad.
I’ve seen a 6’4 300 pound football player get so scared he picked up his 5′ tall girlfriend and used her as a human shield to push the actors out of the way, his face pushed hard into her back so he couldn’t see as he rushed them with his girlfriend. That one actually ended without anyone getting hurt, just a few bruises.
I was quite proud, though, in designing a few sets to be ADA compliant, but adjustable, so it was tight for people not needing ADA-compliance to fit through, but could be moved in seconds to give space for those requiring ADA standards.
We had a “squish” wall. Imagine 2 very large baloons. They are 10′ tall and 20 feet long, we had 2 lined up so it was 40 long. One on each side of a hallway. When inflated, they push from floor to ceiling, and you have to push and shove your way through the bags for the entire 40 feet. There is no light in this area, not that it would matter as the bags contort themselves to a near air-tight seal around your face. We left a safety area 8″ tall at the very bottom.
When we first setup the bag hall, we had them much closer and far less blow-by from the fans, so it was so strong you could put an 8-10 year old kid at the top of the entrance, and he could make it to the end without touching the ground. We eventually had to turn it way down after we had people getting stuck with panic attacks, lost jewelry, broken glasses and phones, etc. I did design quite an ingenious deflation device for both bags in case of emergency, far more than just unplugging the blowers, though.
If you guys want any specific types of stories (gross, funny, sad, traumatic, etc) just let me know, and I’d be happy to oblige.
Edit: Clarity.
Image source: jrlp
#55
Had a two way mirror on one side of my door. My partner would flip the switch then I’d scream and holler and beat on the window that I would take their lives. Anyway they would pass through and i would pop out from behind a black cloth not even 5 seconds later this 6’3″ teenage guy completely sober sees me (5’1″ Pettit FEMALE) and decides to punch me in the throat -.- he then comes to my chain saw room on the other side of the door ten minutes later and punches my partner with the chain saw. Needless to say someone has assult charges over something stupid.
Image source: kuroface
#56
Well, I worked in a haunted house. Two stories. First, I once was so tired and thought I could do it fast enough, but I couldn’t, and like, 3 groups walked by while I was urinating in a bottle. It was dark, but still, they were feet away. This one is my favorite; we had to get groups through the hallway so a guy with a fake chainsaw made them hurry through the pitch black hallway. I was at the end with a mask on and I was in a cage. I would turn on a strobe light when they walked into the cage, growl, and they’d see they had to go left. One group sprinted away from the chainsaw, and broke into my cage. I heard groaning and whispered “umm…. Go to the left…” And they limped away. It took me 20 minutes to fix that dumb cage, and many groups went through in that time. I laughed as they were walking away though.
Image source: beentoclouddistrict
#57
I work in what we call the dark maze. I wear solid black aside from my face mask which I custom painted glow in dark. I built the maze and work in it with my best friend every year we know it forward and backward every corner and trap door so we walk backward all the time. I heard a rather loud what the hell yelled from the other side of the maze when I made my way over there it was my best friend telling a guy to get the hell out if here. He backed up straight into a guy beating off. Who the hell does that kinda stuff…..
Image source: chainsawsteve
#58
My favorites from my time working are when a larger women came through intoxicated and couldn’t figure out the maze because we closed the exit. She then flashed us to try and have us let her out and eventually she urinated right on the floor.
Another is when a women thought high heels at a haunted house was a good idea and when she went down the slide she completely shattered her ankle.
Image source: NachoTheDragon
#59
Several years back I went through a haunted house as a creepy jester. I ended up scaring the people working the haunted house. They asked me to stay and scare people.
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#60
I have friends that work at Halloween Horror Nights and they all have been punched in the face at least once, guess its just flight or fight.
Image source: CFIDDY
#61
I was working at a rather large haunted attraction and we had several tents that housed the different parts. it was an extremely windy day which made me really nervous because the main tent was huge and was swaying pretty badly. i was fortunately able to work on the actors from a moderate distance away from the tent. at one point, they decided to tighten straps that were (i assume) holding the tent to the poles. i watched as a metal buckle on the end of a strap suddenly went airborne, knocked one of the guys in the face, and then hit the metal pole and sparked from the force. oh, the sound the guy made — it had knocked his front tooth out. i noticed quite a change in the paperwork we had to sign the following year…
Image source: cheapplasticdeer
#62
We had a haunted house in high school to raise money. It was in an abandoned house and at the end we had a slice and steps. You could slide or walk down the steps. Well, this rather overweight woman decided she’d try the slide. She got stuck around one of the twists in the slide and started panicking. She was screaming and hollering and those waiting in line to get in at the other side of the building just thought it was part of the haunted house. Eventually the fire department showed up and got her out of the slide. Needless to say that was our last slide on a haunted house.
TL;DR- Fat woman gets stuck in slide and ruins the fun for everyone.
Image source: lost_on_the_interweb
#63
I’m not a worker, I’m a haunted house goer. It was my first haunted house and a guy grabbed me and I just automatically threw out a punch. I hit his face and heard a scream and crunch like bone. This will probably get buried, but if you were in a haunted house in Las Vegas and a little short fat girl broke your nose about ten years ago, I’m so sorry! I felt so bad because you were just doing your job. It was an automatic reaction. Not part of the topic but I still feel really bad and I would like to get the word out.
Image source: CommodoreCrystal
#64
I was a member of the PTA for my local grade school. We would have a pretty tame haunted house. As I also directed traffic in front of the school in the morning, I decided to do a “unalive traffic guard” who pops out of his open coffin. I made a nice coffin, got my safety vest and whistle and laid down inside it with a sign RUN’D OVER. Now I did scare the bejesus out of a couple of little kids (sorry! I am really sorry!) but the funny thing was how many kids hit me in the stomach (no nut jabs, thankfully), pinched my nose closed, or gave me some of their candy (poor Mr. Pombrio!).
Image source: JohnPombrio
#65
16 year old white girl ( then ) here
Can’t tell you the number of times I got punched by large men
I was 5’5″ and 100 lbs. yeah. So scary.
Image source: Mama2lbg2
#66
I’ve worked in the same haunted house for 4 years now. And the workers have to take a lot of bad things from awful people. I was once punched in the face by a grandma, and yes it was confusing. And another guy i know has been hit, slapped, and spit on. I still don’t understand why people have to be like this to show that they’re not scared.
Image source: JBrox21
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