Opening night, night, the energy in the park is is really unmatched right before those gates opened to our guests.

We're bringing that theming and that story line.

I'm going to stalk you no matter how long it takes.

Running won't help.

Every October, Silverwood become something different.

But long before the first guest screams, every detail must be woven together.

Scarywood is Silverwood theme parks Halloween event that allows people to come out and experience a darker side of Silverwood.

2009 was our first year where we did Scarywood.

Knotts Scary Farm, down in California, was a big inspiration.

So there's lots of trips going down to these parks that are doing it well.

Scarywood is so much more than just simple Halloween decorations.

We start planning for the next season right after the previous season ends.

Scarywood is composed of different scare zones and haunts.

A scare zone is an outdoor area with distinct set pieces, roaming characters, and eerie environmental details.

A haunt is an immersive indoor attraction that centers around a specific fear.

It is months of building.

It is a full month and a half of auditions, and then we really nail down the back half of September for training and getting everybody ready to be on stage.

But what does it take to bring these nightmares to life?

Everybody has a phobia.

Everybody has something that they're just timid of, and they may not even know it until they're faced with it.

That's kind of where our ideas start.

How are these character looks developed?

Research, being on the internet or movies.

We look at it and say, oh, we'd like that.

Or maybe, oh, let's try this, but let's tweak this aspect a little bit.

We hire over 330 haunters.

You have the costume them.

So we take over one of our warehouses.

We make a makeup room and we have our clothing room, and we have racks upon racks of clothing, because we have ten scare zones, we have five haunts, and a look for each one.

When the show is up and running, it's all hands on deck behind the scenes.

The scare actors are supported not only by makeup and costume departments, but by lighting, set design, maintenance, I.T., and effects.

Even the fog takes careful planning.

So everything that you see in the park cannot be brought in until the very end of September.

It's just this mad dash to get everything in.

What we really work on from an actor perspective is, is creating environments that are false and everybody walking in our false, but they convoluted the mind so much that they appear real.

And appearances can be deceiving.

It's like a storyline to me.

You start at the at the top of the page and then you continue on down till the story is finished.

And it's the same thing for me when I get into these characters that I've done for so many years.

I really want to become that character, whoever it might be.

So I'm going to do studying.

I'm going to develop it.

I'm going to test with makeup, prosthetics, whatever it might be.

I want to make sure that it's top tier.

I've been doing it for so long.

When an individual walks in, or a group walks in, or anything like that, and when I get that stare down and I can see that they're thinking like, this is a little bit too real, then that's when I lock it.

I'll continue to walk and stalk to one end of the park, to the other end of the park, without you not even knowing that I'm there behind you.

What keeps the staff coming back year after year?

Our community behind the scenes is phenomenal.

You have such a variety of age group from 16 to 76.

There's usually music going, theyre dancing.

Oh my god, were on TV!!

Honestly, it becomes like a big family.

And I guess that's what I like about it is that family unit.

Before we go out, we do what's called the heart of the haunt.

That is our seize the night moment where everybody does their heartbeat and then we flatline.

Beep!

Carpe Noctem!

Hey, let's have a great night, everybody.

I love my job at Scarywood because it gives me an opportunity to be creative with stories that, aren't typical.

It's just been this adventure and it's just grown into this wonderful part of my life that I never knew was even there.

I've been doing it now for 30 plus years, and I plan on continuing doing it until I'm being pushed around the wheelchair.

Then a new character can be developed.

It's wonderful.