best/funniest reactions from a scare

[Jim Warfield]

A young couple, just the two of them, were sitting on the couch in the front, first room. The lights were all on, big and bright you could plainly see everything there is to see in the room, the three of us had been talking , we were killing some time waiting for aother group who were supposed to be walking up to the house any minute now.
The guy had been here 10 years ago when he was in High School locally, his woman was from far away from here. She was smiling, calm, looking self-assurred, a really cute young woman.
Something was mentioned about "people jumping out at you".

I asked her, "Are you saying that you don't like people jumping out, scaring you?"
She was still smiling, she said that was a concern of hers(still smiling), relaxed, lights all on...

"So would you not like it if that happened?"
She really didn't answer me, still smiling...
"I think the guy hiding behind the couch might be jumping out at you."

...then she had a twisted-brow frown cross her face, her neck turned looking behind her, along with a look of wonderment...
I scared her with all the lights on.
I could leave it at that and allow you, reader to infer that I scared her with my mere spoken words.......
I pushed a button, the couch did it's "Trick".
(The couch is against a main wall of the house, no room for anyone to be lurking there.)
The other group showed up, the couple moved to another piece of funrniture to get to watch someone else enjoy that couch!
(Just one button of nine buttons and three cables and two levers I can activate to effect the demeanor of the patrons in that room.)

[jakprintsHAUNT]

3 of my favorite scare/customer stories would be one personal and two of associate. So many to pick from but these 2 stand out:

Mine: Was working an asylum room at Bloodview haunted house..there was a caged wall opening that the customer walked by, and we had a corridor behind, so was easy to pop in out of the darkness. The rest of the room had metal cell bars everywhere "caging in" the "patients". Well popped out at a grown man (just over 6' tall) and he got such a scare he went into a standing fetal sort of position and started running full bore ahead screaming like a girl head down. He ran smack right into the metal bars, and fell back out cold. Paramedics ended up removing him. Story I got was he had concussed himself.

An associates interaction with a customer: He scared a customer into a hallway, and she (being a little larger of a woman) turned back around and pinned him into the corner with her chest practically in his face actively pushing him against the wall with her chest and she said the following: "You better watch out little scary man, I will f---k you!" and dumbfounded almost out of character he replied "dont you mean f---k me up?" to which she replied..."No! I will f---k you scary man!" Then her friends proceeded to pull her away.

Another similar occurance: At one attraction I was working at there was a woods attraction as part of it. I was running supervisor that evening, and one of the actors comes running out, his greasepaint makeup job all smeared looking very distraught. He exclaimed "i just got flashed and attacked by 3 women with their chests". My exact reaction was "seriously, that sounds a bit crazy" So I go over and wait near the exit of the attraction, and low and behold, 3 ladies all wearing very low cut shirts each have smears of greasepaint all over their cleavage areas. Apparently they knocked him down and proceeded to flash him and hit him in the face with their breasts. I got reports from the other attractions that they were flashing several people throughout their visit.

The greatest part about haunt stories is the things you see or hear sometimes are so out there, you can't make this kind of stuff up!


Mike "Pogo" Hach

[Jim Warfield]

Four victims..er..customers were here only one guy of the 2 couples had been here before but he was jumping and screaming just like his woman was doing sitting right beside him!
I really, genuninely scared them!
Then later I "Got" the other woman in the same room, her screech could have been heard a block away, and we are indoors! 6 inch thick(2" by 6" exterior walls) with insulation blown in them!
The one guy trying to dress and appear "macho"..sure was not.
Something not of my doing nor control was scaring them in the wine cellar tonight before I entered the room, we never discovered what it was.
This house is haunted and today during the middle of the day footsteps went up the stairs, a very definate and identifiable , common sound my Wife heard, she assumed it was me, she phoned me, no answer, she then called me via cell phone I answered, "Where are you?"
"A block away walking home."
I hadn't been in the house at all for several hours. Nobody was sneaking around in our house.
11:43 more customers just showed up!

[wickedfarmer]

Wasn't actually the scare, but afterwards in parking lot. We haunt a 1/3 mile trail through a corn field with around 65 turns so you hear screams all around you but never see what happens to group in front of you. You never even know where things will hit you because trail doubles back on itself. The screams 30 feet away are actually 5 minutes ahead. Classic macho guy syndrome with his girlfriend. Have a couple radios on guys up front and macho types have their desription radioed on ahead. Over radio came "Michigan sweatshirt at swamp room". So I nailed him. Had him literally run over his girlfriend and leave her laying in the trail at my feet. I walk my trail backwards always checking positions every 15 minutes and remove mask and walk line in parking lot. Met "Michigan sweatshirt" mingling with crowd by picnic tables. Asked him how the trail was very loudly. "It was ok I was never scared came the reply". So I changed my voice back to my trail voice and like a drill sargeant belowwed "Thats funny...you ran away from me like a little girl leaving your girlfriend behind lying at my feet after you ran her over" The crowd erupted with laughter and several people who only came for the corn maze (not haunted) promptly bought trail tickets. Then she proceeded to lecture him in front of their college group of how to treat a lady. The poor schmuck.

[Jim Warfield]

What used to really get me were the 5 yr. olds who were terrified, needed a lights on experience with absolutely no scares, THEN as they walk out of the house , puff up their chest , beat on it it and proclaim:"This place couldn't scare me!"
(Good! now this is all set up in his false memory to return someday and I can really scare him! hahahahahah!)
Or the timid little crying boy who gave us all kinds of grief, then eventually began laughing as they were outside and tried to tell us and his family that he was just "Acting", and he wasn't afraid! I am now looking forward to his maturity and seeing him appear in a huge Hollywood production...sure.
He was not acting scared, he was scared.

[OdetteDespairr]

I had a few good ones this year i didnt have as much room to herd people but i still came out of the season with some really good stories

1. I had a girl hit the ground after i jumped at her off the top of a pair of vending machines

2. Had at least one escapee a night where they would try to get away from us to a section that they're not supposed to be in

3. my best one all yeah tho....Our zone capitan came thru to tell us that a group was comng thru with one girl who was so scared of clowns she couldnt stand it...and that the clowns all had a cash money bet riding on which clown room she would quit in.....well im not a clown....but....my graveyard is right before their funhouse.......so as soon as she entered i hit her hard with every scare tactic i could think of...had her crying within the first miniute in my scene and she quit within another three....after she left the clowns all got mad at me for ruining their bet and stealing a scare from them...it was awesome lol

lots and lots of others lots of quitters, criers, runners, screamers...had more great jumpers than usual, had one guy who almost jumped onto a set of coffins i got him so bad....

[OdetteDespairr]

And similair but with a different ending for my first employee I ever had here.

my man was already retired around late 50's and not the brightest, shall I say?

I gave him a oversized mask to wear and told him to sit on a couch that was in the middle of a maze and not to let anyone punch or kick him. React first, move, growl, something...
At the end of the night he came to me huffing and puffing, mad and began telling how a woman had said to her friends:"I bet he's real,."
Then kicked him hard in the shins, not once but numerous times!
He said, "Said to myself, To Heck with YOU! I'm not going to move or anything and you will never find out if I'm real or not!"

I try to design my scares so is is very difficult if not impossible for the customers to reach the one whose job it is to scare them.
I also stress to employees not to get close enough to get punched but if they are advancing to do this run away after you temporarilly blind them with your bright flashlight..go get help.

One time an employee just vanished during a tour. He finally crawled up out of an open grave, he was wearing a mask and someone punched him, knocking him out!
By the time we found him the tour was long gone, and out of the house.
He got too close.
He suffered no perminent injury.

At a house not far from mine an employee showed up late, the owner threw him an old furr coat and a werewolf mask and since this employee was a short guy was told to just crawl around and scare people...15 minutes later the short, crawling werewolf was sporting some freshly broken ribs.
Is is very easy to kick someone in their ribs if they are crawling infront of you....DUH?

Almost got my ribs busted in a few seasons ago got kicked when i was on the floor laying across a doorway by some guy showing off for his girlfriend who didnt want to walk over me...he walked up jammed his foot in my ribs and said "come on hun, its just a prop, its a fake" she walked up and "the prop" ie: me quickly came to life and started trying to bite at him and his honeys legs and started to crawl after them...this guy split and left his girl behind in the room with me...she bolted and started cussing him out

also got my nails ripped out of my fingers last year when i had a group crash into and collapse on me..it was like fat lady dominos...all over me...shudder...have u ever felt a nail be pulled completely out of your finger? how bout 3 of them?

[Jim Warfield]

After they pulled out those fingernails?
"YES!" I love haunting and will continue to love it, go ahead I have seven left!"

[spookycrazyone]

the best thing i have seen in the passed season was a cleveland cop with his 10 yr little old girl and they came in to the haunt i scared the 350 6ft 3 cop to jump on his 10yr old daughter and made him wet him self too with a stick

[Jim Warfield]

That is So Bad!
Scaring Daddy, making him jump on his little girl AND wetting himself!
Those of us not 6ft 4, often see those that are as braver because of their size...but then I have always heard an elephant is afraid of a mouse because the rodent might run up the elephant's trunk!
I think maybe some bigger taller people might have a fear of being hit or attacked in the lower regions, that their growth spurt has left more vulnerable because of their height.
It kind of usually worked that way in football. Hitem low and down they go, "bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The meanest, toughest guy on my team was scared of the guy 5ft 6 who had the skill to smack his shoulder pads right on top of the other guy's foot to make the painfull tackle, and they were best friends!