They walk among us. Seemingly ordinary, everyday people who, through some twist of biology, actually look forward to scaring the bejeezus out of people for 19 spooktacular days in October.
We’re talking about the performers of Fright Nights – the shuffling, oozing, creeping talent that bring Playland’s answer to our deepest fears to life.
This year, a record eight unique haunted houses have sprung up out of the asphalt of the East Vancouver amusement park like so many rotten, decrepit zombies to fill the night sky with screams of terror-filled delight. Some of the professional scare people are based inside the haunted houses, while others approach you on the pavement outside as you try to catch your breath.
But who the heck actually signs up to chase complete strangers around in the dark?
The answer? Actors, haunted-house enthusiasts, high school students. Anyone who can handle hours upon hours of improv, on top of seeing their audience run away from them screaming.
“I think it comes more naturally than people think,” says Terrance Fraser, a fourth-year Fright Nights “roamer,” while chatting with the Westender at a picnic table outside The Bloodshed, Fright Nights’ newest haunted house.
“Everybody, I think, sort of has that in them, because you know what scares you, so it’s not that hard to translate that into scaring someone else.”
As one of Fright Nights’ roughly 150 cast members, it’s Fraser’s job to assess the packs of people passing through the nearby Car-N-Evil clown house territory and deliver his playful dose of thrills and chills as they try to decide whether to face their fears and go inside.
Fraser plays Frank Jr., who, in Fright Nights canon, is the son of a fairly well known, musically inclined former Fright Nights clown. In addition to capitalizing on his acting background and some basic ukelele skills, the tall, husky former Vancouver Islander delivers a character who loves stealing people’s phones and taking Snapchats and selfies.
“Even in the couple of nights so far this year, I’ve had like four or five people show me selfies from previous years,” he laughs.
But, if you ask us, you’re a brave soul if you actually let a clown that close to you. And if it feels like performers like Fraser are always picking on you, it’s probably because they are. “It’s really all about observation of, like, body language. Everyone’s different,” he says. “Some people you can get really well with a little bounce scare or distraction and stuff. Some people, you can just stare at them from across the parking lot and make a weird face and they’ll run screaming.”
It’s something Fraser, who studied acting and musical theatre (and generally avoids horror movies and the like), admits he looks forward to doing every year.
“[Fright Nights] is the one place where people go to be scared,” he explains. “...When you come to Fright Nights, as soon as you pay your ticket at the door, that’s the thing that says, ‘I would like you to scare me, please.’ And it sort of gives us carte blanche to go crazy and have fun.”
But not too crazy. Fright Nights season starts with a screening and audition process for performers, and then a round of training around safe scares and knowing the audience’s boundaries that takes place before anyone dons a costume and starts lurking next to rides.
After that, though? It’s up to them as soon as they leave the makeup chair.
“It’ll be be different for all the characters,” says Fraser, “but, especially for the clowns, like, you start to walk weird. I’m not fully method, but I do tend to drop into the voice as soon as the makeup is on and everything.”
It’s an improv marathon – an exhausting stretch of immersive creativity that tends to leave Fraser totally wiped at the end of scare season.
“It’s six hours, seven hours of improv – 360 degrees. You can’t really drop character. You can’t ask for a suggestion or whatever and start a new scene,” he laughs. “There’s always people around and you always have to be on.”
• Fright Nights runs until Oct. 31 at Playland (2901 E Hastings St.). Admission includes unlimited access to all eight haunted houses, shows and 20 rides. (There is an additional charge for the Revelation and Drop Zone.) Tickets from $32.
