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12 Times Scare Actors Couldn’t Continue Acting And Had To Break Character
Article created by: Ilona Baliūnaitė
Scare actors primarily aim to draw a frightened reaction from their audience. This unique approach to performance art has led to many of the most fascinating stories from these professionals behind the masks and ghoulish make-up.
These people collectively shared their firsthand experiences answering this Reddit question: “What’s something a guest did that almost or completely made you break character?”
While most of these accounts are hilariously foolish, a few got quite scary and out of hand. These anecdotes give us all a peek into this interesting profession that is more than just playing dress-up for Halloween night.
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#1
Not an actor. I once went to a haunted house with friends. Someone jump scared us, i didnt know there were gonna be jumpscares and i hate jumpscares. A zombie with a machachete jumped us, i was so shocked i clung to my friend’s backpack
Well my friend had a different reaction: he tried to run
Cue me being dragged across a fake scary bridge holding on to a backpack while my friend screams his heart out thinking that he’s being dragged back by zombie machete
Zombie machete burst out laughing then helped me up.
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#2
Participant here, I was at the IT escape room or SAW in Vegas, I can't remember which one.
At one point, you're in this barn looking setting and one of the actors pops in with a chainsaw (I think, he was behind me so I didn't see very well what he was holding) to scare you. I was crawling in all fours at that point to get through a tunnel. When the door swung open and the guy came in screaming, I just decided to twerk at him while on all fours telling him "I'm so scared daddy"
This is the first time I've seen one of the actors burst out in laughter. He quickly ran back out and closed the door behind him. You can hear him cackling behind the hidden room.
#3
We had our own code. When small children are present, you don't scare. It's not their fault their parents are jerks and brought them to an adult event. There were always some parents who would walk through with their small children and complain because nobody was scaring them.
#4
As a participant my brother and I went into the haunted house. We were getting scared the whole time and we were ready to leave.
In the final area there's a chain link fence and it's really dark. As soon as I see a large mat attached to the wall an actor comes out and use a chainsaw against a fence and sparks are flying everywhere. My brother and I are so scared. I jump into my brother like Scooby Doo into Shaggy's arms. Both of us are screaming like little girls and can't stop.
The actor breaks character and says guys the exit is right there. We race out the exit. There's a line of people and everyone asked where the girls where that were screaming their heads off. We were so embarrassed.
#5
I worked the first year at a scare event in the UK, we had a stooge in the groups and my role was to grab the stooge out of the group and drag him in to a shed. There was a fairly quick turnaround and we'd gotten in to a routine, I'd drag him in to the shed the I'd take my mask off and we'd grab a couple of sweets from the tub I'd brought in then he'd head off through the back door to go join another group.
One time there was a hero in the group, after I'd dragged him in to the shed I'd taken my mask off and grabbed the tub of sweets, the one of the customers from the group barged in to the room and stood there with a blank look in his face. I offered him some sweets but he just backed out of the room and closed the door.
#6
I volunteered for a haunted forest trail walk in highschool for a few years in a row. They had me set up dressed as a ghost girl swinging in a tree at the very end of the whole thing. A motion light would come on and I'd sing creepy lalalas while people walked by. Then while they were distracted by me, our chainsaw man would pop out from the bushes behind them and rev the chainsaw and chase them to the exit
At one point chainsaw guy needed an unplanned break so the werewolf came and took his place for the final chase. Well, the werewolf wasnt super fit and didnt know that area as well. So when the first people walked by he *crawled* out of the bushes and immediately began slipping on all fours in the mud on that path and he ended up accidentally ripping his mask off trying to get up.
He just started laughing and apologizing to the 3 people who were walking through and I couldn't help but laugh too. They werent upset lol. He did not work that area again.
#7
I got fear slapped a few times which wasn't too much of an issue, some people react that way when genuinely scared and would usually be very apologetic.
Did get groped, kissed and then slapped by the same mid 50s drunk lady within the space of 2 seconds. Very odd but I was just glad it didnt happen to someone else who might have been affected badly by it. Radioed it in to the security guy and she was promply escorted out, naturally screaming she hadn't done anything wrong.
This was around 10 years ago so I do hope she has worked through whatever issues she had that made her sexually aggressive towards a chainsaw wielding lunatic 😂😂.
#8
Not a scare actor myself, but a relevant story. I knew a bloke who was hired as a scare actor for a local ghost walk. The ghost walk went through tunnels that went underneath the city centre. He was paid a good wage to sit in the darkness in a reportedly haunted tunnel and wait for the group to arrive. He would then jump out and scare the groups witless. He said he was one of several actors along the various routes who would jump out. I did a different ghost walk by the same company a few years later. I was on edge the whole time expecting someone to jump out of every dark corner and was relieved when we were inside a reported haunted hotel room in the light. We'd been in the room a good 10 minutes hearing tales of hauntings when the guide left the room to check on something. Suddenly the wardrobe door flew open and a dark figure jumped out. It terrified us all including a friend who tried to leave the room. She somehow forgot how doors opened and went straight smack bang into the door instead. She dropped to the floor, curled up into the fetal position and cried. The actor had to break character to check she was ok. Terrifying at the time, but hilarious looking back. I didn't think for one minute that the well lit room inside a wardrobe would be where the inevitable jump scare would come from, but I live and learn!
#9
I was working in a Chucky themed Haunted Maze and my boss was a tiny woman so she was dressed up as Chucky.
This big 6 foot 3ish beefed up man got sie startled when 'Chucky' jumped out that he punched her in the face!
He tried running off and a bunch of us either ran after him or tended to my boss.
#10
While my fam was in a haunted house, one person broke character to ask me for my mother’s name, then proceeded to go to the end of our line and call out her name over and over, freaking her out.
#11
Again, not an actor, but I’m pretty proud about getting them to break.
Went to one and they had us crawling on our hands and knees as they walked beside us telling us to repent and yelling “what is your sin?”
I said “bigamy”?
They stared at me for a half beat and came back with “that’s awfully big of you to admit”
Which I thought was hilarious.
#12
When I was 16 I worked in a haunted house dressed as a swamp monster with a full mask on. I jumped up from behind a half wall and made monster noises at a guy who then punched me hard in the face. I started crying and the guy was apologizing over and over, saying that he didn't mean to punch a girl. My nose was bleeding in my mask. He got kicked out and banned, while I got to go home early with a full night's pay. I'm still mad when I think about it, what would he have done if I was a guy?
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