"The bats have left the bell tower.  The victims have been bled.  Red velvet lines.  The black box… Bela Lugosi's dead."

The clock struck midnight when those familiar lyrics came through the speakers of my car stereo.  It made me think that in less than two months, I will be an official monster of Knott's Scary Farm.   I have been waiting for this opportunity since the night I experienced Haunt for the first time back in 2001.

"I'm so happy… I'm so happy!"

Well, I have always been a fan of Halloween; it is just the best holiday.  It all started back when I was five years-old.   My father was the organizer of a haunted house in Pasadena, California, for the Pioneers.   At first, I was afraid of everything because from what I can remember, the maze was very detailed and gruesome.  They would hold a raffle for the people in line for the maze.  The prize was two tickets to Knott's Scary Farm.  I was fascinated by the fact that my favorite place would turn into one big maze during the month of October.

"The spider man is having me for dinner tonight…"

Jump forward to 2001 and my first visit to Knott's Scary Farm.  I was so excited, but I was also petrified of actually going inside.  The anticipation of waiting in line was terrible!  Finally, it was time to walk through the gate.  They took my ticket and that familiar tone came out of the machine… da-do-do-do-do.

I find myself surrounded by a blanket of fog and I hear the now-recognizable growl of a monster behind me.  I scream and I run down the main Ghost Town Street.  Little did I know of the terror that lurks through the streets of Ghost Town!  From that moment on, I realized that this is what I want to do.  I want to be a Knott's Scary Farm Halloween Haunt monster and August 10th is the date that I will go to the employment office and make my nightmare come true.

So until then…Take Scare…

"It's astounding… Time is fleeting…"

In a few minutes, I'm going to be leaving for the "New Hire Camp-Out."

I am so excited right now, you guys have no idea!  My bag is packed full of goodies and stuff to make me smell and look good in the morning! ;-)

Throughout the night, I'm going to be writing down my experiences along with taking pictures so it will be literally an "up-to-date" journal.  I can't wait for tomorrow to see what maze I'm going to be scaring you in come October.

So until then… Take Scare…

"As I stand here waiting…"

After 17 hours of waiting, I am finally a Halloween Haunt monster!

I arrived around 8:00 P.M. and I found out that I would not be the first person in line…damn Gina!  ;-)

I have already established a bond with people that I met at New Hire that I know will last a very long time.  I'm starting to realize and appreciate the "Haunt family."

We newbies experienced "Haunt drama" for the first time… and it was interesting.  A word of advice for people wanting to work Haunt: STAY OUT OF DRAMA!  IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Anyway, after a long night of doing nothing but waiting, it was time.   They opened the gates, collected our applications and we walked to the door of the Employment Center.  From then on, I was extremely nervous.  I heard rumors about monsters not getting what they wanted and I was seriously shaking waiting to be called for my interview.

Then they called my name along with about 10 other people to be interviewed.  I was with my good friend during the interview process, which made me feel more calm.  After the initial questions, my interviewer selected three mazes for me to choose from.  I was happy with the position I eventually chose in The Asylum.

It was over!  Or so I thought.  Processing takes a long time, but it's all worth it.  I walked out of the employee center to find people crying and smiling at the same time.   Some people were turned away and some people got the position they wanted.  It was a very odd scene.

I am now home, exhausted typing this out for you.  This is like a preview of what it's going to be like after long nights of scaring, but I am so excited I don't know if I'll be able to sleep very much!  I am very pleased with my position and there will be many ways to scare and have a great time where I am.  There is already a great group of monsters assigned positions in Asylum and I have a good feeling that we are going to kick ass this year!

So until next time folks… Take Scare.

"Don't run away… It's only me…"

- Monster X

September 16, 2005 - 11:45 P.M.

"Welcome to my nightmare… I think you're gonna like it…"

Hey everyone!  Sorry about the long wait for this next entry.  Things have been somewhat slow in the "Haunt Department" after New Hire.  There was a good month -long break between New Hire and my orientation, or should I say, "Scare School," which was tonight.

I arrived at the Western Gate at 7:00 P.M. and met up with a few people who are going to be in my maze.  We have a GREAT group of monsters!  We were then introduced to our Talent Captain… "Can I get a HECK YEAH!"

He seems like a cool guy and it should be interesting to see how he works with us, considering that this is his first year as a Talent Captain.  He then escorted us into the park and he showed us Warehouse P, Crew's Nest and First Aid/Security.   Then it was time to walk through The Asylum!

The maze is basically the same, but with a few new props and surprises.  We were then put in our positions and Jeff Tucker, from Entertainment at Knott's, walked through the maze and gave each person advice on how to perform as a monster.   His advice was great and it helped when it was time to scare people… without costumes!  It was a bit odd scaring people without our costumes, but I think we did a great job, considering the amount of screams and applause we got when the guys from Entertainment walked through.

Overall, it was a great experience and I'm glad that Knott's is doing "Scare School" for all the monsters.  At first, I was a bit nervous because I was expecting it to be like "Monster College," from back in the day at Knott's.  But it was different, and now I feel even more confident and excited about Haunt.

Dress Rehearsal is coming up the week after next and I cannot wait!

So until then… Take Scare.

- Monster X

"They're coming to take me away!"

Tonight was the second Orientation for Haunt.  Every monster, blackout and line control from every maze and scare zone was there and it was exciting to see everyone involved with Haunt in one big room.

Jeff Tucker came on stage and introduced the "highlights" from "Scare School."  Everyone had a look of terror on their face when we realized that they were going to be showing the footage they took from our Scare School.  Although at first I was terrified to see my performance on the big screen, I eventually liked the fact that they showed the footage so we could see how we did and improve on that.

After the videos, the Orientation went on just like any other orientation would.  They explained procedures, safety… all typical orientation material.  We were surprised when Jeff gave a little "graduation" speech at the end of the night and gave us diplomas!  It was much unexpected and extremely cool.

Only two more full days before the first night of Haunt; I can't believe it!

I remember counting "200 days until Haunt!"  And now there are only two!  I'm excited and confident that I will do my best to scare every one of you that walk through The Asylum.  Tomorrow is the first night of Dress Rehearsal and I will be walking through mazes.

So until then…Take Scare

- Monster X

"Don't look, don't look the shadows breathe..."

Tonight was the first night of Dress Rehearsal for Clowns, Curse of the Spider, Hatchet High, Temple of Sacrifice, Cavern of Lost Souls and Red Moon Massacre.

After being escorted into the park, our first attraction was Cavern of Lost Souls.  It was a good change from Army of the Underworld and the talent did their best.

Red Moon Massacre was next and it was fun as usual.  You gotta love the audio track in the loading station!

Up next was Curse of the Spider and we heard rumors that the layout was changed so we were anxious to see what changes were made.  The sets were great, the talent did well and it seems a bit longer than it has been in previous years.

Temple of Sacrifice was next and it's the same thing from last year, which is not a bad thing.  It's a great addition to Haunt.

The famous Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns was next and the journey to the maze was fun in its own.  One person in particular, I won't mention their name *cough* Freckles* cough*, was terrified of walking through the maze and it made it hilarious to do!  The maze was brilliant and the talent is top-notch.  Great job, you guys!

Finally, it was time to roam the halls of Hatchet High.  There are a few surprises added to the maze and they are great!  The talent is very energetic and they did a great job, especially our dear friend Angel, the Prom Queen!

Tomorrow night is our Dress Rehearsal for The Asylum.  I am extremely excited, but nervous.  Scaring guests is one thing; scaring other monsters is another.  At least we will be in costume this time!

So until then… Take Scare

- Monster X

OPENING NIGHT OF HALLOWEEN HAUNT 2005

September 30, 2005 - 2:05 A.M.

"It's a perfect day for letting go..."

Tonight was the greatest night of my life!  I picked up my costume, changed and went to my position in the last room of The Asylum.

The lights dimmed, the fog came on and the creepy music came blasting.  It was finally time!

Our first victims came walking through our room around 6:30 P.M. and it did not stop.

I remember from reading that on Thursdays, the guest flow was extremely low in mazes.  In some parts it was slow, but there was a constant group of people walking through and getting great scares.

A Nurse made someone piss within the first three hours of opening!

It is the most amazing feeling when you hear the scream of a guest when they walk through your room.  The shivers that run down your spine when you hear the ear-shattering sound.  There was one scare in particular tonight that was brilliant!  As soon as this girl approached the entrance to our room, she started turning around and headed in the opposite direction.  That was our cue to attack!

We approached her and she started running and screaming back toward our room.   We circled her and started jumping around singing "Ring around the Rosies."  She flipped out and ran toward the exit!

I cannot wait for tonight and get to do this all over again!  It's a Friday and there will be a lot more people, but I'm ready... CAN I GET A HELL YEAH!?!?!?

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 1, 2005 - 3:45 A.M.

"Come to me again in the cold, cold night..."

Tonight was 100% better than last night!  Last night, I injured myself pretty bad and I wasn't able to move around much so I took it easy.  Tonight, I felt a bit better, so I decided to walk around my area and I got some great scares.

I discovered that sitting on one of the beds in the last room laughing to myself to be an amazing scare tactic.  It was working so well tonight; back-to-back scares.

The crowds were a bit heavier, but still not bad.  It is a lot more work than I thought it was going to be.  I'm physically exhausted, but it is so worth it.  Saturday is already almost sold-out and it should be interesting to see how many people actually walk through the maze.

I heard that Saturday is Power 106 night, and I'm just going to make the best of it.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 7, 2005 - 2:25 A.M.

"I sense there's something in the wind..."

The crowd tonight was much better than last night.  It felt like they actually wanted to be there.

I made a girl cry for the first time tonight!  It was an amazing feeling chasing her out of the maze and seeing her cry and watching her friends laugh at her!

The monsters that were "missing" last night returned tonight and were better than ever.  I have a good feeling that we did an excellent job, and I'm curious to see how well we performed for the nightly "Golden Haunt Award."

Tomorrow is Friday and it will be probably be busy.  We haven't had a busy night for a while, so it will be a nice change.

Yay for hour-long lunches!

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 8, 2005 - 3:45 A.M.

"It's just another day..."

Tonight was your typical Friday night, with the exception that I started the night in First Aid.  I wasn't feeling well at all and I was considering going home for the night.  After about 30 minutes in First Aid, I started to feel better and I went back into the maze.

For the most part, the crowd was great.  The constant guest flow made for some great scares, except for when the "yellows" walked through.  We could do a perfect job all night, but if we are not in position for the five minutes that they walk through, it could screw up the points system.

I think we did a great job tonight and the guests had a great time; that is what's important.  Tomorrow is Saturday and I heard that it is close to being sold-out and then we're going to a post-Haunt event that will go until the sun comes up.  It's going to be a long night... here we go again!

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 9, 2005 - 3:45 A.M.

"When routine bites hard and ambitions are low..."

For some reason, the guests made me angry tonight and I took out my aggression out on my scares.  People were bolting down my hallway through the last room and out the door!

We had many close calls when it came to being hit by guests early in the night, and it kept on going until the end of the night.

I did get some great scares though.  I've noticed that it's getting easier to scare the "tough" guys that walk through the maze, especially with two monsters to double-team.

More monsters quit tonight, and they were the monsters in the area before me, so now I have this huge area all to myself starting tomorrow.  It should be interesting, and hopefully, it will be a better night for me.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 10, 2005 - 2:32 A.M.

"Today is gonna be the day when they're gonna throw it back to you..."

We won the Golden Haunt Award for last night, and that just got everyone excited and ready for tonight.

Considering that tomorrow is Columbus Day, there were more people than usual for a Sunday night, but it wasn't too bad.

The crowd was much better than last night, and some of my good friends walked through which made it more fun to scare them.  I spent most of the night in the "whispering hallway" and it is a great position to scare in!  It's pitch black and no one can tell if monsters are in there and it made for very easy and "hit the floor" scares.

Two weeks gone and three more to go.  I'm tired and sore all over, but I still cannot wait until Wednesday when I get to do this all over again.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

October 13, 2005 - 2:36 A.M.

"Where are we?  What the hell... is going on?"

I could have easily had another day off.  Tonight was just... different.

First of all, we won the Golden Haunt Award for Sunday, which was awesome, but we were missing about five crucial monsters.  We had to spread out and make the best of the situation.  The "yellows" seemed to enjoy the maze last night even with the limited amount of monsters we did have.

There were so many people at Haunt tonight for a Wednesday!  We actually had a line and a constant group of people in the maze.

I am getting fed up with guests using their cell phones in the maze.   I just screamed, "GET OFF THE PHONE!" to this girl and it scared her to death, which was the highlight of the night.

Hopefully, we will have all our missing monsters back tomorrow.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

I left Haunt early tonight, because I am feeling ill.  I will be back tomorrow though.

"I want to be someone else or I'll explode..."

Hot 92.3 Jamz and Inner City Youth Night... a lethal combination... or is it?

Tonight was awesome for me!  I felt 100% better and the crowd was having a great time being scared.

They opened the gates to the park at around 6:20 P.M., but our maze did not open until 6:30 P.M.  So for 10 minutes, most of the monsters from Asylum were out in "GhostRider Streets" [the long backstage queue area leading to both Feary Tales and The Asylum along the base of GhostRider] scaring guests.  It was so much fun!

I felt that it would be too risky to roam through my hallway tonight, so I just stayed in my little corner to scare guests.  I have never heard that many grown men scream in my life!

After Haunt, there was a Haunt monster movie night and a couple of people from my maze went and we had a blast.

Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain.  Thank God it's a Sunday.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

"Take me back to dear old blighty..."

As I drove to Haunt, the clouds were extremely dark and it looked like it was going to pour all night.  Luckily, it did not start raining until about 8:00 P.M. with some crazy lightning going off once every 10 seconds.  It made the Asylum even creepier than it usually is.

Tonight seemed like the longest Haunt night ever.  At first it was slow, but when it started to rain, Knott's shut the rides down so the only thing open were the mazes.  This caused us to have a huge line... in the pouring rain.  The good news is that I got some great scares and I got one of those "Orange" good job cards from a "yellow shirt."

One fan came to Haunt tonight and walked through Asylum around 10 times and kicked it outside the maze in the rain; that is what I call dedication.   He's a cool kid and I'm glad that he had a good time.

Three weeks have come and gone, and only two weeks are left.  It's been awesome, and I cannot wait to get back on Wednesday.

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

"The lanes were silent with nothing or no one around for miles..."

Power 106 night has come and gone and we have the bruises to prove it.  Quite a few monsters were harassed and/or injured more than usual.  It was an extremely stressful night, trying to look out for each other and ourselves.

When it came to scares, tonight was one of the better nights.  It was somewhat light in crowds, so I could experiment with my scare tactics.   I teamed up with one of our newer monsters and we tag-teamed for a good half hour and we got constant scares.

Wow, this is going to be the last week.  I'm saddened and excited for Haunt to be over.  I'm saddened, because I am going to miss working with an amazing group of people.  We are just going to make the best our of these last six nights and kick ass in the Asylum!

So until then... Take Scare

- Monster X

"Let's have a party, there's a full moon in the sky.  It's the hour of the wolf and I don't want to die.."

It's over.  I can't believe it.

After all those years of waiting and this month of constant work, it's over.

I started the night walking through the maze one final time and taking some awesome shots of our maze.  They came out so creepy!  Just how our maze should be... the scariest maze at Haunt!  We didn't win the Golden Haunt Award, but oh well.  We had a great time and we know that we did our best.  The guests loved it and that is the most important thing.

The park was dead and not too many guests walked through the maze.  But Chris Kattan from SNL did make his way through our maze tonight, which was cool.

On my lunch, I finally got to make it to Sharp Shooters in Ghost Town to take pics with some fellow monsters and fans.  I wish I could have made my way out there throughout the month.  While walking to Sharp Shooters, I got to walk through Ghost Town.  I haven't walked through a scare zone or another maze since last year.  It was great to see the fog, the monsters and hear guests screaming in such a large area.  It really makes you appreciate how hard street monsters work.   They did an amazing job, even if it was the last night of Haunt.

Along with not hearing the screams, music seeing the fog and everything that is Haunt, I am going to miss the wonderful people that I met this year.  Our maze was so close, it truly was like a family. 

I am contemplating what I want to do next year.  If I get the "special" re-hire card I will be able to return to Asylum.  I would love to return to the maze, but if I get the other re-hire card, I will not be able to return to Asylum and will likely move to another maze.  It would be hard leaving all the great people that make up The Asylum, but I would have to move.  We shall see when that time comes next year.

This Friday is AHAB and I am extremely excited to see everyone again one last time before Haunt is officially over.

So until then... Take Scare

"I know it's over... still I cling..."

Last night was absolutely wonderful.  I heard that AHAB was a formal affair, so I found my best slacks, shirt and tie and headed out to the Knott's Resort Hotel.  When I arrived and the hotel, I was greeted by my fellow monsters at the door of the banquet room.  I found the table where The Asylum monsters were sitting and I joined them.  It was so good to see everyone again.

I am seriously going to miss working with them every day because they were one of the reasons why I stuck it out.  Haunt is very hard, and I'm sure it's a lot harder when you are working with people that you don't like.  Luckily, that wasn't a problem at The Asylum.

Throughout the night on the big screens, they would have video presentations from Haunted Media, Ultimate Haunt and TPA's Screamy Awards.  The Asylum was honored to receive a nod from TPA.  During the Asylum segment, there was a clip where I was featured and it said "Congratulations Monster X."  I felt so honored to be featured in the video that was playing for all monsters to see.

After the dinner, I said my goodbyes and started on my journey to my "normal" world...

One year down, who knows how many more to go?  The second I walked back stage for the first time, the Haunt "magic" that I used to feel when I would come as a guest went away.  A different sort of Haunt "magic" was exposed when I became a monster.  It was an amazing experience, and I am looking forward to return as a monster next year.

Look out you rookies of Haunt 2006!

So until next year... Take Scare

- Boingo / Kneecap ... Once known as... Monster X