Scare theme: Haunted house workers scare because they care

For most of the year Penny Williams is a normal, well-adjusted resident working as a recreation manager at the Osage Community Centre.

But once a year, Williams turns into a monster driven by the need to scare people senseless. And she loves it.

She preys on children and adults alike, playing on their fears in a uniquely Halloween form of entertainment -- the haunted house.

As the doorkeeper at the Haunted Hall of Horror at the Arena Building, Williams' job is to set the mood for the 20-minute haunted path the house's victims are about to embark upon.

Dressed in a butler's uniform, with a face painted corpse white, black eyes, a glowing mouth and a few drops of blood, Williams throws open the door on a world of fright inside the building. And as the doorkeeper, it's her job to relay information down the line to the 45 other frighteners in the house.

"You might look outside and yell at your neighbor, 'We have a dad with five kids coming in. Turn it on,'" said Williams.

Of course, if the youngsters get too scared, they tone it down a notch, but the biggest thrill for the haunts is to scare.

They're not actors, just regular people having a good time on Halloween, like Amanda Otte. A student at Southeast Missouri State University, Otte designs the haunted rooms and acts in the house.

"You want to put on a good show, and I'm not a good actor," said Otte. "But it's great when you scare people. It motivates you to do better."

Amy Roth is now a veteran, having worked in the city's haunted house for 8 years.

"When I first started I had this mindframe of 'God, I suck,'" said Roth. "But then you realize people don't know who you are, and you can let go." Roth even ventures as far as calling out people's names in a creepy voice if she knows them. For anyone who's ever had that experience, it's rather chilling.

Throughout the area, workers like Williams, Otte and Roth staff haunted houses on Halloween. They hide behind masks and makeup, often waiting in the shadows for the next victim.

The fright is all in good fun, though. For Dave Macke of the Black Forest Village, haunting is a bridge to childhood.

"When you're a kid you like to do the trick-or-treating thing," said Macke. "Then you get older and they say you can't trick or treat anymore, so you scare people."

The biggest kick for Macke is scaring the skeptics, especially guys who are bigger than him.

"When you can make them hit the ground, that's a good time."

Macke and his father Greg are two of about 30 people who work the Black Forest's maze of buildings and woods. Greg Macke serves as the Grim Reaper tour guide, silent and menacing. Like a British royal guard, he has to stay quiet the whole time, which can be tough.

"Some people have pretty good jokes, and it's hard not to laugh," said Greg Macke.

Every year the workers at Black Forest have so much fun there's a waiting list of people wanting to take part.

"I've got a few buddies who want to pay me to come do it," said Dave Macke.

Haunted houses are a lot of work, with intensive set-up and acting that goes on for hours at a time.

But for those who play the spooks, the houses are as much fun as they are for the victims.

"This year I was exhausted ... I didn't even think it was worth it," said Greg Macke. "But the first group came out, and they were smiling and saying it was awesome, and I knew it was worth it."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182