# Auditioning as a psychotic dead girl. Is this okay?



## QuiteShadow (Aug 13, 2013)

I'm auditioning for a pro haunt and what I'm doing is a psychotic dead girl. They said it was alright but I want to know what you guys think. They said it was alright for me to go in full costume and make up which is what I'm going to do. Do you think I should still do it and is the idea of a psychotic dead girl a good one? Is it something too over used or is it so unconventinal that I'd just look like I was trying too hard? Also what do you think would make a psychotic little dead girl scary?


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

The shrieking psychotic dead girl thing will be hard to maintain. But judging from the past few years' horror movies like Grave Encounters, the mumbling psychotic dead girl that turns and charges the viewer would be good in the right room. The only challenge is to not break character as ever young adult male (and a few creepy older ones) find themselves joking/flirting with you. Men are attracted to crazy. 

As a yardhaunter, I would want to have a good, distracting, psycho dead girl to throw guests off. But pro haunts may be burnt out on them.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

perhaps carrying a dead teddy bear or doll?? even better if you filled it with shaved deli ham & nibbled on it every so often...lots of head rolling, and laughing & mumbling some weird phrases...perhaps have a section of thick. loose latex hanging off of your face that you could pick at...


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Trying to keep up even one full night of shrieking would be difficult at best, and having to do it night after night? You'd be so horse after half of the first night your act would either have to change or disappear. Don't get me wrong, I like the psychotic dead girl, but I think it needs to be based more on physical acting/actions than on shrieking or screaming. Having the remnants of a guest to gnaw on, only to drop it once you see a group of people enter the scene and try to chase them from the room/scene would work . It seems to me that you have to really show the guests WHY you are psychotic, maybe cuffs and manacles with broken chains attached and have remnants of chains and hooks on the wall as though you broke the chains after years of struggling.


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## QuiteShadow (Aug 13, 2013)

My costume is most likely going to be connected with my lines for example. 
I've got a prop it's a teddy bear but it's mouth is really screwed up and bloody as it's unhinged with sharp teeth. I'm going to use that with a few lines that is me telling the people I'm trying to get to hire me in a soft voice "I get lonely sometimes...I miss my daddy...but he tasted so good..." then my voice will start to sound happier "isn't that right teddy" Then I'll turn him around and show him off quickly. I'll ask in a high voice if they want to play with it.

I'm debating on this one but I'm thinking about getting a bunch of mixed match nails too. Putting them on and then talking about how all of the girls had beautiful nails in school and how I took them. Then I'll pick someone from the crowd and say "You've got good nails." Twitching my head to the side as my eyes will pop out with a stern expression on my face I'll wine for the nails. 

These are all things that I've made up with my boyfriend. I want to show the people I'm auditioning for I can do my own stuff. At the same time I could do something from a horror movie which would be easier but I don't know who I'd want to be. Then I could just go as a monster too. The little girl who's psychotic is the only one I can think of material for.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Agree with previous comments about avoiding the shrieking and going for a more subtle, other worldly approach. Signs of psychosis include delusions and hallucinations, so having your character talk to someone who isn't there can be an effective sell. Even better, do this while talking to someone who is there - look slightly off to the person's side, stare for a moment, then turn back to the real person and ask who his friend is


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

Also, a sign or psychosis (and meth use) is erratic eyes. Being of the porcine family tree by profession, I have encountered quite a few people with eyes darting all around me as if I am one face in a crowd, and that is VERY unnerving. Simple human instinct says to be cautious around eyes like that. And as an actor, the most you might get is a headache. Maybe take a Dramamine as a precaution.


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## Chops6965 (Jul 10, 2013)

My only experience auditioning for a haunted attraction was with Knotts for Halloween Haunt. The only auditions they hold are for positions in the scare zones (as opposed to the mazes). During the audition they give you a scenario to act out. The year I auditioned I was asked to act out the devil ordering coffee at Starbucks.

I don't know anything about the haunt you are auditioning for but if you come in costume you are limiting yourself to that character. It really depends on how they run their auditions. Are you going to be put in a room that fits the psychotic dead girl you have come up with?

Whatever happens, the key to auditioning is to just go for it. Don't hold back, don't be shy and don't be afraid of making a fool out of yourself. 

If you do get the position, take the advice already given. Don't scream and yell at every guest. You need to pace yourself so that you can last the night. Hell, you need to pace yourself so you can last the length run of the haunt (it could be two or three days or longer). For Knotts, the haunt runs just about the whole month of October. Pacing is very important for your own survival! lol

Good luck!

Chuck


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## MotelSixx (Sep 27, 2008)

Go to audition in character. Research psychosis and neurosis. Be who you pretend to be. Laugh out of context. Make everyone in room feel uneasy, including your competition.


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## Toothpaste (Oct 9, 2012)

The question you should ask is what do you want to do in a haunted house?

Do you want to entertain and be disturbing?

Do you want to scare the chocolate out of people? 

IMO, this character, a little undead psychotic girl with little girl'esque lines, is entertaining and can be mildly disturbing. 

Is it scary? To most people I would say no. However, your character would offer a reprieve from any intense scares that just occurred and help with the suspension of reality and wonderment. You could toss in a startle scare at some point too.

If you want to be scary I would not talk much if at all. I would find a beanbag chair or two, stuff it in a huge burlap sack and bloody that thing up. Maybe throw in some rigid items to make it look as if there are bodies in it. 

Make sure you are good and bloody, drag it around and claim you reunited your parents or some such.

My point is dialogue can quickly reduce the suspension a haunted house builds up, especially if it is slightly comical or ironic. Then again dialogue from your character can serve as a distraction, calm down guests so they are not ready for the next scare and increase the "creep out" factor.

It all depends on what you want to do!


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

Everyone here has really great points and you should take them and maybe combined some of the best points you feel comfortable with. I would also add that sudden movements of your head, and a constant stare at things or objects that aren't there works. To save your voice I would also not recommend a constant screaming as it would take your voice away after a few nights of it. But there is no reason that you can't talk in a loud voice at someone or the wall or even at imaginary people.

I also think that a good long stare at people coming that are seeing you and moving your head from side to side as you quickly walk towards them really gives a shiver down ones spine and make them feel uncomfortable.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

I took my twelve-year-old son to a haunt a couple of years back. One of the more memorable moments (for me anyway) was when a zombie-girl, maybe ten years old, got right in my son's face as she was eating a bloody heart. Her face was screwed up into a snarl of utter hatred. She seemed to take my son by surprise, not a jump scare but a don't-move-or-she'll-bite-you moment. What struck me was when her sweet child's face twisted into animal fierceness.


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