Get Ready For Halloween
You’re at a haunted house with a couple of your friends, peeking around the corners hoping to not get scared. Unfortunately when a person with what looks to be gouged out eyes sneaks up behind you and that dream is quickly drowned out. “No way that’s not real” you think, but it’s only makeup, very detailed makeup that was done by one of our very students.
Senior Ri’Leigh Willis spends her spooky season preparing various volunteers for moments like that as a haunted house makeup artist. Willis has been working at the Doomsday Haunted House located in Athens since October, 2021.
“I got the job by showing the owners my work and they loved it and let me practice with their actors. This assists me in my makeup because it helps me and prepares me for future makeup jobs and opportunities,” Willis said.
The special effects makeup world drew Willis in at a young age, becoming interested in it in middle school. The effect of watching scary movies with actors and actresses that looked amazing in their make up stood out to Willis and inspired her to pursue it.
“I first became interested in special effects making when I was about 11 or 12 years old,” Willis said. “I started wanting to do it myself because I saw all these scary movies and tv shows that did that kind of makeup and it was really interesting to me, and that made me want to start doing it,”
Over time, the more Willis practiced, the better she got and people started to notice. Willis states that she knew she was becoming good because people would often ask her if the makeup was real and as a beginner that made her proud of her work as a self-taught artist.
Willis specializes in doing makeup on other faces instead of her own as she considers it easier and it takes less time, around 45 minutes to an hour Willis states, but she does her own makeup on occasions such as Halloween and having sisters helps her have easy access to models to test new looks on.
“My favorite one that I have done on myself was a zombie look that I did for Halloween, which scared a lot of kids,” Willis said. “My favorite look I did on someone else was this realistic eye wound I did on my sister which I think looked really realistic,”
To acquire the realistic looks Willis hopes for, she carefully traverses through the process of coloring and adding the finishing touches that make the look really come to life. She starts with a reference picture then applies the scar wax and prosthetic or face paints depending on if the look is realistic or not. Then from there she finishes it off.
“Once I get the basic foundation of what the look is I start with the coloring in which I use alcohol-based paints. Then I use fake blood, which is the fun part, to make it look extra realistic and make it look like an actual wound,” Willis said.
The art of special effect make-up requires many materials and Willis has a collection that makes the final product look perfect. Some materials are essentially the back bone of the look according to Willis and to her that is the prosthetics.
“My most valuable product I own is probably the prosthetics because they are really fragile and can break if I don’t use them right and most of the time I can’t reuse them and there pretty expensive just for one but they are one of my favorite products to use because you can make your look really realistic,” Willis said.
Willis plans to continue special effects makeup after high school and has already found a school that has a program that she is interested in.
“I found a school called Cosmix School of Makeup Artistry in Florida that has a really good special effects makeup program where I can get a degree in makeup. I would love to go once I graduate,” Willis said.
Halloween is one of the most popular and exciting holidays every year. It’s meant for people to get creative with costumes and go out with their family and friends to get candy from door to door.
Many people believe that there’s an age you have to stop celebrating Halloween, but this just simply isn’t true. According to Evolvetreatment, traditions like Halloween ground kids in the past and remind them what’s important in life: friends, family and wholesome good fun. Halloween is supposed to be fun and full of tricks and treats with memories that last forever.
Halloween is the one time of year where people can dress up and decorate their homes for this spooky day. Most teens by the age of 12 lose the Halloween spirit and stay home while their parents while their younger siblings go out and get candy. Teens mostly think trick or treating is for kids and think it’s “lame” or “boring”. Most of them stay home all night and don’t go out or hang out with their family and friends.
Besides the usual trick or treating, though, there are many fun things for teens to do for Halloween. Designing fun and goofy costumes with their friends and going out to Halloween parties and costume parties is always an idea. Even if you don’t want to go out, you can hand out candy to little kids and dress silly or scary and give out treats and a few tricks.
Going out and participating in trunk-or-treats and doing small pranks on people can have a huge impact on teens and make them feel happy inside. Wearing scary costumes and playing spooky music and decorating your room and telling ghost stories are just some of fun things you can do to get in the Halloween spirit.
According to Zishan Khan, trick or treating in certain situations may actually be better than other options teens have available to occupy Halloween night. Letting teens hang out with their friends and go participate in spooky activities with them is much better than most other things. Knowing these things proves that anyone and everyone, no matter the age, is able to have fun and get in the Halloween spirit.
Crimson Crier: Can you describe in detail what it’s like working at the haunted house?
Wyatt Harris: Working as an actor is really fun, just since all you do is scare people and get to act like the monsters you see all over the media. Most of it is hiding somewhere and jumping out, or even putting on a scene like me and my partner did.
CC: What is the work environment like?
WH: So right off the bat, a majority of the people that volunteer are older than me, most only a few years older. The people I get to work with are nice. I do not know all of them, but there are a few that I know from other things. So overall, it is an enjoyable experience and place to volunteer at.
CC: How does scheduling usually go?
WH: Everyone has to arrive before five in the afternoon to ensure everyone gets assigned in an area and is dressed up, either with clothing or makeup, usually both.
CC: what has your experience working at the haunted house been like?
WH: The experience of working has its ups and downs. The best part is of course getting to your scene and waiting for people to walk through. I was set to work in the moonshine hillbilly area with another guy, in which I was dressed up as a zombie hillbilly. A dirty checkered shirt, bloody overalls, all that with a zombie mask with a long, white beard.
CC: What exactly do you do at the haunted house?
WH:I was the one to hide behind an old small barn and jump out to scare whomever was passing, since my partner called the people over to his abandoned truck to speak to them. When I would jump out, I would yell in a loud, scratchy voice a warning to the “trespassers”.
CC: What are some reactions you get from the people who visit?
Everytime it would be how talking to the other man (my partner) would result in them becoming beautiful like me, which of course I was a zombie. I had a few people scream and jump, some children cry, but I added on a good act to our scene, since my partner would say where to go from there and to potentially find some moonshine. The biggest downside is after yelling for multiple hours, my throat begins to get pretty sore.
CC: What does your set look like?
WH: The attraction itself is set in an abandoned war battlefield that was cut off from society, so the environment speaks for itself. A majority of is dark woods and a few open areas, like the entrance area and the cornfield
CC: have you worked at another haunted house before this?
WH: Doomsday has been my first haunted attraction that I have acted in. This is my second year doing so, which I was a scarecrow in the corn maze last year. Last year, it was pretty much the same as this year, with the overall experience and how things went. I would say I got more scares from being a scarecrow than a zombie, which honestly surprised me.
CC: Why do you work there? Is it the people? Money? Environment?
WH: The reason I want to work at Doomsday and possibly others in the future is a simple answer. It is fun to be scary. I am big on horror movies, so I imagine how fun it would be to be a monster or entity in a movie, so volunteering in attractions like Doomsday is my way to do so. I also enjoy dressing up with cosplay and such, so being able to dress up to scare people is a combination of interests and hobbies.
CC: Why do you continue to work at the haunted house?
WH: Now Doomsday does offer some money for volunteers that arrive for both Friday and Saturday of the same week, but I return because I find it fun. There is also a creative factor built into it as well, since you have to decide things like: what to say, how to execute the scare, how it can be done differently in between people, things like that. Even if someone does not jump, it is still fun to be a factor in the attraction. So to sum it up, I return because there are multiple ways to have fun acting.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy costume to throw together for Halloween here are some ideas.
Angel
The iconic Halloween costume–all you really need is a white dress or white shirt, some light blue or gray pants and white shoes. Purchase a pair of golden wings at your local Party City.
Witch
All you need for this simple costume is to dress in all black, as well as throw on some orange, purple, or green. You can also get a pointy hat and a broom to accessorize.
Vampire
Another simple costume where all you need is an all-black outfit, and some fake fangs.
Mickey or Minnie Mouse
If you’re going for Mickey Mouse then you need a black top, red shorts, yellow shoes and if you feel like being fancy, a yellow bowtie. For Minnie Mouse, you need a red dress with white polka dots, a red bow with white polka dots and yellow shoes.
Ghost
For this iconic costume, you can wear a plain white shirt, and some black pants or go the old-fashioned route and throw an old white bed sheet over your head and cut two holes in it for your eyes.
The usual Halloween and Friday the 13th movies reign supreme when it comes to getting your fright on, but these 6 movies are an alternative.
Evil Dead Rise
A reunion between two estranged sisters gets cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
U-Turn
This revolves around motorists who move concrete blocks from the divider to take a u-turn which causes several accidents. This move is a remake of the 2016 Canadian film U-Turn and
Elevator Game
This movie is about A new guy to the group Ryan who ingratiates himself into a group of recent high school graduates that run an online web series debunking urban legends Ryan suggests they take on the online phenomenon of the elevator game, which is said to be behind a woman’s recent disappearance.
Talk to Me
This move is about a group of teenagers who discover they are able to contact spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand, only for things to go too far.
Lights Out
The movie is about a woman that must protect her young stepbrother from a spirt that kills its victims in the dark.
Megan
An artificial intelligent doll develops self-awareness to keep a young girl safe. She goes too far and turns violent.
