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Jobs To Make You Jump - Alton Towers Looking For Halloween Staff

09 Sep 2019

Jobs To Make You Jump - Alton Towers Looking For Halloween Staff

Theme park Alton Towers has announced a recruitment drive for hundreds of seasonal roles based around Halloween.

Not for the faint-hearted, Alton Towers are now looking for hundreds of make-up artists, actors, set designers, audio visual technicians and specialist costume designers for their annual ‘Scarefest’ series of productions.

The 500 acre theme park in Staffordshire will hold auditions for all of the roles before the end of September in preparation to host Scarefest events on October the 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th, then daily between October 18th and November 3rd.

Announcing the recruitment drive for their seasonal jobs, the Creative Manager at Alton Towers’, Kieran Kimberley, said: “Scarefest is the busiest and most intense time of the year for us here at Alton Towers Resort. Each year we are continually looking for new ways to spark fear and create immersive experiences, through new technologies and existing methods. It’s led us to be renowned for being the most popular destination for those looking for a seasonal spook and scare.”

“This time of year is a stark contrast to the rest of the theme park season where we have a more light-hearted programme of entertainment, which makes the job incredibly varied and one of the most fun in the world,” added Mr Kimberley.

Over 180 of the Alton Towers Halloween vacancies are for ‘scare actors’ to perform in the shows.

Giving an idea of what like is like to be a scare actor at Alton Towers, current team member Rebecca Ochwat, said: “Being a scare actor is like going to work in your own horror movie every day and you’re the star of the show! You feed off guest energy. When they are enjoying it and screaming, it really gears you up for the next group nervously coming around the corner.”

“I did my first Scarefest in 2006 after playing a lead role in a national touring production of the BirdCage. I went to the first workshop after being recruited and it was like nothing I had been to before. You got to explore your character and I soon learnt that even a zombie needs a backstory. For this you would need to come up with a personality for the zombie and ask yourself ‘who was this zombie before it became infected’,”added Ms Ochwat.

Jack Lewis, another scare actor for Alton Towers offered some further insight into the roles, saying: “I have played so many roles as a scare actor, from a rotting sailor to an alien, from a neon coloured carnival clown dipped in toxic waste to an infected military operative.”

"Whatever character I am, I always imagine that the guests are the camera in their own personal horror movie. I’m the villain or whatever else I need to be to make it the ultimate, immersive experience for them. It’s not just about jumping out on people and shouting boo, far from it.”

"There’s a lot more technique to being a scare actor and sometimes the best ways to make people scared is by being unpredictable or even just silently staring. The reaction of the guests who appreciate your performance is really rewarding. You know you’ve done a good job and got the desired reaction, whether that’s a scream, a jump scare or even a laugh. It’s like the round of applause a stage performer would expect.”

“After joining the team, all new recruits receive intensive training in bespoke ‘scare workshops’ that focus on characterisation, animation, scare techniques, positioning and wellbeing,” said Mr Lewis.

If you are interested in applying for one of these scary jobs at the theme park then whisk yourself off to altontowersjobs.com to find out when the auditions are being held. You can also learn more about working at the Staffordshire attraction on our profile for Alton Towers.

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