With Halloween just days away, students are preparing their costumes, parties and spooky stories while others continue to daunt and terrify at Scarowinds theme park.
Senior biology major, Ashley Cooper is new to the Scarowinds team this year, but she has already put forth her best scare as a merchant pirate in DeadMan’s Landing.
Cooper said she never would have seen herself working as a Scarowinds actor, but she has always enjoyed dressing in costume.
“In fact, one of the reasons I applied for the job is because I never imagined I would do something like this and I wanted to step out of my comfort zone,” Cooper said.
Getting paid to dress in costume was one of the advantages Cooper considered when she applied, but working as a Scarowinds actor can be challenging. However, Cooper said this has been her best job out of several, so far.
“The managers and other monsters are great, and I’ve never had a job where everyone is just one big family. It’s tougher than other jobs I’ve had, but I love the challenge,” Cooper said.
Cooper said she has learned how to be more observant and to think quickly since working there. She said she has to make sure she is staying in character at all times — even when guests start conversation — and watch for potential scares.
“Being in the outside scare zone I have to be constantly watching the people around me, gauging who would be the best to scare and how I would do that,” Cooper said.
Cooper said her favorite scare is when she and a monster team up to scare a group of guests “without the slightest bit of communication.”
“We work together to scare a group of people without planning ahead, and a lot of times the double team scares the crap out of people,” Cooper said.
Cooper said being in open areas can make scaring more difficult, so creativity is key to coming up with new ways to scare.
Although some guests can be challenging, Cooper said she has had a great experience and enjoys scaring people. Another favorite part of her job is when guests who willingly want to be scared compliment Cooper and her team on how well they scared them.
“It gives me a sense of accomplishment and is a big confidence booster,” Cooper said.
Cooper said she would have liked to start working at Scarowinds when she first started Winthrop so she could experience more than one season. Cooper plans to start medical school next year and encourages “anyone who is considering it [Scarowinds] to just do it.”
“It’s tough to coordinate school and work, but it is totally worth it,” Cooper said.
