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Have you ever truly thought about what a picture is? It's a snapshot in time. A moment in history is frozen and placed on a piece of paper forever. You will never be able to travel back to that time, but through a picture you are able to visualize it in your memory. ISN'T THAT FASCINATING!?

In October I was a scareactor at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. What on earth is a scareactor, you ask? Well, as you walk through a haunted maze, or roam the park at an event like HHN, there are people who chase you with chainsaws, or pop out of holes, or shake cans full of beans in your face. I was one of those people. A witch. A cornfield witch, to be exact. I've never done anything like that before and it was an absolute blast. Life changing. What's really interesting is I am always the one in my group of friends to bail on events like this because I am terrified of scary... things. I've justified it by saying I have a extremely vivid imagination, and for as long as I can remember, I've gotten nightmares from simply watching 5 minutes of a scary movie. Traumatizing, as you can see, so it was truly a godsend that I decided to wait in line for 6 hours, to do a 20 second audition and get cast on the streets by Scott Kleckner.

I was EXTREMELY intimidated by the people I was cast with. Everyone, except maybe 2 other scareactors, knew each other previously and had already been on the streets for many years prior. I, on the other hand, had never even thought about what it would be like to be behind the scenes at something like HHN, let alone what it would feel like to be inside one of those sponge-like masks. I keep saying 'the streets' like you know what I mean. Let me explain; there are different zones in any kind of amusement park or event. For HHN, there were scarezones and mazes. The mazes were: La Llarona (a spanish folklore), Monsters Remix (classic Universal monsters set to the rhythm of dubstep), Silent Hill (self explanatory), Texas Chainsaw, (see Silent Hill) Alice Cooper Goes to Hell (7 deadly sins in 3D) and my personal favorite The Walking Dead (select memorable scenes from seasons 1 and 2 depicted with amazing make-up). Then, there were scare zones; 1 was Clownz who had chainsaws (also known as the brigade) which was right where you entered the park, 2 was Toyz (a toymaker goes crazy and turns humans into real life toys? A 6'4" bunny had a chainsaw.) set on Baker Street, 3 were Witches (brand new, like Toyz, 7 witches roam the street to the Dracula soundtrack) set on French Street, and 4 was Silent Hill on the lower lot (a few nurses and stilt walkers sit in the darkness waiting to pounce).

The first two weeks were hard. I thought a lot about scaring people, and how to be scary, and how to scare people, and what to do, and how to walk, talk, move my hands. I corrupted myself. I was so incredibly in my own head about everyone else that I forgot why I was cast. I was cast because something I did in my audition sparked the tables interest, and trust, and they took a massive leap of faith with me. The next two weeks became a little easier as I started to get to know my fellow scareactos more and more, visit mazes and joke around, really let loose. The last two weeks were when it really set in that this had been what saved me in LA. I've only been here since the end of January, now closing in on 10 months, and I was working TO THE BONE to make my dream come true. I didn't have friends to hang out with. I had coworkers, and fellow interns, and classmates, and my 2 best friends who were mostly in Long Beach, so I was incredibly lonely. Sad. Partly depressed, but too busy to recognize it. Broke. Hungry for something other than food. I didn't even think about the fact that we as human beings thrive off other human beings. We LIVE and THRIVE to be around people who are similar, and different, to us.

While at HHN I met some of the most talented, beautiful, artistic, loving, and down right hilarious people I have ever had the pleasure to be around. I am truly grateful to call these people my friends. We are all so weird, and crazy, and full of a passion for life, that I fear if we had never met we would have a piece missing from our hearts and never know why. I've told them before, but I had to put it on the web to make it real. I love them. Every single one. For different and the exact same reasons. They accept me for me. They see right through my tricks, antics and bravado. Give me strength, courage and SERVE ME LIFE. Marcus, James, Rhiannon, Anthony, Noelle, Jessica, Gabi, LeRoyal, Beach. Its never too hot in the kitchen for them, make sense? This all sounds incredibly cliche, but I don't give one single fuck. WITCHEZ, DUH!

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